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Plans for an international security mission mandated by the UN to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing resistance after the UAE announced it will not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a potential contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full truce was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear structure for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Legal Concerns

The Emirati announcement, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights Arab doubts about the terms of a American-proposed document already circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing order in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would like expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid external forces from entering occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to conclude the presence within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Risks

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, began formally on Thursday in New York, and appear to be protracted – risking the development of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have many troops deployed on the terrain. It has already in effect taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into the territory from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Role

The proposed US resolution defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and vetted police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to granting the mission a administrative function in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Humanitarian Considerations and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has adequately finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the removal of “any organisation found to have misused such aid”. The wording leaves open the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the lawful distributor of aid.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong security council are given a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a aspect largely overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be largely covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to emulate the model of Lebanon and retain the authority to re-enter the territory if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or pace it demands.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss progress on the truce and the envoy was due to appear later the same day.

Just the bodies of four of the original 251 Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could still be divided in two parts with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied areas of the region. International officials maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.