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Proposals for an international security mission mandated by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the UAE announced it will not join due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Growing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a potential contributor, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete truce was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear structure for the stability force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The UAE's announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution already distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a American-led stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing security in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would prefer expanded responsibilities to be given to a distinct local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid external forces from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the mission could be seen as imposed under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and end it. The force will work as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to end the presence within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

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

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, started officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a power gap in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have many troops involved on the terrain. It has previously in effect assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Force Objectives and Governance Role

The draft American document defines the aim of the security mission as “together with the newly trained and screened police force to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to lay down arms, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority extends to giving the stabilisation force a governance function in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the local government has adequately finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the proposal states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation found to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the lawful distributor of assistance.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong security council are given a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a aspect largely ignored by the draft text. No details is specified about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and reserve the right to re-enter the territory if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on this week to review progress on the truce and Witkoff was due to appear subsequently the same day.

Just the bodies of a small number of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.