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Plans for an international security mission authorized by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in Gaza are encountering increasing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it would not take part due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a possible participant, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete truce was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stability force and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all political efforts towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would prefer expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to end the presence within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Discussions and Possible Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, began formally on last week in New York, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have many personnel involved on the ground. It has already effectively assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Force Objectives and Governance Function

The proposed American document outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, answerable to a “board of peace” led by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into granting the stabilisation force a governance function in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording leaves open the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful distributor of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

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

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect largely ignored by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be largely borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a level or speed it requires.

The request was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to appear later the that day.

Only the remains of four of the original 251 captives are still not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could still be divided in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. International officials insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.