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Proposals for an international security mission mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing resistance after the UAE announced it will not take part due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a possible contributor, did not attend a preparatory session in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stability mission and in this situation will not participate, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's announcement, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab reservations about the terms of a American-proposed document previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestine unless there was clear local approval; without it, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to conclude the occupation within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, started formally on Thursday in New York, and appear to be protracted – risking the development of a vacuum in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have many troops deployed on the ground. It has already effectively assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Governance Function

The draft US resolution outlines the purpose of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of weapons from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the end of Israeli presence.

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

Aid Aspects and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “underscores the significance” of full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase permits the board of peace barring Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the lawful distributor of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the PA role.

Not the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the execution of the resolution, a aspect largely ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not taking place 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 US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to review progress on the truce and the envoy was due to appear subsequently the same day.

Only the bodies of a small number of the initial 251 captives remain unreturned.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be split in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.