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Plans for an international security mission mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing opposition after the UAE stated it will not join due to the lack of a well-defined legal structure.

Increasing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a potential participant, did not attend a planning session in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

The UAE lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stabilisation force and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The UAE's decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights Arab reservations about the terms of a US-drafted resolution already distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of ensuring security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would like expanded duties to be assigned to a separate local law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to end the presence within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Risks

Detailed negotiations on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, started officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – risking the development of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel involved on the ground. It has already effectively assumed command of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Administrative Role

The draft American document defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and vetted law enforcement to help secure border areas, secure the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

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 objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to granting the stabilisation force a administrative function in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the removal of “any group determined to have improperly used such aid”. The phrase leaves open the council barring Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has said is the legal distributor of aid.

International Political Efforts

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 scheduled 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 PA chair, 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-member security council are given a oversight function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a aspect largely ignored by the proposed document. No details is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to return to Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a level or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday 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 original 251 Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could still be divided in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.