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Plans for an multinational security mission mandated by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in Gaza are encountering growing opposition after the UAE announced it would not join due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Growing International Reservations

Israel have previously ruled out Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's troops will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a potential contributor, did not attend a planning session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear structure for the stability force and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Issues

The Emirati decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution previously distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like expanded duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the mission could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful presence.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the force be sent not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce global standards and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to conclude the occupation within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, began officially on Thursday in New York, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of personnel involved on the terrain. It has previously in effect assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Function

The proposed US resolution defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and vetted police force to help secure border areas, stabilise the security environment in the region by ensuring the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of arms from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority 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 militant viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

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

Aid Aspects and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group found to have misused such aid”. The wording permits the board of peace barring Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful provider of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, 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 Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

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

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a supervisory function over the mission, supervising the execution of the proposal, a point mostly overlooked by the proposed document. No details is specified about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Local Developments

Israel is seeking written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to return to the territory if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a level or speed it requires.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to review developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to arrive later the that day.

Only the remains of a small number of the original 251 captives are still not recovered.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied parts of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.