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

Growing International Reservations

Israel have previously ruled out Turkish participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's troops will not join. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a potential contributor, was absent from a planning meeting in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear structure for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Issues

The Emirati announcement, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed document already circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of imposing order in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would prefer greater responsibilities to be assigned to a separate local law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the force could be seen as imposed under UN law, and potentially stabilising an illegal presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential 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 request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to end the occupation within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no reference to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, began officially on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have many personnel deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Governance Role

The draft US resolution defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, 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.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the end of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to giving the stabilisation force a administrative role in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Aid Aspects and Funding Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has adequately finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such aid”. The wording permits the council barring Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful provider of aid.

Global Political Initiatives

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

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the PA role.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong security council are assigned a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a aspect largely ignored by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be largely borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and retain the right to return to the territory if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a level or speed it requires.

The request was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to appear later the same day.

Just the bodies of four of the initial 251 captives remain unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.