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Plans for an multinational security mission authorized by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in Gaza are facing growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not take part due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Growing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a possible contributor, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear framework for the stability force and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional reservations about the terms of a American-proposed document previously distributed 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onus on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of ensuring security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would like expanded responsibilities to be given to a distinct local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and arguably stabilising an unlawful presence.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the force be sent not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to conclude the occupation within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the mission authority, including its command and control, began formally on last week in New York, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a power gap in the strip that may empower Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it command the force although it will not have many personnel deployed on the terrain. It has previously effectively taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Governance Function

The proposed US resolution defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and screened police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” led by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its goals.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to granting the stabilisation force a administrative function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Aid Considerations and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any group determined to have misused such assistance”. The wording leaves open the council barring the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal provider of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are assigned a oversight role over the mission, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a aspect largely ignored by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a level or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to appear later the that day.

Only the remains of a small number of the original hundreds of captives are still unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.