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Proposals for an multinational security mission authorized by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are facing increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a possible participant, did not attend a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined framework for the stability force and in this situation will not participate, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Issues

The Emirati announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab reservations about the terms of a American-proposed document previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would like expanded duties to be given to a distinct local law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid external forces from entering contested Palestine unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the force could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and end it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to end the presence within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, started officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – risking the emergence of a vacuum in the strip that may empower Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Function

The draft American document outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and vetted police force to help secure border areas, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the territory including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant perspective, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority extends to giving the stabilisation force a administrative function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Aid Considerations and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the UN, 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 aid”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful provider of aid.

International Political Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

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

Not the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a supervisory role over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the draft text. No details is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Local Situations

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to emulate the model of Lebanon and retain the authority to return to the territory if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a level or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on this week to review progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to appear subsequently the that day.

Just the remains of four of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

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