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Plans for an international security mission mandated by the UN to disarm the militant group in Gaza are facing growing opposition after the UAE stated it will not take part due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Increasing International Reservations

Israel have previously ruled out Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a potential participant, was absent from a planning session in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a full truce was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear framework for the stabilisation mission and in this situation will not participate, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The Emirati decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects Arab doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of imposing order in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like greater duties to be given to a separate local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful presence.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to enforce global standards and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear goal to conclude the occupation within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Risks

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, started formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have many personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already effectively taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into the territory from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Governance Function

The draft American document defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to help secure border areas, secure the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the end of occupation.

They also worry the proposed authority spills into giving the stabilisation force a governance function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the local government has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group found to have improperly used such aid”. The wording leaves open the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal distributor of assistance.

Global Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to discuss the authority's function.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a aspect mostly ignored by the draft text. No details is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to follow the model of Lebanon and retain the authority to re-enter Gaza if it believes disarmament is not taking place at a scale or speed it requires.

The request was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to arrive subsequently the that day.

Just the remains of a small number of the initial 251 captives remain not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could yet be split in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied parts of the region. International officials maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.