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Plans for an multinational security mission mandated by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing opposition after the UAE announced it would not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal structure.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israel have previously excluded Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's troops will not participate. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a full truce was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stabilisation mission and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Legal Concerns

The Emirati announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of ensuring order in the territory after Israeli forces have left the region.

Arab states would like greater duties to be given to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The force will work as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to end the presence within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Possible Risks

Detailed negotiations on the mission mandate, including its command and control, started officially on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be protracted – risking the emergence of a vacuum in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it command the mission although it will not have many personnel involved on the ground. 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 Governance Role

The draft US resolution defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and screened police force to assist in protecting border areas, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its goals.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the end of occupation.

They also worry the proposed authority spills into granting the stabilisation force a administrative role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the local government has adequately finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase permits the council excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal provider of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a mention to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Not the UN nor the 15-member security council are assigned a oversight function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a aspect largely ignored by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to follow the pattern of Lebanon and reserve the authority to return to Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to appear later the same day.

Just the bodies of four of the initial 251 Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

Separately, Israel 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 maintain that this is not part of the Trump plan.