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Proposals for an multinational security mission authorized by the UN to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing resistance after the UAE stated it would not take part due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a potential contributor, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stability mission and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all political initiatives towards peace – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the terms of a American-proposed resolution already distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of ensuring security in the territory after Israel have left the territory.

Regional governments would like expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and end it. The mission 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 clear goal to conclude the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, started formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – risking the emergence of a vacuum in the strip that may empower Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel involved on the terrain. It has previously effectively taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Administrative Function

The draft US resolution defines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the process of disarming the territory including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the militant 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 required to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to giving the mission a administrative function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation found to have misused such aid”. The wording permits the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the lawful distributor of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are already pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

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

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are given a oversight role over the mission, supervising the execution of the proposal, a point 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 assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to return to Gaza if it believes disarmament is not taking place at a level or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to discuss developments on the truce and Witkoff was due to arrive subsequently the that day.

Just the remains of four of the initial 251 captives are still not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be split in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.