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Proposals for an multinational security mission mandated by the UN to disarm the militant group in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the UAE stated it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's troops will not join. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a possible participant, did not attend a planning session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stabilisation force and in this situation will not participate, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed document already distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israel have left the region.

Arab states would prefer expanded duties to be assigned to a separate Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and arguably stabilising an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission will work as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined objective to conclude the occupation within the context of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Risks

In-depth negotiations on the mission authority, including its command and control, began formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the ground. It has already in effect assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Administrative Function

The draft US resolution outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar 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 militant perspective, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into giving the mission a governance role in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain 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 full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the removal of “any group determined to have misused such aid”. The phrase permits the council excluding the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the lawful provider of aid.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to review the PA role.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a oversight function over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point mostly ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Regional Situations

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a level or pace it demands.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to review developments on the truce and Witkoff was due to arrive later the same day.

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

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. International officials maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.