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

Growing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a potential participant, was absent from a planning meeting in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stability force and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab reservations about the terms of a US-drafted document already circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of imposing order in Gaza after Israel have left the territory.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be assigned to a distinct local law enforcement agency. 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 coercive under UN law, and potentially stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and end it. The force will work as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to end the occupation within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no reference to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the mission mandate, including its command and control, started formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating 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 deployed on the ground. It has already effectively taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Role

The proposed American document outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and vetted law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

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

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is overly broad, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

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

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the proposal states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any organisation found to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase permits the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal distributor of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

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

Not the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a point mostly ignored by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be largely borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Regional Developments

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to return to Gaza if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a level or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss progress on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to appear subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of four of the original 251 Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. International officials maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.