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Plans for an international security mission mandated by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing resistance after the UAE announced it would not join due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Growing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not join. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a possible contributor, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete truce was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stability force and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution already circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing order in the territory after Israel have left the region.

Regional governments would prefer expanded responsibilities to be given to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be seen as imposed under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear goal to conclude the occupation within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

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

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Risks

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in the strip that may empower Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have many troops involved on the terrain. It has already in effect assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Role

The proposed US resolution defines the aim of the security mission as “together with the newly trained and vetted police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of disarming the territory including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, answerable to a “peace council” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to lay down arms, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to granting the stabilisation force a governance role in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation found to have misused such aid”. The phrase leaves open the council barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful provider of assistance.

Global Political Initiatives

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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

Neither the UN nor the 15-member security council are given a supervisory function over the mission, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a point largely ignored by the proposed document. No details is specified about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the model of Lebanon and reserve the authority to return to the territory if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a level or pace it demands.

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to review developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to arrive subsequently the same day.

Just the bodies of four of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could still be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. International officials insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.