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Plans for an international security mission authorized by the UN to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not take part due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israel have previously ruled out Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, once considered as a possible participant, was absent from a planning meeting in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Doubts and Legal Issues

The Emirati announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional doubts about the terms of a US-drafted document previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing order in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would prefer expanded duties to be given to a separate Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid external forces from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the force could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the force be sent not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear goal to conclude the occupation within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, started officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – risking the development of a power gap in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the ground. It has already effectively taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into the territory from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Function

The draft US resolution defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and screened police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” led by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority spills into granting the stabilisation force a administrative role in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “underscores the significance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any group determined to have misused such aid”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the lawful distributor of aid.

International Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled 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 Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are given a supervisory function over the mission, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a aspect largely ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be largely covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to follow the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to return to the territory if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a level or speed it demands.

The request was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss developments on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to appear later the that day.

Only the remains of four of the original hundreds of captives remain not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two parts 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.