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Proposals for an international security mission authorized by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in Gaza are encountering growing resistance after the UAE stated it will not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not join. Azerbaijan, once considered as a potential participant, was absent from a planning session in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a full truce was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all political efforts towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights Arab doubts about the terms of a US-drafted document previously circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing security in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Arab states would like greater duties to be given to a separate local law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the force could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to conclude the occupation within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, began officially on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

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 assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Governance Function

The proposed American document defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and screened police force to assist in protecting border areas, secure the safety situation in the region by ensuring the procedure of disarming the territory including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its goals.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to granting the mission a administrative role in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the local government has adequately completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation found to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the council excluding the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal provider of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state 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 stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to review the authority's function.

Not the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a oversight role over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a point mostly ignored by the proposed document. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be largely borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to return to the territory if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a scale or pace it requires.

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to review progress on the truce and the envoy was due to arrive subsequently the same day.

Just the remains of four of the initial 251 captives remain not recovered.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.