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Plans for an multinational security mission mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing opposition after the UAE announced it will not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not join. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a potential contributor, was absent from a planning meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was established.

The UAE does not yet see a defined structure for the stability mission and in this situation will not participate, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, highlights regional doubts about the terms of a American-proposed resolution already circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing order in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would prefer greater duties to be given to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The force will work as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear goal to end the occupation within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no reference to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Risks

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, began officially on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the development of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have many personnel involved on the ground. It has already effectively assumed command of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Governance Role

The proposed American document defines the aim of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” led by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into giving the mission a administrative function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any group found to have misused such assistance”. The wording leaves open the council excluding Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal provider of assistance.

Global Political Initiatives

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 White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to review the authority's function.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong security council are assigned a supervisory role over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect largely ignored by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to return to Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a level or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, 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 scheduled to arrive subsequently the same day.

Only the bodies of four of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Independently, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could still be split in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. International officials insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.