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Proposals for an international security mission authorized by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing opposition after the UAE stated it will not join due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israel have previously excluded Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not participate. Azerbaijan, once considered as a possible participant, was absent from a planning meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete truce was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear structure for the stability mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all political initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The Emirati announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of imposing security in the territory after Israel have left the territory.

Regional governments would prefer greater duties to be assigned to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be seen as imposed under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The force will work as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear objective to end the presence within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no reference 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 Negotiations and Possible Risks

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 – risking the development of a vacuum in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have many personnel deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Governance Function

The draft US resolution outlines the aim of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and vetted police force to assist in protecting border areas, secure the safety situation in the region by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a administrative function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the removal of “any group found to have improperly used such aid”. The phrase permits the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has said is the lawful provider of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

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

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a supervisory function over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly ignored by the draft text. No details is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Demands and Local Developments

Israel is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to return to the territory if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a level or speed it requires.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to appear later the that day.

Only the remains of a small number of the initial hundreds of captives are still not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could still be split in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.