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Proposals for an multinational security mission mandated by the UN to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not join due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing Global Reservations

Israel have previously ruled out Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, once considered as a potential contributor, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was in place.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stabilisation mission and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Doubts and Legal Issues

The Emirati announcement, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab doubts about the terms of a US-drafted document 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a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring security in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would prefer expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a separate Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from entering contested Palestine unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the force could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and end it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined objective to end the occupation within the context of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the mission authority, including its command and control, started officially on last week in New York, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Governance Function

The draft American document defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and vetted police force to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the proposed authority extends to giving the mission a administrative function in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Aid Aspects and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation found to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase permits the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful distributor of assistance.

International Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently pressing 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 a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Neither the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are given a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a aspect mostly ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Local Situations

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a level or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to review progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to arrive later the same day.

Only the bodies of a small number of the initial 251 captives are still not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.