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Plans for an international security mission mandated by the UN to disarm Hamas in Gaza are encountering growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not take part due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Growing Global Reservations

Israel have previously excluded Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a possible participant, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stability force and in this situation will not participate, but backs all political initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, highlights Arab doubts about the terms of a American-proposed document previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of ensuring security in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would prefer expanded duties to be assigned to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from entering occupied Palestinian territories unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is critical that the force be sent not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear objective to conclude the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, began formally on last week in New York, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The US is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the terrain. It has already in effect taken control of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Force Objectives and Administrative Role

The draft US resolution outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and screened police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is overly broad, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also worry the proposed authority extends to granting the mission a governance function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the significance” of full relief in the territory, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation found to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the lawful provider of aid.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the authority's function.

Not the UN nor the 15-member security council are assigned a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a aspect largely ignored by the proposed document. No details is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Regional Developments

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to follow the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a level or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss progress on the truce and the envoy was due to arrive subsequently the same day.

Just the remains of four of the initial hundreds of captives are still not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could still be divided 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.