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Plans for an multinational security mission authorized by the UN to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing resistance after the UAE stated it will not join due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible contributor, did not attend a planning meeting in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a defined framework for the stabilisation mission and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Issues

The Emirati announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional reservations about the terms of a US-drafted document already distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would like greater responsibilities to be given to a separate local law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid external forces from entering contested Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined goal to conclude the presence within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Risks

In-depth negotiations on the mission authority, including its command and control, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the terrain. It has already effectively taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Role

The proposed US resolution defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, secure the safety situation in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the territory including the elimination and prevention of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to lay down arms, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the end of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a governance role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the removal of “any group found to have misused such aid”. The wording permits the council excluding the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful provider of aid.

International Political Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are already pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

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

Neither the UN nor the 15-member security council are given a supervisory function over the mission, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point mostly ignored by the draft text. No details is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Regional Situations

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to return to the territory if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a scale or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’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 truce and the envoy was due to appear subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of a small number of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the territory could still be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.