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Proposals for an multinational security mission mandated by the UN to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing resistance after the UAE announced it would not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a possible participant, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear framework for the stability mission and in this situation will not participate, but backs all political efforts towards peace – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The UAE's announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, highlights regional reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed document already distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of imposing order in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would prefer expanded duties to be given to a separate local law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from entering occupied Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the force could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to stabilise the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and end 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 clear objective to conclude the presence within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Possible Risks

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, started formally on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

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

Force Objectives and Governance Role

The proposed US resolution defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and screened police force to help secure border areas, secure the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, 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 group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the proposed authority extends to granting the mission a governance function 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 Funding Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “underscores the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any organisation found to have misused such assistance”. The wording permits the council excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal provider of assistance.

International Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

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

Neither the UN nor the 15-member security council are given a oversight role over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point largely ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to follow the pattern of Lebanon and retain the right to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to appear subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of four of the original 251 Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.