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Proposals for an multinational security mission mandated by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are facing increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it would not take part due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkey participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a possible participant, was absent from a planning session in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a full truce was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a defined structure for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the terms of a US-drafted document previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel have left the region.

Regional governments would like greater responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct local civilian police force. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was clear local approval; without it, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce international law and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to end the presence within the context of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

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

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, began formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the development of a power gap in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have many personnel involved on the ground. It has previously effectively taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Governance Role

The draft US resolution defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and vetted police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the process of disarming the territory including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the mission a governance function in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Aid Considerations and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the importance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation determined to have misused such aid”. The phrase leaves open the council barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the legal distributor of assistance.

International Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to discuss the authority's function.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong security council are given a oversight function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Regional Developments

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a level or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to discuss developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to appear subsequently the that day.

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

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.