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Proposals for an international security mission authorized by the UN to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not take part due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israel have already ruled out Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not join. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a possible contributor, did not attend a planning session in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete truce was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined framework for the stabilisation force and in this situation will not participate, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Legal Issues

The UAE's announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted document previously circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of ensuring security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would prefer expanded duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also prohibit external forces from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the mission could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an unlawful presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to end the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Possible Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the mission authority, including its command and control, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The US is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have many troops involved on the ground. It has already effectively taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Governance Role

The proposed US resolution defines the aim of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the safety situation in the region by ensuring the process 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 militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

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

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group found to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording permits the council excluding the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful distributor of assistance.

International Political Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on 18 November, 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 the French capital on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Not the UN nor the 15 strong security council are given a supervisory function over the mission, supervising the execution of the proposal, a aspect mostly overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to return to Gaza if it believes disarmament is not taking place at a level or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review progress on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to appear later the that day.

Only the bodies of a small number of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Separately, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could still be divided in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the Trump plan.