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Plans for an international security mission authorized by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing opposition after the UAE announced it would not join due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israel have already ruled out Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a potential participant, was absent from a preparatory session in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a clear structure for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Legal Concerns

The Emirati decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed document already distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring security in the territory after Israeli forces have left 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 entering contested Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the force could be seen as imposed under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to enforce international law and end it. The mission will work as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined goal to end the presence within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no reference to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the mission mandate, including its command and control, started officially on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have many troops deployed on the terrain. It has previously effectively assumed command of the delivery of relief supplies into the territory from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Role

The draft American document defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, answerable to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to granting the stabilisation force a governance role in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the importance” of full relief in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the removal of “any group found to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording leaves open the council barring the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal distributor of assistance.

International Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are already pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to review the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are assigned a oversight role over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect largely overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or pace it requires.

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to review developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive later the that day.

Only the bodies of a small number of the original 251 Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two parts with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials insist that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.