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Plans for an international security mission mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize 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 framework.

Growing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not join. Azerbaijan, once considered as a possible contributor, was absent from a planning meeting in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a clear structure for the stability mission and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The Emirati announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional reservations about the terms of a US-drafted resolution previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would prefer expanded duties to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid external forces from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; without it, the force could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and potentially stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the force be sent not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear objective to end the presence within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Risks

Detailed talks on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, began officially on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have many personnel involved on the ground. It has previously in effect taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Function

The proposed American document defines the aim of the security mission as “together with the newly trained and vetted police force to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of arms from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority spills into giving the mission a administrative role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any group found to have improperly used such aid”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the legal distributor of assistance.

International Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, 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 president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Not the UN nor the 15-member security council are assigned a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a point mostly ignored by the draft text. No details is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Local Developments

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

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss developments on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive later the same day.

Only the remains of a small number of the original hundreds of captives are still unreturned.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the territory could yet be split in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.