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Proposals for an international security mission authorized by the United Nations to demilitarize the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkey participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stabilisation mission and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted document previously 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an onus on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring order in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would prefer expanded duties to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid 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 stabilising an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce international law and end it. The force will succeed as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear goal to end the presence within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Risks

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, began formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the terrain. It has previously effectively taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Governance Role

The draft US resolution defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting border areas, secure the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of weapons from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “board of peace” led by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to granting the stabilisation force a governance function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has adequately finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording leaves open the council barring Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful distributor of assistance.

International Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to review the authority's function.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are given a supervisory role over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a aspect largely ignored by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to return to Gaza if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a scale or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to discuss progress on the truce and the envoy was due to appear later the that day.

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

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could yet be split in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.