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Proposals for an multinational security mission mandated by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are encountering growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not join due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not participate. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a planning session in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stability force and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights Arab reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution already distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring order in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would like greater responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the force could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially stabilising an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The force will work as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to end the presence within the context of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Risks

In-depth talks on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, started formally on last week in New York, and appear to be lengthy – risking the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it command the force although it will not have many personnel deployed on the terrain. It has previously in effect assumed command of the delivery of relief supplies into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Governance Role

The draft American document outlines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to help secure border areas, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to granting the stabilisation force a governance role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved 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 removal of “any organisation determined to have misused such aid”. The phrase permits the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the lawful distributor of aid.

International Political Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has said that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

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

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are given a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a point mostly ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Regional Developments

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a level or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review developments on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to arrive later the same day.

Just the bodies of four of the original hundreds of captives remain not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. International officials insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.