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Plans for an international security mission mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize the militant group in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not take part due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Growing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a possible contributor, did not attend a preparatory session in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a complete truce was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a defined framework for the stability mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all political efforts towards peace – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Issues

The Emirati announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects regional reservations about the terms of a American-proposed resolution already circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israel have left the territory.

Arab states would prefer expanded duties to be given to a separate local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from entering occupied Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is critical that the force be sent not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The force will work as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to end the presence within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

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

Continuing Discussions and Possible Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, began officially on Thursday in New York, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the terrain. It has previously in effect taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Administrative Function

The draft US resolution defines the aim 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 the region by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “board of peace” led by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to giving the mission a administrative function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group determined to have misused such assistance”. The wording leaves open the board of peace barring Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal distributor of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are already pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Not the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to return to Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on this week to review developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to appear subsequently the same day.

Just the remains of four of the original 251 Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could yet be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied areas of the region. International officials insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.