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Proposals for an international security mission authorized by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing opposition after the UAE announced it would not join due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkey participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's troops will not join. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a potential contributor, did not attend a planning meeting in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stability mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's announcement, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted document already distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israel have left the territory.

Regional governments would prefer greater duties to be given to a distinct local law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit external forces from entering contested Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the force could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an unlawful presence.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to uphold global standards and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to conclude the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Risks

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – risking the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have many troops deployed on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Governance Role

The proposed American document defines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and screened police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into giving the mission a administrative role in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such aid”. The wording permits the council excluding Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful distributor of assistance.

International Political Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the PA role.

Not the UN nor the 15 strong security council are given a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a point mostly ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to emulate the pattern 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 request was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to review developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to arrive subsequently the same day.

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

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be split in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.