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Plans for an international security mission mandated by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are facing growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it would not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a potential participant, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a complete truce was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stability mission and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional reservations about the terms of a American-proposed resolution previously distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would like expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful presence.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce global standards and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined objective to conclude the occupation within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Risks

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely 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 mission although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the terrain. It has previously in effect taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Role

The draft US resolution defines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, secure the security environment in the region by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” chaired by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group 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 Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority extends to granting the mission a governance function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the local government has adequately completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have misused such assistance”. The phrase permits the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal provider of aid.

Global Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a mention to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to review the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are given a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a point largely 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 the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Regional Situations

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and reserve the right to re-enter the territory if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a level or pace it demands.

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss progress on the truce and Witkoff was due to appear subsequently the same day.

Only the bodies of four of the initial hundreds of captives are still unreturned.

Independently, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could still be split in two parts with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.