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Plans for an international security mission mandated by the UN to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing opposition after the UAE announced it will not take part due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Increasing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkey participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a potential contributor, did not attend a planning session in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear structure for the stability mission and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab doubts about the terms of a US-drafted document already circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of ensuring order in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be given to a separate local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to uphold global standards and end 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 clear objective to end the presence within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, began officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be lengthy – risking the development 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 many troops involved on the ground. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Role

The proposed American document outlines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the newly trained and screened police force to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the territory including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

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

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority spills into giving the mission a administrative function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Aid Aspects and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the legal distributor of aid.

International Political Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

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

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong security council are given a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a aspect largely ignored by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Regional Situations

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to follow the pattern of Lebanon and retain the right to re-enter Gaza if it believes disarmament is not taking place at a scale or speed it requires.

The request was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to review developments on the truce and Witkoff was due to arrive subsequently the same day.

Just the remains of a small number of the initial hundreds of captives remain not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could yet be divided in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the region. International officials maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.