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Plans for an international security mission authorized by the UN to disarm Hamas in Gaza are facing increasing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not join due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Growing Global Reservations

Israel have previously ruled out Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a possible contributor, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was established.

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

Regional Doubts and Legal Concerns

The UAE's decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring order in the territory after Israeli forces have left the region.

Arab states would prefer expanded duties to be assigned to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the force be sent not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to end the occupation within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israeli leadership opposes.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, started officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – risking the development of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The United States is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have many troops involved on the ground. It has already effectively assumed command 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 guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to granting the mission a administrative function in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have misused such aid”. The wording leaves open the council excluding Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has said is the lawful distributor of assistance.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to review the PA role.

Not the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point largely ignored by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Regional Situations

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to emulate the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to re-enter Gaza if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a level or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss developments on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to appear later the that day.

Only the bodies of four of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the region. International officials insist that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.