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Proposals for an multinational security mission authorized by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing opposition after the UAE announced it will not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not join. Azerbaijan, once considered as a possible participant, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stability force and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Legal Issues

The UAE's decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the terms of a American-proposed resolution already distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing order in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would like greater duties to be given to a separate local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and arguably stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined objective to end the presence within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Risks

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, began formally on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it command the force although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Function

The draft US resolution defines the aim of the security mission as “together with the newly trained and vetted police force to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in the region by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, answerable to a “peace council” led by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into giving the mission a administrative function in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Funding Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full relief in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any group determined to have improperly used such aid”. The wording permits the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful provider of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Not the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a oversight role over the mission, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a aspect largely ignored by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to return to Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or speed it requires.

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to review developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to appear later the same day.

Just the bodies of a small number of the initial 251 captives remain unreturned.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. International officials maintain that this is not part of the Trump plan.