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Proposals for an international security mission mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are facing growing opposition after the UAE announced it would not join due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Increasing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not join. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a possible participant, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was established.

The UAE does not yet see a clear framework for the stability mission and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Legal Concerns

The Emirati announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects regional doubts about the terms of a US-drafted document previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing order in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like greater duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the force could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, 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 invitation of Palestine, and has a defined objective to conclude the presence within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israeli leadership opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, started formally on last week in New York, and appear to be protracted – risking the development of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have many troops involved on the ground. It has previously effectively taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Role

The draft American document defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to assist in protecting border areas, stabilise the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the end of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the stabilisation force a governance function in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Aid Considerations and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the proposal states. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

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

Global Political Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has said 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.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are given a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a point mostly ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the United States 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 demands.

The request was presented 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 scheduled to arrive later the same day.

Just the remains of four of the initial 251 captives are still unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could yet be divided in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.