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Plans for an international security mission authorized by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkey participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not participate. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible contributor, was absent from a planning meeting in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference 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 proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing security in the territory after Israel have left the region.

Regional governments would like expanded responsibilities to be given to a distinct local civilian police force. International law would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh 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 end it. The mission will work as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to end the occupation within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no reference to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

In-depth talks on the mission authority, including its command and control, started officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have many troops deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Governance Function

The proposed US resolution defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and screened police force to help secure border areas, secure the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

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

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

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

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation found to have misused such aid”. The wording leaves open the council excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has said is the lawful distributor of assistance.

International Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a oversight function over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point largely ignored by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to follow the model of Lebanon and reserve the authority to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a level or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to review developments on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive later the same day.

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

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.