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Plans for an multinational security mission authorized by the UN to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it would not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkey participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a potential participant, was absent from a planning session in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stability force and in this situation will not participate, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The Emirati decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab reservations about the terms of a American-proposed resolution already distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like greater responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct local civilian police force. International law would also prohibit external forces from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and end it. The force will succeed as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to end the occupation within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Risks

In-depth negotiations on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, began formally on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have many personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Administrative Role

The draft US resolution outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting border areas, stabilise the safety situation in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting removal of arms from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to giving the mission a administrative role in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the local government has adequately completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase permits the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has said is the lawful distributor of aid.

Global Political Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

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

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a oversight function over the mission, supervising the execution of the proposal, a point mostly ignored by the draft text. No details is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Regional Developments

Israel is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to follow the pattern of Lebanon and retain the right to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or pace it demands.

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to arrive subsequently the same day.

Just the remains of four of the original hundreds of captives are still not recovered.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the territory could still be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. International officials insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.