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Plans for an multinational security mission authorized by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are facing increasing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible contributor, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional reservations about the terms of a US-drafted document previously circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would prefer expanded duties to be assigned to a distinct local law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit external forces from entering contested Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be seen as imposed under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals 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 presence, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined objective to conclude the occupation within the context 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 two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Risks

Detailed talks on the mission authority, including its command and control, began formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – risking the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already in effect taken control of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Function

The draft American document defines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and vetted police force to assist in protecting border areas, secure the security environment in the region by ensuring the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the stabilisation force a governance function in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have misused such assistance”. The phrase permits the board of peace barring Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful distributor of assistance.

Global Political Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to review the authority's function.

Neither the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are given a supervisory role over the mission, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a point largely overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances 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 level or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to appear subsequently the that day.

Only the remains of a small number of the original 251 Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.