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Proposals for an international security mission authorized by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are facing growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a possible participant, did not attend a planning session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full truce was established.

The UAE does not yet see a clear structure for the stabilisation force and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the terms of a US-drafted document already distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of imposing order in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would like expanded responsibilities to be given to a distinct local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful presence.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the force be sent not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to uphold international law and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined goal to conclude the presence within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no reference to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Risks

In-depth talks on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, started formally on Thursday in New York, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have many troops deployed on the terrain. It has previously effectively taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Governance Role

The proposed US resolution defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and vetted police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in the region by ensuring the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” chaired by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the stabilisation force a governance role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full relief in the territory, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase permits the council excluding Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful distributor of aid.

International Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House 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, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the authority's function.

Not the UN nor the 15-member security council are given a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the execution of the resolution, a aspect largely ignored by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Local Situations

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to emulate the model of Lebanon and retain the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a level or speed it demands.

The request was put to the former US advisor, 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 due to appear later the that day.

Only the remains of a small number of the initial 251 Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the territory could yet be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the Trump plan.