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Proposals for an international security mission authorized by the UN to disarm the militant group in Gaza are encountering growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it would not join due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Increasing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkey participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's troops will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a possible participant, was absent from a planning session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear structure for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Issues

The UAE's announcement, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional reservations about the terms of a American-proposed document previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring order in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would prefer expanded duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and arguably stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to enforce global standards and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined goal to conclude the occupation within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, began officially on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have many troops involved on the terrain. It has already in effect assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Governance Role

The draft American document outlines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to help secure frontier zones, secure the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting removal of arms from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into granting the stabilisation force a administrative function in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Aid Aspects and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the council excluding the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the legal distributor of aid.

Global Political Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15 strong security council are given a oversight function over the mission, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a aspect largely ignored by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to re-enter Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a level or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to review progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to appear subsequently the same day.

Just the bodies of four of the original 251 captives remain not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could still be split in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the region. International officials maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.