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Plans for an multinational security mission mandated by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing resistance after the UAE stated it would not take part due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Growing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkish participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a potential contributor, did not attend a planning meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a clear framework for the stability force and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Legal Issues

The Emirati announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed document previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Regional governments would prefer greater duties to be given to a separate local civilian police force. International law would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the force could be seen as coercive under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to end the presence within the context of a independent 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 prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Possible Risks

In-depth talks on the mission mandate, including its command and control, started formally on last week in New York, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may empower Hamas.

The US is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the ground. It has previously effectively assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Function

The proposed American document defines the aim of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to help secure border areas, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting removal of arms from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the militant perspective, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into giving the mission a governance role 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 Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the importance” of full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any group found to have improperly used such aid”. The phrase permits the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful provider of assistance.

Global Political Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention 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 PA role.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a oversight function over the mission, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a point largely overlooked by the draft text. No details is specified about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Regional Developments

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to re-enter the territory if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or speed it requires.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review progress on the truce and the envoy was due to appear subsequently the same day.

Just the bodies of a small number of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could still be divided in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied parts of the region. International officials maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.