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Plans for an international security mission mandated by the UN to disarm the militant group in Gaza are encountering growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not take part due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israel have already excluded Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not join. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a possible participant, was absent from a planning session in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete truce was in place.

The UAE lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stabilisation mission and in this situation will not participate, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Doubts and Legal Concerns

The UAE's announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, highlights regional reservations about the terms of a US-drafted document already circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like expanded duties to be assigned to a separate local law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from entering contested Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the force could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Perspectives and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the force be sent not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to end the presence within the context of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Risks

Detailed negotiations on the mission mandate, including its command and control, began formally on last week in New York, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The United States is suggesting that it command the mission 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 Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Governance Function

The draft American document defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and vetted law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, answerable to a “peace council” chaired by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into giving the stabilisation force a governance function in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group found to have misused such assistance”. The phrase permits the council excluding Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal provider of aid.

International Political Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are given a oversight role over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point mostly ignored by the draft text. No details is specified about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to follow the pattern of Lebanon and reserve the authority to re-enter Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or pace it demands.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to review developments on the truce and Witkoff was due to appear subsequently the same day.

Just the remains of four of the original 251 Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. International officials maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.