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Proposals for an international security mission mandated by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not join due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Increasing International Reservations

Israel have already excluded Turkish participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a possible participant, was absent from a planning meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a complete truce was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stability force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Issues

The Emirati announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution already distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of ensuring security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would like greater responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also prohibit external forces from entering occupied Palestine unless there was clear local approval; without it, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is critical that the force be sent not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to end the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Risks

In-depth negotiations on the mission authority, including its command and control, started officially on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the development of a vacuum in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it command the force although it will not have many troops deployed on the ground. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Governance Role

The draft US resolution outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and vetted police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the end of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority extends to granting the mission a administrative role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Aid Aspects and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the proposal states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have misused such aid”. The phrase permits the council excluding the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the legal distributor of aid.

International Political Initiatives

French officials and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

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

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a oversight function over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a point mostly ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be largely covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Regional Situations

Israel is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and retain the authority to return to Gaza if it believes disarmament 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 American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review progress on the truce and the envoy was due to appear later the that day.

Only the remains of a small number of the initial 251 captives remain not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.