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Proposals for an international security mission authorized by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing resistance after the UAE announced it will not join due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a potential participant, was absent from a planning meeting in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full truce was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards peace – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The Emirati decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of imposing order in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be given to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid external forces from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be seen as imposed under UN law, and arguably stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the force be sent not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear goal to conclude the occupation within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Risks

In-depth negotiations on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, began officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of personnel involved on the ground. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Governance Function

The draft American document defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting border areas, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

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

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also worry the proposed authority extends to granting the mission a governance function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the importance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any organisation found to have misused such assistance”. The phrase permits the council barring Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal distributor of assistance.

Global Political Initiatives

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included 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 stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a oversight function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a point mostly ignored by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Regional Developments

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to follow the model of Lebanon and retain the authority to re-enter Gaza if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a level or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to review progress on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive later the same day.

Only the bodies of four of the original hundreds of captives remain unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. International officials maintain that this is not part of the Trump plan.