🔗 Share this article

Proposals for an international security mission authorized by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are encountering growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not take part due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a potential contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a complete truce was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all political initiatives towards peace – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab reservations about the terms of a US-drafted document already circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would prefer greater responsibilities to be given to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to conclude the presence within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

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

Ongoing Discussions and Possible Risks

Detailed talks on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, started formally on last week in New York, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of personnel involved on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Role

The proposed US resolution defines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting border areas, secure the security environment in the region by ensuring the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to giving the mission a administrative role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the removal of “any organisation found to have misused such assistance”. The wording leaves open the council barring Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the lawful distributor of aid.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to review the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are assigned a supervisory function over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a point largely overlooked by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to follow the pattern of Lebanon and reserve the right to return to the territory if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a level or speed it demands.

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive subsequently the that day.

Just the remains of four of the original 251 captives are still unreturned.

Independently, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied areas of the region. International officials insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.