The U.N. Security Council on Monday approved a U.S. plan for Gaza that authorizes an international stabilization force to provide security in the devastated territory and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.
Russia, which had circulated a rival resolution, abstained along with China on the 13-0 vote. The U.S. and other countries had hoped Moscow would not use its veto power on the United Nations’ most powerful body to block the resolution’s adoption.
The vote was a crucial next step for the fragile ceasefire and efforts to outline Gaza’s future following two years of war between Israel and Hamas. Arab and other Muslim countries that expressed interest in providing troops for an international force had signaled that Security Council authorization was essential for their participation.
The ceasefire went into effect on Oct. 10, but accusations of violations of the terms by both Hamas and Israel had threatened to upend the deal in the weeks since its implementation.
The first phase of the deal called for Hamas to release all living and deceased hostages in exchange for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel. While the living hostages were returned by the deadline, the remains of some of the dead hostages had not been handed over — with both Hamas and U.S. officials citing the difficulties in recovering some of the remains amid the destruction in the Gaza Strip — which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said constituted a violation.
There have also been flare-ups of violence in Gaza, including airstrikes from Israel, which it said were in retaliation for Hamas attacks on Israeli forces, since the deal went into effect. International advocates have also accused Israel of not adhering to the requirement to deliver all of the aid it promised to Gaza in the deal.
The U.S. resolution endorses President Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan, which calls for a yet-to-be-established Board of Peace as a transitional authority that Mr. Trump would head. It also authorizes the stabilization force and gives it a wide mandate, including overseeing the borders, providing security and demilitarizing the territory. Authorization for the board and force expires at the end of 2027.
“Congratulations to the World on the incredible Vote of the United Nations Security Council, just moments ago, acknowledging and endorsing the BOARD OF PEACE, which will be chaired by me, and include the most powerful and respected Leaders throughout the World,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media following the U.N. vote. He thanked the members of the Security Council, including Russia and China, and said, “The members of the Board, and many more exciting announcements, will be made in the coming weeks.”
Hamas criticized the U.N.’s adoption of the plan, saying, “Assigning the international force with tasks and roles inside the Gaza Strip, including disarming the resistance, strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favor of the occupation,” according to Reuters.
“Any international force, if established, must be stationed solely on the borders to separate the forces and monitor the ceasefire, and must be entirely under the supervision of the United Nations,” Hamas said, according to Al Jazeera.
During nearly two weeks of negotiations on the U.S. resolution, Arab nations and the Palestinians had pressed the United States to strengthen the original weak language about Palestinian self-determination.
The U.S. revised it to say that after the Palestinian Authority — which now governs parts of the West Bank — makes reforms and after redevelopment of the devastated Gaza Strip advances, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”
“The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence,” it adds.
That language angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed Sunday to oppose any attempt to establish a Palestinian state. He has long asserted that creating a Palestinian state would reward Hamas and eventually lead to an even larger Hamas-run state on Israel’s borders.
A key to the resolution’s adoption was support from Arab and Muslim nations pushing for a ceasefire and potentially contributing to the international force. The U.S. mission to the U.N. distributed a joint statement Friday with Qatar, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan and Turkey calling for “swift adoption” of the U.S. proposal.
The vote took place amid hopes that Gaza’s fragile ceasefire would be maintained after a war set off by Hamas’ surprise terror attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people. Israel’s more than two-year offensive has killed more than 69,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority are women and children.
Russia last week suddenly circulated a rival proposal with stronger language supporting a Palestinian state alongside Israel and stressed that the West Bank and Gaza must be joined as a state under the Palestinian Authority.
It also stripped out references to the transitional board and asked U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to provide options for an international force to provide security in Gaza and for implementing the ceasefire plan, stressing the importance of a Security Council role.
The U.S. resolution calls for the stabilization force to ensure “the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip” and “the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups.” A big question is how to disarm Hamas, which has not fully accepted that step.
It authorizes the force “to use all necessary measures to carry out its mandate” in compliance with international law, which is U.N. language for the use of military force.
The resolution says the stabilization troops will help secure border areas, along with a Palestinian police force that they have trained and vetted, and they will coordinate with other countries to secure the flow of humanitarian assistance. It says the force should closely consult and cooperate with neighboring Egypt and Israel.
As the international force establishes control and brings stability, the resolution says Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza “based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization.” These must be agreed to by the stabilization force, Israeli forces, the U.S. and the guarantors of the ceasefire, it says.
