UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed Monday’s Security Council’s adoption of the U.S.-backed resolution endorsing President Donald Trump‘s plan to end the war in Gaza, authorising an international stabilisation force for the Palestinian enclave. Calling it an important step in consolidating the ceasefire, Guterres said it is now essential “to translate the diplomatic momentum into concrete and urgently needed steps on the ground.”
Stressing the UN’s commitment to stepping up humanitarian assistance efforts in Gaza, the Secretary-General stated that it was important to continue advancing to the second phase of the U.S. plan, leading to a political process to achieve a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
Russia and China abstained from the Security Council vote. Hamas, meanwhile, refused to recognise the resolution, saying it “imposes an international guardianship mechanism on the Gaza Strip, which our people and their factions reject,” and reiterating that it would not disarm since its fight against Israel is “legitimate resistance”, a potential flash point in its dealings with the international force authorised by the resolution. “
Last month, Israel and Hamas had agreed to the initial phase of Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza – a ceasefire and the hostage-release deal. The UN resolution is viewed as essential to the establishment of a transitional governance body and as a reassurance to countries that may be considering sending troops to Gaza.
According to the resolution, UN member states can participate in the Trump-chaired Board of Peace, envisioned as a transitional authority to oversee Gaza’s reconstruction and economic recovery. The envisaged international stabilisation force would provide a means for demilitarising Gaza, a process that would include decommissioning weapons and destroying military infrastructure.
In remarks before the Security Council vote, U.S. ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz described the resolution as charting “a possible pathway for Palestinian self-determination.” It offered, he said, “a chance to agree on a political horizon”, one that “dismantles Hamas’s grip…ensures Gaza rises free from terror’s shadow, prosperous and secure.”
Although abstaining from the vote, the ambassadors of Russia and China to the UN took issue with the fact that the resolution did not specify a clear role for the UN in the future of Gaza. “In essence, the Council is giving its blessing to a U.S. initiative on the basis of Washington’s promises, giving complete control over the Gaza Strip to the Board of Peace and the ISF (International Stabilization Force), the modalities of which we know nothing about so far,” Russia’s ambassador Vasily Nebenzya, asserted.
Last week, a statement by the Palestinian Authority welcomed the resolution and declared its readiness to take part in its implementation, an endorsement diplomats said had been key to ensuring that a Russian veto was not cast.
President Trump inevitably took to social media, saluting the vote as “a moment of true historic proportion”. The Board’s membership, he wrote, “and many more exciting announcements, will be made in the coming weeks.”
References in the resolution to the possibility of a future Palestinian statehood did not go down well in Israel. Under pressure from right-wing members of his government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel remains opposed to a Palestinian state. He pledged to demilitarise Gaza “the easy way or the hard way”.
