Trump’s plan for Gaza backed by UN Security Council
The UN Security Council voted in favor of the draft resolution prepared by the USA supporting Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza.
The plan includes the establishment of the United States’ International Stabilization Force (ISF), to which many unnamed countries have offered to contribute.
The resolution was supported by 13 countries, including the UK, France and Somalia, and none voted against the proposal. Russia and China abstained.
Hamas rejected the decision, saying it did not meet the rights and demands of Palestinians.
The group said in a statement on Telegram that the plan “imposes an international tutelage mechanism on the Gaza Strip that our people and their groups reject.”
“Giving the international force duties and roles in the Gaza Strip, including the disarmament of the resistance, leads to the elimination of its neutrality and turning it into a side of the conflict in favor of the occupation,” the statement said.
Part of the ISF’s role will be to protect civilians and humanitarian routes, as well as work on the “permanent decommissioning of weapons of non-state armed groups,” including Hamas, according to reports in the final draft.
This would require Hamas, banned as a terrorist organization by the UK, to surrender its weapons, something Trump must do under his peace plan.
In addition to authorizing an ISF that it says would work with Israel and Gaza’s southern neighbor Egypt, the draft also calls for the establishment of a newly trained Palestinian police in Gaza.
Until now, the police there had been operating under Hamas authority.
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told the Council that the ISF “will be tasked with securing the area, supporting the demilitarization of Gaza, dismantling terrorist infrastructure, removing weapons, and ensuring the safety of Palestinian civilians.”
The first phase of the plan, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the surrender of hostages and detainees, came into effect on October 10. Waltz called it a “fragile, fragile first step.”
The ISF is the central plank of Trump’s plan, which also includes the establishment of the Peace Board, which is expected to be led by the US president himself.
According to the decision, financing for the reconstruction of Gaza after two years of war will be provided by a trust fund supported by the World Bank.
The draft also raises the possibility of a Palestinian state, which Israel strongly opposes. A path to future statehood was included following pressure from key Arab states.
Trump’s peace plan essentially suspended the conflict between Israel and Hamas, which has been raging since Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 people were taken hostage in this attack.
Since then, more than 69,483 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military offensives in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
