The UN Security Council has approved the US ceasefire plan for Gaza, which includes an international stabilisation force.
The vote came down to 13 members in support, and two abstentions from Russia and China in the 15-member UNSC. There are five permanent members and 10 rotating members. Israel was allowed to sit in on the meeting, but could not vote.
The resolution, now dubbed UNSC 2803, says that “conditions may be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood” if the Palestinian Authority (PA) undergoes reforms, and Gaza’s redevelopment “has advanced.”
The US resolution builds on Trump’s 20-point plan for the enclave. It says the security force will report to a so-called “board of peace” chaired by Trump.
Hamas has rejected the plan, saying the “resolution imposes an international guardianship mechanism on the Gaza Strip.”
“The resolution imposes an international guardianship mechanism on the Gaza Strip, which our people and their factions reject,” the group says in a lengthy statement on Telegram.
“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 [Israeli] occupation,” the statement said.
“Any international force, if established, must be deployed only at the borders to separate forces, monitor the ceasefire, and must be fully under UN supervision.”
Trump has shared a post on his Truth Social platform congratulating the world for the “incredible vote of the United Nations Security Council.”
He highlighted that the resolution will see a board of peace created, “which will be chaired by me.”
The board will “include the most powerful and respected Leaders throughout the World”, Trump said.
Trump also thanked all members of the Security Council, including those that abstained from the vote as well as other countries that he said “strongly backed the effort, including Qatar, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkiye, and Jordan.”
“The members of the Board, and many more exciting announcements, will be made in the coming weeks,” he said.
Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, has explained why his country abstained from the vote on the US resolution, expressing concerns about how it sidelines Palestinian participation and accusing the US of not acting in “good faith” to get it passed.
“The main thing is that this document shouldn’t become a fig leaf for unbridled experiments conducted by the US in Israel, in the occupied Palestinian territory,” Nebenzia said.
Under the resolution adopted, Nebenzia said, the force “would appear to be able to act absolutely autonomously without any regard for the position nor the opinion of Ramallah.”
“This may entrench the separation of the Gaza Strip from the West Bank. It is reminiscent of colonial practices and the League of Nations British Mandate for Palestine when the opinion of Palestinians themselves was not taken into account,” the Russian envoy told the council.
China, which abstained from the vote on the US resolution, has expressed concern over a lack of details in the document, including on the role of Palestinians.
China’s envoy to the UN, Fu Cong, said the resolution “doesn’t demonstrate the fundamental principle of Palestinians governing Palestine.”
“Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people, not to anyone else,” he said. Fu said the US should have provided more information on both the International Stabilization Force and the Board of Peace created by the resolution.
“It should have explained in detail their structure, composition, terms of reference and criteria of preparation,” he said. Fu also expressed concern that the resolution didn’t “ensure effective participation of the UN and its Security Council”.
The resolution authorises the Board of Peace, which will be led by Trump, “to assume full responsibility for the civil and security arrangements in Gaza, but it stipulates no oversight or review mechanism beyond the annual written reports,” he said.
The Palestinian Authority has hailed the passage of the US resolution on Gaza.
In a statement carried by the Wafa news agency, the PA said the US plan “affirms the establishment of a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance and the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state.”
The PA, which is based in Ramallah, also expressed its “full readiness to cooperate” with the Trump administration and the UN to “ensure the implementation of this resolution in a way that ends the suffering of our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.”
A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described the Gaza resolution as “an important step in the consolidation of the ceasefire” and called for the diplomatic momentum to be translated into “concrete and urgently needed steps on the ground.”
Stephane Dujarric said the UN is committed to its role in implementing the US resolution, including “scaling up humanitarian assistance” in Gaza and “supporting all efforts to move the parties toward the next phase of the ceasefire.”
He also said Guterres “commends the continued diplomatic efforts of Egypt, Qatar, Turkiye, the United States and regional states.”
The secretary-general also “underlines the importance of moving to the next phase of the US plan, leading to a political process for the achievement of the two-state solution in line with previous United Nations resolutions,” he added.
The United Kingdom said it voted for the resolution to advance the US peace plan for Palestinians and Israelis and stressed the urgent need to deploy the International Stabilization Force, open all crossings and enable unhindered aid into Gaza.
France said it voted yes to “support the ongoing peace efforts” and meet the “most urgent needs of the population”, including the delivery of humanitarian aid and disarmament of Hamas.
South Korea said it welcomed the Board of Peace, the International Stabilization Force and the full resumption of aid.
Palestinian group Al-Haq has warned that the security council resolution adopted on Monday further undermines Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
“The proposition that the United States be authorised by the UN Security Council to establish itself as an Occupying Power in Palestine is inherently in contravention of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, and in violation of the UN Charter,” the Ramallah-based human rights organisation said in a statement.
Al-Haq also warned that the creation of the Board of Peace and the temporary International Stabilisation Force “indicates the wholesale abandonment of international law, and the utter undermining of the UN Charter system.”
The post UNSC clears US Gaza stabilisation force; China, Russia flag ‘colonial’ fears as Hamas rejects foreign ‘guardianship’ appeared first on Maktoob media.
