Netanyahu welcomes UN resolution adopting Gaza peace plan

Israeli Prime Minister at odds with his allies over wording that refers to Palestinian state

Palestinians transport relief materials in Gaza city amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has welcomed the UN Security Council's adoption of the US plan for postwar Gaza, saying it will lead “to peace and prosperity”, despite major opposition from senior ministers within his ultranationalist coalition.

Monday's resolution centres on the deployment of an international stabilisation force in the coastal strip, which forms part of US President Donald Trump's 20-point ceasefire plan.

A Palestinian administration would also play a role in the reconstruction of Gaza, the plan envisions, all of which would be overseen by Mr Trump's "Board of Peace".

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The 15-member Security Council adopted the plan with 13 votes in favour. Russia and China abstained.

Mr Netanyahu praised the UN resolution because “it insists upon full demilitarisation, disarmament and the deradicalisation of Gaza”.

“True to President Trump’s vision, this will lead to further integration of Israel and its neighbours as well as expansion of Abraham Accords. President Trump’s breakthrough leadership will help lead the region to peace and prosperity and a lasting alliance with the United States,” he said.

UN Security Council members approved the US-led Gaza peace plan in New York. EPA

Mr Netanyahu also said Israel expects to receive the remaining bodies of deceased hostages held in the strip “with no delay”. Hamas has so far returned the remains of all but three of the 28 deceased hostages it was holding at the start of the truce.

Mr Netanyahu did not reference the resolution's nod to the possibility of a future Palestinian state, which drew sharp criticism within Israel. The draft adopted by the Security Council states that, after reforms within the Palestinian Authority and visible progress in Gaza’s reconstruction, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood”.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Monday, before the resolution was passed, that Israel should assassinate Palestinian Authority officials and have its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, placed in solitary confinement if the move was successful.

“A ‘Palestinian’ state of the ‘invented people’ who call themselves ‘Palestinian’ must never be established, because the aspiration of those seeking to establish such a state is to build it on the ruins of the State of Israel,” Mr Ben-Gvir said at a meeting of his party.

Ahead of the vote, an Israeli poll found that 70 per cent of Israelis opposed a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, mirroring widespread public opposition in recent years, in particular since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks that triggered the war.

The Palestinian Authority welcomed the UN resolution and said it would work on the plan to advance “the political path leading to peace, security and stability between Palestinians and Israelis, based on the two-state solution grounded in international law and international legitimacy”.

Hamas criticised the resolution, saying it “imposes on the Gaza Strip an international guardianship mechanism and a mechanism intended to achieve the goals of the [Israeli] occupation”.

Violence has escalated in the West Bank amid fears of an Israeli annexation of the territory. At least one Israeli was killed in a ramming and stabbing attack in the occupied territory on Tuesday, Israeli medics said.

The Israeli army said that its soldiers killed two assailants at the scene. It said explosive materials were found in the vehicle used by the attackers and were being neutralised by Border Police bomb disposal specialists.

The incident follows a spate of settler attacks on Palestinians across the territory. At least 1,006 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the war started, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In one attack on Monday, Israeli settlers rampaged through the Palestinian village of Al Jab’a, torching homes and cars. The violence drew rare condemnation from Israeli leaders.