The UN Security Council voted on Monday in favour of a US-backed plan for Gaza that authorises an international stabilisation force and lays out what Washington calls a pathway towards an independent Palestinian state.
The resolution was adopted by 13 votes in favour and two abstentions, Russia and China. The vote represented a pivotal moment for the current ceasefire in the enclave and for the move to chart Gaza’s future after two years of war between Israel and Hamas.
Countries such as Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia and Turkey have said their willingness to contribute troops to the 30,000-strong stabilisation force hinges on Security Council authorisation.
US envoy to the UN Mike Waltz, who addressed the council before the vote, called Gaza “hell on earth” where "hunger gnaws at the vulnerable, and hope flickers like a candle in a storm".
After the vote, he held up a copy of the text, describing it as “a lifeline". He said the resolution marked “another significant step” towards a stable and prosperous Gaza and an environment in which Israel can live in security. The resolution “is just the beginning", Mr Waltz added.
The plan includes a mandate for a transitional “board of peace”, led by US President Donald Trump, that will oversee the governing of Gaza until longer-term arrangements are established.
Mr Trump hailed the vote in a Truth Social post as "one of the biggest approvals in the history of the United Nations, [which] will lead to further peace all over the world, and is a moment of true historic proportion".
Mr Waltz said the board of peace would co-ordinate humanitarian aid, support Gaza’s development and work with a technocratic Palestinian committee overseeing day-to-day civil administration as the Palestinian Authority introduces its reform programme.
He said the resolution authorised an international stabilisation force, a coalition of peacekeepers including troops from Muslim-majority countries such as Indonesia and Azerbaijan, to be posted under a unified command.
“These brave souls will secure Gaza’s streets, oversee demilitarisation, protect civilians and escort aid through safe corridors, all while Israel phases out its presence and a vetted Palestinian police force takes on a new role,” Mr Waltz said.
The measure also states that the US will convene dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians to agree on a “political horizon” for peaceful coexistence, language intended to reassure Arab partners who fear the ceasefire could drift without political commitments.
“This resolution charts a possible pathway for Palestinian self-determination once the Palestinian Authority completes the necessary reforms," Mr Waltz explained. “Rockets will give way to olive branches, Hamas’s grip will be dismantled, and Gaza can rise free of terror and prosper.”
Slovenia’s UN ambassador Samuel Zbogar said before the vote that questions over who would disarm Hamas would be settled after the resolution was passed, adding that the task would fall to the proposed board of peace.
Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon warned that demilitarising the group is a “basic condition” for any peace deal. “There will be no future in Gaza as long as Hamas possesses weapons,” he added.
Hamas rejected the Security Council resolution, saying it fails to meet Palestinian rights and seeks to impose an international trusteeship on Gaza.
“Moreover, this resolution detaches the Gaza Strip from the rest of the Palestinian geography and seeks to impose new faits accomplis away from our people's constants and legitimate national rights, thereby depriving our people of their right to self-determination and the establishment of their Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem,” the group said.
Russia, a permanent member of the council with veto authority, indicated possible resistance to the resolution last week when it introduced a competing draft urging the body to examine alternative models for the international force.
Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said Moscow could not support the US-drafted resolution. “From the start of negotiations, we have insisted that Security Council members be given a statutory role with the necessary tools of accountability and control,” he said.
He said Moscow’s priority was ensuring the text “does not turn into a death knell for the two-state solution”.
Mr Nebenzya added that Russia had taken note of the Palestinian Authority’s position, as well as that of several Arab and Muslim states backing the US draft to avoid renewed bloodshed in Gaza, and decided not to introduce its own draft.
“Now, the implementation of President Trump's plan falls squarely on the shoulders of its authors and supporters, first and foremost, those of the group of Arab Islamic states," he said. “Regrettably, we've already had the unfortunate experience of seeing solutions to the Israeli Palestinian conflict pushed through by the United States, bringing about the opposite result of what was intended. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.”
A UN diplomat told The National that, although the Russian draft was more detailed and comprehensive, backing the US resolution and having Mr Trump as chairman of the board of peace was considered to be the most effective way to keep Gaza high on the international agenda.
Washington on Friday released a joint statement with the eight regional partners after several objections to earlier draft language that critics had said fell short on Palestinian self-determination.
In response, US negotiators strengthened the draft to state 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”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to oppose any measure that lays the groundwork for Palestinian statehood.
Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch, criticised the Security Council’s adoption of the resolution, saying: “The fact that the words ‘human rights’ don’t appear in the resolution … speaks volumes.”
Mr Charbonneau said Israel and its allies remain bound by international human rights and humanitarian law, quoting a recent International Court of Justice advisory opinion that requires Israel to co-operate with the UN, including UNRWA, the agency for Palestinian refugees.
