The United Nations Security Council has voted in favor of a resolution drafted by the United States supporting President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for the Gaza Strip.
Included The plan includes the creation of an International Stabilization Force (ISF), and the United States says several unnamed countries have offered to contribute.
The resolution was supported by 13 countries, including the UK, France and Somalia, but no one voted against it. Russia and China abstained.
A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the agreement was “an important step toward strengthening the ceasefire.” Hamas rejected the resolution, saying it did not meet Palestinian rights and demands.
Hamas wrote on Telegram after the resolution was passed that the plan “imposes an international protection mechanism on Gaza that our people and their forces reject.”
He added, “Giving international forces a mission and role in the Gaza Strip, including disarming resistance forces, deprives them of their neutrality and turns them into a party to the conflict that supports the occupation.”
Under the resolution, the ISF, along with newly trained and vetted Palestinian police, will work with Israel and Egypt to secure border areas and ensure a process of permanently disarming non-state armed groups, including Hamas.
Until now, the police there have been operating under the command of Hamas.
Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the board that the ISF will be tasked with “supporting the demilitarization of Gaza, dismantling terrorist infrastructure, eliminating weapons, and ensuring the safety of Palestinian civilians.”
The Security Council also approved the creation of an interim governance body called the Committee of Peace (BoP), which would oversee the governance of Palestine’s technocratic, non-political council, rebuilding the Gaza Strip and providing humanitarian assistance.
According to the resolution, funds to rebuild Gaza after two years of war will come from a trust fund supported by the World Bank.
Under the resolution, both the ISF and BoP will cooperate with the Palestinian Commission and police.
President Trump called the Security Council vote “historic” and a way to “recognize and support” the BoP, whose final members will soon be announced. He is expected to chair it.
“This will go down as one of the largest recognitions in UN history, will bring more peace to the world, and will be a truly historic moment!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Unlike previous drafts, the resolution addresses a credible path to Palestinian self-determination and statehood. It’s language that several members of Congress are pushing.
Israel strongly opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, which is a major obstacle on the way to a future state. Major Arab countries pressured the resolution’s drafters to include Palestinians’ right to self-determination in the text.
A spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General stressed that the resolution must be “translated into concrete and urgently needed field actions” and lead to “a political process to achieve a two-state solution.”
Arab and Muslim-majority countries, including the United States, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, called for the resolution’s speedy adoption.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) said in a statement that the terms of the resolution must be implemented “urgently and immediately.”
Russia and China did not exercise their veto, but abstained from passing the resolution because the PA and eight other Arab and Muslim countries supported it.
Both Moscow and Beijing criticized the resolution. They said the composition of key mechanisms was unclear, did not guarantee UN participation and failed to explicitly reiterate a firm commitment to a two-state solution.
The initial phase of the plan, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the handover of hostages and detainees, came into effect on October 10. Waltz described this as “a fragile and fragile first step.”
Trump’s peace plan effectively halted fighting between Israel and Hamas, which had raged since Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. The attack left about 1,200 people dead and 251 taken hostage.
According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, more than 69,483 Palestinians have since died as a result of Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip.
