UNSC ready to vote on Gaza international stabilization force
The United Nations Security Council is set to vote Monday on a US-drafted resolution backing President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan
NEW YORK, United States (MNTV) – The United Nations Security Council is set to vote Monday on a US-drafted resolution backing President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, including the deployment of an international stabilization force—an initiative Washington says is essential to prevent a relapse into conflict.
The draft resolution, revised multiple times during intense negotiations, formally “endorses” the plan that helped establish a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on October 10 in the war-ravaged territory.
Gaza has been devastated after two years of fighting, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
According to the latest version of the text seen by AFP, the proposal authorizes the creation of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) that would coordinate with Israel, Egypt, and newly trained Palestinian police to secure border areas and oversee the demilitarization of Gaza.
The ISF would also be tasked with the “permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups,” protecting civilians, and establishing safe corridors for humanitarian aid.
The resolution further calls for establishing a “Board of Peace,” a transitional governing body for Gaza that Trump would, in theory, chair until the end of 2027.
For the first time, the draft explicitly mentions the prospect of a future Palestinian state. Once the Palestinian Authority completes requested reforms and reconstruction of Gaza is underway, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood,” it states—an outcome Israel immediately rejected.
“Our opposition to a Palestinian state on any territory has not changed,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a cabinet meeting Sunday.
Veto-wielding Russia has circulated a competing draft, arguing the US proposal does not sufficiently support Palestinian statehood.
Moscow’s version reaffirms the Council’s “unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution” but does not authorize a stabilization force or a Board of Peace, instead instructing UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to present “options” on those matters.
The United States has intensified efforts to rally support for its resolution, denouncing “attempts to sow discord” within the Council. “Any refusal to back this resolution is a vote either for the continued reign of Hamas terrorists or for the return to war with Israel,” US ambassador Mike Waltz wrote in The Washington Post.
Washington has publicly highlighted support from several Arab and Muslim-majority states—including Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Turkiye.
Diplomats told AFP they expect the US draft to pass despite Russian objections and hesitation from some members. Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group said Moscow may ultimately abstain: “I think it is more likely that China and Russia will abstain, register their skepticism about the plan, and then sit back and watch the US struggle to put it into action.”
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