UN Security Council approves US-backed resolution to establish an international force in Gaza. 13 countries vote in favor while Russia and China abstain.
Israel National News
The UN Security Council on Monday approved the US-backed resolution to establish an international military force in Gaza.
13 countries voted in favor while Russia and China abstained.
The proposal is based on US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for the Gaza Strip. Its main elements include establishing an international force to stabilize the region, disarming Hamas, and creating a ‘pathway to the establishment of a Palestinian state.’
Presenting the resolution before the Council, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said that the resolution is ‘a bold, pragmatic blueprint born from President Trump’s 20-point Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, forged in the fires of diplomacy with Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, and Indonesia.’
He added, ‘I ask you if the region most affected, the Arab nations, the Muslim majority nations, the Palestinians, and the Israelis can accept this resolution, how could anyone be against it? There is an old saying where I come from: ‘you can’t be more Catholic than the Pope.’ And I ask everyone today, are you more righteous in this cause than those who must live with it and will ultimately benefit from this plan for peace?’
Waltz noted that the first phase of the plan has seen the living hostages released and a ceasefire that is holding.
‘Their plan has already silenced the guns and freed 45 hostages in this fragile, fragile first step. And let me be clear- the United States remains committed to ensuring that the remains of the last three hostages held by Hamas must come home,’ he said.
Waltz warned that failure to advance Trump’s plan could lead to the ceasefire crumbling, adding that ‘we cannot repeat the definition of insanity here by doing the same thing that was done before. And by returning to the same frameworks and same talking points that will doom us to repeat this horror all over again.’
‘The clock is ticking, like a timebomb. So, let us vote for this resolution not as a compromise, but as a covenant. For the children of Gaza. And for peace that endures. And for a Middle East reborn,’ he stated.
On Friday, the United States and a coalition of key Middle Eastern and Muslim-majority nations issued a joint statement expressing strong support for the resolution, noting it ‘offers a pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.’
The clause in the draft resolution calling for a pathway to the establishment of a Palestinian state drew sharp criticism from several government ministers in Israel, but the wording of the resolution was not amended prior to the vote.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed his long-standing opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
‘Our opposition to a Palestinian state on any part of this territory has not changed in the slightest,’ he clarified.