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Conflict in the Middle East

Trump's plan for Gaza backed by UN Security Council

32 replies

Twiglets1 · 18/11/2025 05:31

The UN Security Council has voted in favour of a US-drafted resolution that endorses US President Donald Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza.

Included in the plan is the establishment of an International Stabilisation Force (ISF), to which, the US says, multiple unnamed countries have offered to contribute.

The resolution was backed by 13 countries - including the UK, France and Somalia - with none voting against the proposal. Russia and China abstained.

Adopting it was an "important step in the consolidation of the ceasefire," a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. Hamas has rejected the resolution, saying it fails to meet Palestinians' rights and demands.

Under the resolution, the ISF will work with Israel and Egypt, along with a newly trained and vetted Palestinian police force, to help secure border areas and ensure the process of permanently disarming non-state armed groups, including Hamas.

Until now, the police there have operated under the authority of Hamas.
Mike Waltz, the US's ambassador to the UN, told the Council that the ISF would be "tasked with securing the area, supporting the demilitarization of Gaza, dismantling the terrorist infrastructure, removing weapons, and ensuring the safety of Palestinian civilians".

The Security Council also approved the creation of a transitional governance body called the Board of Peace (BoP), which would supervise governance of a Palestinian technocratic, apolitical committee and oversee the reconstruction of Gaza and the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Financing for reconstruction of Gaza following two years of war would come from a trust fund backed by the World Bank, according to the resolution.
Under the resolution, both the ISF and the BoP would work alongside a Palestinian committee and police force.

Trump called the Security Council vote "historic" and said it was a way of "acknowledging and endorsing" the BoP, with its final membership to be announced soon. He is expected to chair it.

"This will go down as one of the biggest approvals in the History of the United Nations, will lead to further Peace all over the World, and is a moment of true Historic proportion!" he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0rpkgq4wllo

Long shot of Gaza rubble and demolished homes, bricks and concrete burying roads

Trump's plan for Gaza backed by UN Security Council

Included in the 20-point peace plan is the establishment of an International Stabilisation Force (ISF), which would work to demilitarise the territory.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0rpkgq4wllo

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Thedawnchorus · 18/11/2025 15:33

Twiglets1 · 18/11/2025 15:20

Definitely agree re the need for reforms in Gazan education.

The Palestinian foreign minister called the resolution "the first step in a long road towards peace. That step was needed because we could not embark on anything else before we had a ceasefire.”

She said that although the US president’s plan alluded to possible Palestinian statehood taking place only after the Palestinian Authority carried out reforms, that issue could be taken up later. “As long as these elements are in there, we’re happy with this first step.”

@mids2019 , you seriously think the reason Palestinians don't like Israel is because they are radicalised at school??? I know many Palestinians who have never been to school in Palestine, descendants of the first Nakba, who have been educated in Britain or the US and they absolutely hate Israel. Not because they have been radicalised but because they know the truth about how Israel has been oppressing the Palestinians for decades.

Twiglets1 · 18/11/2025 15:20

mids2019 · 18/11/2025 08:29

I agree.

On a depressing note Hamas are gaining popularity in the West bank and Abbas ages so it seems their malign manifesto has appeal amongst Plalestinians which is regretable.

One of the aims of the any new governance will be to look at Gazan education and prevent radicalisation which will be long hard job but hopefully will bear fruit.

Definitely agree re the need for reforms in Gazan education.

The Palestinian foreign minister called the resolution "the first step in a long road towards peace. That step was needed because we could not embark on anything else before we had a ceasefire.”

She said that although the US president’s plan alluded to possible Palestinian statehood taking place only after the Palestinian Authority carried out reforms, that issue could be taken up later. “As long as these elements are in there, we’re happy with this first step.”

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mids2019 · 18/11/2025 08:29

I agree.

On a depressing note Hamas are gaining popularity in the West bank and Abbas ages so it seems their malign manifesto has appeal amongst Plalestinians which is regretable.

One of the aims of the any new governance will be to look at Gazan education and prevent radicalisation which will be long hard job but hopefully will bear fruit.

Twiglets1 · 18/11/2025 08:01

It had a positive response.

13 votes in favour, 2 abstentions, 0 votes against.

The people most upset about it are Hamas and their supporters (& some extreme right wing members of Netanyahu's governing coalition) so anything that upsets that lot must be good!

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mids2019 · 18/11/2025 07:46

Interesting and important development. A lot hangs on Hamas disarmament which is far from certain unfortunately.

The resolution was passed with a large majority so I think there is a mandate here so is this progress?

The ISF I am sure will be the focus of the weekly marches around the UK though ........

Twiglets1 · 18/11/2025 05:58

Also reported in the New York Times:

The resolution passed with 13 votes in favor and zero votes against. Russia and China, either of which could have vetoed it, abstained, apparently swayed by the support for the resolution from a number of Arab and Muslim nations: Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Indonesia, Turkey and Pakistan, which is a member of the Council.

Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who addressed the Council before the vote, called Gaza “hell on earth” and held up a copy of the resolution, describing it as “a lifeline.” After the vote, Mr. Waltz thanked the Council for “joining us in charting a new course for Israelis, Palestinians and all the people in the region alike.”

Security Council resolutions are considered legally binding international law, and although the Council does not have a mechanism for enforcing such resolutions, it can take measures to punish violators with penalties such as sanctions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/world/middleeast/un-security-council-gaza-peace-plan.html

The American resolution passed in the U.N. Security Council on Monday with 13 votes in favor.

In Major Breakthrough, U.N. Security Council Adopts U.S. Peace Plan for Gaza

Russia and China abstained in the vote, which provides a legal mandate for the Trump administration’s vision of how to move past the cease-fire to rebuild the war-ravaged enclave after two years of war.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/world/middleeast/un-security-council-gaza-peace-plan.html

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Twiglets1 · 18/11/2025 05:36

From the same article:

Unlike earlier drafts, the resolution references a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood. It is language several council members pushed for.

Israel strongly opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, a significant hurdle in the path to future statehood. Key Arab states had pressured drafters of the resolution to include Palestinian self-determination in the text.

The UN Secretary-General's spokesperson stressed that the resolution needed to "translate... into concrete and urgently needed steps on the ground" and lead to "a political process for the achievement of the two-State solution".
The US, the Palestinian Authority, and several Arab and Muslim-majority nations including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have called for the quick adoption of the resolution.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) said in a statement that the resolution's terms needed to be implemented "urgently and immediately".

Russia and China did not exercise their vetoes, but abstained to allow the resolution to pass, largely because the PA and eight other Arab and Muslim nations backed it.

Both Moscow and Beijing criticised the resolution. They said there was little clarity about the key mechanisms' composition, that it did not ensure the participation of the UN, and that it failed to explicitly reiterate a firm commitment to the two-state solution.

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