United Nations Council Endorses Donald Trump's Gaza Peace Plan

A Security Council has supported a plan advanced by the US president for securing a durable ceasefire in Gaza, including the deployment of an international stabilisation force and a eventual route to a sovereign Palestinian state.

Widespread Approval with Key Abstentions

This measure was approved by a tally of 13-0, with both China and Russia choosing not to vote. Washington's diplomat Mike Waltz addressed the UN assembly that it set “a different path in the region for the conflicting parties and all the people of the region alike”.

Negotiated Phrasing on Independence

Addition of mentions to an sovereign Palestinian state was the concession the US offered for endorsement from the Arab and Islamic world, who are anticipated to contribute peacekeepers for the multinational unit.

“The transitional arrangements that we start today must be executed in following global standards and upholding Palestinian rights,” Britain's representative affirmed.

Netanyahu's Opposition Continues

Nevertheless, on the brink of the resolution approval, leader Benjamin Netanyahu restated his administration's firm resistance to the establishment of a sovereign Palestine, casting doubt on whether Israel will permit the implementation of the Council-backed plan.

Main Elements of the Measure

• Immediate lifting of remaining curbs on assistance into the territory
• Formation of an multinational peacekeeping unit
• Progress on restoration and a eventual “pathway to Palestinian independence and nationhood”

Ambiguous Language and Requirements

The inclusion to Palestinian statehood was a negotiated inclusion to an original American proposal which omitted it. However the phrasing is ambiguous and contingent, stating only that once the Palestinian leadership has reformed itself and the rebuilding of the territory is advancing, “the circumstances may ultimately be in readiness for a feasible course to Palestinian self-determination and sovereignty.”

Worldwide Feedback

The wording was insufficient of the firm commitment to the establishment of a sovereign Palestine next to Israel requested by Muslim nations, as well as European delegates, but in statements to the assembly after the approval, delegates from those countries said they were ready to support the agreement in the service of extending the ongoing cessation of hostilities and swift steps to assist and secure the 2.2 million Palestinian people in the territory.

“We has eventually decided to vote in favour of this text, a resolution that we back its core objective, namely the maintenance of the cessation of hostilities and the formation of circumstances permitting the Palestinian population to claim their basic entitlements to independence and nationhood,” the Algerian envoy declared.

Practical Difficulties

The resolution gives overall oversight authority to a “stabilisation committee” led by Donald Trump, but of unspecified participants. The board has to update the UN but it is not obligated by the desires of the UN or by the PA.

Furthermore, it demands the establishment of a Palestinian technocratic committee that is supposed to run day-to-day governance of the Gaza Strip and the distribution of aid, but it is quite ambiguous who would take part.

Peacekeeping Unit Authority

The mission of the global force authorizes it to disarm and dismantle militant organizations in Gaza, but it is quite ambiguous that possible sending countries would agree to attempt to face such organizations. None of the states has yet pledged to dispatching troops.

Additionally the standards for changes to the PA, the prerequisite towards moves to a sovereign Palestinian, have been vague.

European diplomats said they deemed it necessary that the identities of the expert panel to distribute aid was determined as quickly as possible.