The UN Adopts Trump's Peace Plan for Gaza

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A short time ago the UN Security Council voted to adopt President Trump's peace plan for Gaza. This is being seen as a big win for the Trump administration.

The United Nations Security Council on Monday approved President Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, a breakthrough that provides a legal U.N. mandate for the administration’s vision of how to move past the cease-fire and rebuild the war-ravaged Gaza Strip after two years of war.

The Council’s vote was also a major diplomatic victory for the Trump administration. For the past two years, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas has raged, the United States had been isolated at the United Nations over its staunch support for Israel.

The U.S. resolution calls for an International Stabilization Force to enter, demilitarize and govern Gaza. The proposal, which has attached Mr. Trump’s 20 point cease-fire plan, also envisions a “Board of Peace” to oversee the peace plan, though it does not clarify the composition of the board.

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There were 13 votes in favor and none in opposition. Russia and China voted to abstain. It had looked for a time last week like Russia and China might vote to block the plan.

At one point late last week, objections by China and Russia, which typically coordinate their positions around resolutions by the United States, threatened to derail the U.S. resolution altogether. Russia drafted its own 10-point counterresolution on Gaza, which called outright for Palestinian statehood and said the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza should be joined as a state under the Palestinian Authority.

The United States made minimal compromises on the resolution and instead rallied the support of Arab countries — Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — as well as Indonesia, Turkey and Pakistan, which is a member of the Council, to pressure Russia and China not to be seen as obstacles to a breakthrough in Gaza.

What this vote really sets up the next part of this plan, which is the creation of a security force designed to enter Gaza and disarm Hamas.

The move marks a significant next step for the fragile ceasefire and efforts to outline Gaza’s future following two years of war between Israel and Hamas.

Arab and other Muslim countries that expressed interest in providing troops for an international force had signalled that Security Council authorisation was essential for their participation.

The ISF’s responsibilities will include overseeing the borders, providing security and demilitarising the territory. Authorisation for the board and force expires at the end of 2027.

Next steps in Mr Trump’s plan include a yet-to-be-established Board of Peace as a transitional authority that the US president would head.

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I've been pretty dubious from the beginning of this that Hamas ever really had any intention of disarming. So I'm not surprised to see they are already criticizing the UN adoption of the plan that requires them to do just that.

Hamas criticized the U.N.'s adoption of the plan, saying, "Assigning the international force with tasks and roles inside the Gaza Strip, including disarming the resistance, strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favor of the occupation," according to Reuters.

"Any international force, if established, must be stationed solely on the borders to separate the forces and monitor the ceasefire, and must be entirely under the supervision of the United Nations," Hamas said, according to Al Jazeera.

Does it sound to you like Hamas is planning to step aside and disarm?

Israel has also complained about some of the language in the framework adopted today.

Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli finance minister, stated that the “deterioration” was due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “silence,” and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Israeli national security minister, stated that his party would not be part of any government that agrees to a Palestinian state.

“It’s not only the right-wing ministers that are against this,” Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told JNS.

Diker’s organization found in a poll that between 75% and 80% of Israelis “reject another Palestinian terror state, which this time would overlook Ben-Gurion Airport,” he told JNS.

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So the peace plan is moving forward but neither side seems happy about the specifics. We'll have to wait and see if the plan can continue to move forward with Hamas unwilling to take the next step. 

But at least one person is happy about today's vote. The White House just tweeted out a response from President Trump to the news.

Congratulations to the World on the incredible Vote of the United Nations Security Council, just moments ago, acknowledging and endorsing the BOARD OF PEACE, which will be chaired by me, and include the most powerful and respected Leaders throughout the World. 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! Thank you to the United Nations, and all of the Countries on the U.N. Security Council, China, Russia, France, The United Kingdom, Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, South Korea, Pakistan, Panama, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Somalia. Also thank you to those Countries that weren’t on this Committee, but strongly backed the effort, including Qatar, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkiye, and Jordan. The members of the Board, and many more exciting announcements, will be made in the coming weeks.

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