Last week, the Americans officially began negotiations within the 15-member Security Council on a text that would follow up on the ceasefire in the two-year war between Israel and Hamas and support the Trump plan. The draft allows member states to form a “temporary international stabilization force” to work with Israel, Egypt, and the newly trained Palestinian police to help secure the border areas and disarm the Gaza Strip.
The countries stated in a joint statement: “The United States, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Turkey express their joint support for the Security Council resolution currently under consideration,” adding that they seek “rapid adoption” of this measure.
The Russian version “welcomes the initiative that led to the ceasefire” but does not mention Trump by name. It also only calls on the UN Secretary-General to report on the possibilities of deploying an international stabilization force in war-torn Gaza.
Mike Waltz, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, wrote in the Washington Post: “Any refusal to support this resolution is a vote either for the continued rule of Hamas terrorists or for a return to war with Israel, condemning the region and its people to endless conflict.” Waltz also noted that “the draft resolution will enable the Palestinian people, not Hamas, to rule Gaza.”
The Russian mission to the United Nations stated, in a statement, that it has submitted an alternative draft resolution to the Security Council for the US president’s plan on Gaza, clarifying that the US draft did not take into account the fundamental bases of the settlement, foremost among them the principle of a “two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian settlement.” It added: “Unfortunately, these provisions were not considered in the American draft.”
The United States had earlier proposed deploying an international security force in the Gaza Strip as part of the ceasefire agreement reached in the area. The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip came into effect on October 10th.
