UN Security Council Backs US Plan for Gaza, Approves New Stabilisation Force

The United Nations Security Council has approved a United States drafted resolution endorsing President Donald Trump’s twenty point plan for Gaza, marking a significant diplomatic moment in efforts to stabilise the territory after years of conflict. Thirteen council members voted in favour, while Russia and China abstained, allowing the resolution to pass without opposition.

A spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the decision represents an important step in consolidating the current ceasefire. The plan includes the creation of an International Stabilisation Force, which the United States says several unnamed countries have already offered to support. The force will work with Israel and Egypt, along with a newly trained Palestinian police force, to secure border areas and guide the long term disarmament of non state armed groups including Hamas.

The approval has been met with strong opposition from Hamas, which rejected the resolution and said it does not meet the rights and demands of the Palestinian people. The group said the plan imposes an international guardianship system over Gaza and gives the stabilisation force a role that undermines neutrality. It argued that assigning the force powers inside Gaza, including the responsibility of disarming Palestinian groups, effectively places it on one side of the conflict.

Under the resolution the Security Council also approved a transitional body known as the Board of Peace. This organisation will oversee governance through a Palestinian technocratic committee and manage reconstruction efforts along with humanitarian distribution. Reconstruction is to be funded through a trust mechanism supported by the World Bank.

United States ambassador Mike Waltz told the Security Council that the stabilisation force’s responsibilities will include securing the territory, supporting demilitarisation, dismantling militant infrastructure, removing weapons and ensuring the safety of civilians. Trump welcomed the vote, calling it historic and saying it represents global endorsement of the Board of Peace, which he is expected to chair.

Unlike earlier drafts the resolution now contains language acknowledging a credible path to Palestinian self determination and future statehood. This addition came after pressure from several council members and key Arab states who insisted that Palestinian statehood must be part of any long term political solution. Israel remains firmly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state, leaving major political challenges ahead.

Russia and China allowed the resolution to pass but said they abstained because they believed it lacks clarity about how the new mechanisms will operate and does not ensure meaningful UN participation. They also said the text does not firmly restate a commitment to the two state solution.

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began on October ten as part of the plan’s initial phase. Waltz described the situation as extremely fragile but noted that the agreement has at least paused the violence that followed the October seven 2023 attack in which militants killed twelve hundred people and took hundreds hostage. According to Gaza’s health authorities more than sixty nine thousand Palestinians have been killed since the conflict began.