UN Council Approves Donald Trump's Gaza Strip Proposal

The UN Security Council has supported measures advanced by the US president for achieving a durable ceasefire in Gaza, encompassing the deployment of an global peacekeeping force and a potential route to a independent Palestine.

Broad Support with Notable Abstentions

The resolution was adopted by a tally of 13-0, with China and Russia choosing not to vote. The US envoy the US ambassador addressed the UN assembly that it mapped “a different path in the region for Israelis and Palestinians and all the residents of the region alike”.

Balanced Language on Independence

Incorporation of allusions to an sovereign Palestinian state was the trade-off the America paid for backing from the Arab and Islamic world, who are expected to provide security forces for the international stabilisation force (ISF).

“Interim measures that we start today must be executed in adhering to international law and respecting Palestinian self-determination,” the UK chargé d’affaires stated.

Israeli Opposition Persists

Nevertheless, on the brink of the UN vote, leader Netanyahu reiterated his government’s firm resistance to the establishment of a independent Palestinian entity, raising questions on whether Tel Aviv will accept the implementation of the Council-backed plan.

Key Provisions of the Resolution

• Swift elimination of ongoing restrictions on relief supplies into Gaza
• Formation of an global security force
• Progress on restoration and a potential “pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood”

Unclear Phrasing and Requirements

The reference to Palestinian statehood was a compromise addition to an initial US draft which did not mention it. But the language is ambiguous and contingent, declaring only that once the PA has reformed itself and the reconstruction of the strip is progressing, “the conditions may ultimately be in position for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and nationhood.”

Global Response

The wording did not meet of the strong guarantee to the building of a Palestinian state beside Israel requested by Arab countries, as well as EU representatives, but in statements to the chamber after the approval, representatives from those countries said they were ready to support the agreement in the benefit of continuing the ongoing cessation of hostilities and immediate measures to assist and secure the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza.

“We has eventually decided to support of this text, a text that we support its primary aim, namely the continuation of the cessation of hostilities and the creation of circumstances allowing the Palestinians to claim their fundamental rights to sovereignty and nationhood,” the Algerian envoy announced.

Execution Hurdles

The resolution gives overall oversight authority to a “board of peace” headed by Donald Trump, but of unspecified participants. The board has to update the UN but it is not required to follow the wishes of the global organization or by the PA.

It also calls for the formation of a Palestinian technocratic committee that is supposed to run day-to-day governance of the Gaza and the delivery of services, but it is quite ambiguous who would take part.

Stabilisation Team Mandate

The mission of the ISF authorizes it to neutralize and disband fighting factions in the territory, but it is quite ambiguous that possible sending countries would agree to attempt to engage such factions. Not a single nation has yet committed itself to sending peacekeepers.

Furthermore the criteria for reform of the Palestinian Authority, the requirement towards moves to a sovereign Palestinian, have been vague.

EU representatives said they viewed it as pressing that the identities of the Palestinian technocratic committee to deliver services was agreed as promptly.