By: The World Ambassador
TWA
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The UN Security Council voted on a US-sponsored draft resolution based on Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza. The resolution was adopted with 13 votes in favour, while Russia and China abstained.
The document, prepared by Washington, proposes the creation of a “Board of Peace” to govern Gaza, chaired by Donald Trump and composed, according to him, of some of the “most powerful and respected leaders” worldwide. This Board would be authorised to deploy International Stabilisation Forces in coordination with Israel and Egypt. These forces would be responsible for peace-enforcement tasks, including demilitarising the enclave and disarming Hamas and other armed groups.
However, the resolution does not provide any role for the Palestinian National Authority in governing Gaza or determining the future of the Palestinian people within the framework of a two-state solution. It also fails to outline responsibilities for Israel as an occupying power, including commitments related to avoiding annexation of Palestinian land or withdrawing its forces.
The UN Security Council and the UN Secretariat have been effectively sidelined both in overseeing the new structures proposed for Gaza and in determining the procedures for deploying and stationing the international contingent.
Equally concerning were the rushed, near-ultimatum methods used to push the American draft forward—without meaningful debate, without addressing the substantial concerns of other member states, and under pressure generated by the threat of renewed large-scale violence in Gaza. A Russian counter-draft aimed at restoring consensus within the Council based on established international legal principles for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict did not succeed in changing the situation.
In its current form, Resolution 2803 does not provide the Security Council with the necessary authority to maintain international peace and security. It runs counter to the principles of genuine peacekeeping and to internationally recognised legal frameworks that call for the establishment of an independent, contiguous Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living in peaceful and secure coexistence with Israel.
Russia’s abstention reflected consideration of the position of the Palestinian National Authority, the support expressed by several Arab and Muslim states for the US draft, and the need to prevent a renewed escalation of violence in Gaza.
It must also be recalled that the conflict and humanitarian suffering in Gaza could have been mitigated far earlier had Washington not used its veto six times in the past two years to block draft resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire.
The key priority now is to ensure that this decision does not serve as a cover for unchecked political or military experiments in the occupied Palestinian territories, nor as a final word on the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to self-determination—or on the Israeli people’s aspirations for security and a peaceful future in the region.
