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The UN security council has endorsed proposals put forward by Donald Trump for a lasting peace in Gaza, including the deployment of an international stabilisation force and a possible path to a sovereign Palestinian state.
The resolution, passed by a vote of 13-0 with abstentions by China and Russia, charted “a new course in the Middle East for Israelis and Palestinians and all the people of the region alike”, the US envoy to the UN, Mike Waltz, told the council chamber.
The inclusion of references to an independent Palestine was the price the US paid for backing from the Arab and Islamic world, who are expected to provide peacekeepers for an international stabilisation force (ISF).
However, on the eve of the UN vote, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu restated his government’s adamant opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state, raising questions on whether Israel will allow the implementation of the UN-mandated proposals.
Supporters of the resolution said it should lead to the immediate lifting of remaining curbs on the flow of aid into Gaza, the creation of an international stabilisation force which would fill the vacuum left by Israeli military withdrawal, and moves towards reconstruction and a possible “pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood”.
The reference to Palestinian statehood was a compromise addition to an initial US draft which did not mention it. However the wording is vague and conditional, promising only that once the Palestinian Authority has reformed itself and the rebuilding of Gaza is under way, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”
The language fell far short of the firm commitment to the building of a Palestinian state alongside Israel sought by Arab and Islamic states, as well as European council members, but in speeches to the chamber after the vote, delegates from those countries said they were prepared to accept the compromise in the interests of extending the current truce and immediate measures to feed and protect the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza.
“The transitional arrangements that we embark on today must be implemented in accordance with international law and respecting Palestinian sovereignty and self-determination,” James Kariuki, the UK chargé d’affaires said.
“We submitted what we considered essential amendments to ensure balance and integrity in the text. Some of those proposals were taken on board,” the Algerian envoy, Amar Bendjama, said, speaking for the Arab bloc and making clear that it viewed the document as sowing the seeds of Palestinian sovereignty.
“Algeria has finally decided to vote in favour of this text, a text that we support its core objective, namely the maintenance of the ceasefire and the creation of conditions enabling the Palestinian people to exercise their immeasurable rights to self-determination and statehood.”
Bendjama drew attention to the annexe to the resolution which he said addressed Palestinian rights. “This resolution must be read in its entirety. Its annexe is an integral part of it, and all parties must comply with it,” he said. “It clearly affirms no annexation, no occupation, no forced displacement.”
While the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is reported to have reluctantly acquiesced to the wording of the resolution in discussions with Washington, he backtracked after an outraged response from the extreme right wing of his governing coalition. On Sunday, the prime minister said “our opposition to a Palestinian state on any territory has not changed.”
The resolution was a rare example of concerted action by the UN over Gaza, after two years of diplomatic impasse during which at least 71,000 Palestinians have been killed, and which has drawn allegations of genocide by a UN commission of inquiry and human rights groups.
The price of passing a resolution, with Russia and China abstaining rather than using their veto, was vague language which left many issues uncertain.
It gives overall oversight authority to a “board of peace” chaired by Trump, but of uncertain membership. The board has to report to the UN but it is not bound by the wishes of the UN or by the Palestinian Authority. It also calls for the creation of a Palestinian technocratic committee that is supposed to run day-to-day governance of the Gaza Strip and the delivery of services, but it is far from clear who would take part.
The mandate of the ISF gives it authority to disarm and dismantle armed groups in Gaza like Hamas, but it is far from clear that would-be troop contributors would agree to attempt to confront Hamas. No country has so far committed itself to sending peacekeepers.
Furthermore the criteria for reform of the Palestinian Authority, the precondition towards moves to a sovereign Palestinian, have been hazy.
European diplomats said they said it was also urgent that the names of the Palestinian technocratic committee to deliver services was agreed as quickly as possible.
