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The UN Security Council has approved a US-backed proposal that would deploy an international stabilisation force and establish a transitional administration for the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
The temporary structure would govern Gaza until an internationally recognised Palestinian government was ready to take over its control, the resolution said.
The resolution, which passed with 13 votes in favour and two abstentions by Russia and China, creates a UN-mandated legal framework for a complex, multiphase transition of the enclave from the control of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that has fought multiple wars with Israel, including this most recent one, which lasted more than two years.
It also requires the creation of an International Stabilization Force — a controversial, multinational military deployment modelled on prior UN Peacekeeping missions and built along the guidelines set out in US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan that secured a ceasefire on October 10.
The resolution comes more than a month after the tenuous ceasefire took hold between Hamas and Israel, during which all the living Israeli hostages were released and the remains of all but three dead hostages were returned.
Multiple challenges remain: no country has publicly agreed to join the ISF, Gazans remain entirely dependent on international humanitarian assistance to survive and Hamas, while militarily diminished by Israel’s devastating offensive, retains control of almost half of the besieged enclave.
While Trump expects Arab and Muslim nations to contribute the bulk of the troops for the force, many governments said they would only decide whether to deploy once the ISF had a UN mandate.
The resolution acknowledges a potential future role for the Palestinian Authority, which lost control of Gaza to Hamas in a short civil war in 2007 and has limited self-rule in some parts of the occupied West Bank.
It also requires the PA — which is widely seen as corrupt and incompetent but is regarded by Arab states and Europeans as the only viable Palestinian partner — to implement serious reforms before a so-called Board of Peace that is to oversee the postwar transition hands over control of Gaza.
It remains unclear how critical parts of Trump’s plan, including the disarmament of Hamas and Israel’s eventual withdrawal from the strip, will be resolved.
Badr Abdel Atty, Egypt’s foreign minister, told the Financial Times the ISF would be a peacekeeping force, helping monitor the border crossings and working with and training Palestinian police.
“The main role is monitoring the commitment of the two sides to the ceasefire. One party violates the ceasefire agreement under the pretext that the other party violated,” he said. “We want an objective, neutral and international party to be on the ground and to ascertain the extent to which the two sides are adhering to their total commitment to the ceasefire.”
He would not confirm whether Egypt would contribute to the force. Jordan and Saudi Arabia have been unenthusiastic about adding their troops, while Israel has vetoed allowing Turkish troops into Gaza. The Indonesian government — which has no diplomatic ties with Israel — has said it will consider sending troops.
A senior Azerbaijani official told the FT last week that while the Muslim-majority nation, which has a relationship with Israel, had been approached by the US to join the ISF, it was waiting for the resolution to clarify the situation.
“The basic, difficult questions, like rules of engagement — are they going to be shooting at Hamas? — haven’t been resolved,” said a regional diplomat.
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