Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu applauded the resolution although it opens the door to Palestinian statehood.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
The UN Security Council voted Monday 13-0 to adopt an updated version of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, including the deployment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) to ensure the Strip’s demilitarization.
Russia and China, which have veto rights in the Council, abstained, allowing the measure to pass.
Arguably the most important part to Israel of UNSC Resolution 2803 is its commitment to disarm Hamas and destroy its terrorist infrastructure.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said, “Disarming Hamas is a fundamental condition. There will be no future in Gaza as long as Hamas possesses weapons.”
Israel has stated repeatedly that it will never allow Hamas to become a threat to its citizens’ safety again – and, if necessary, it will take on the demilitarization job itself.
In apparent agreement, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said upon presenting the resolution that “The path to prosperity requires security first. Security is the oxygen that governance and development need to live and thrive.”
The resolution states that the IDF will withdraw from Gaza only after “a verified demilitarization” takes place.
As envisioned in the original plan, the resolution states that a Board of Peace will act as “a transitional administration” to oversee the ISF and reconstruction efforts, as well as support a “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” responsible for the day-to-day governance of the coastal enclave.
While the board will be led by Trump, who said it will include “the most powerful and respected leaders throughout the world,” it is intended to be temporary, working only until the Palestinian Authority (PA) can take over.
This is contingent on the PA carrying out “key reforms,” said Waltz in the forum, without giving details.
The resolution includes the statement that such a reform would lead to “a credible pathway to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
Israeli officials called this language “problematic,” but the Americans refused to delete it from the text.
All top members of the government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have firmly vetoed the idea of the establishment of such a state in Israel’s heartland, calling it a very real threat to the country’s security.
“Our opposition to a Palestinian state on any part of this territory has not changed in the slightest,” Netanyahu reaffirmed Sunday.
The prime minister ignored this point in the resolution when he congratulated Trump on Tuesday for getting the measure passed, focusing instead on the positives.
“We believe that [Trump’s] plan will bring peace and prosperity due to its insistence on the full demilitarization of Gaza, disarmament, and deradicalization,” he said, as well as triggering broader regional integration by way of Arab countries joining the Abraham Accords.
Netanyahu called on “all our neighbors … to normalize relations with us and join us in expelling Hamas and its supporters from the region.”
Applauding the vote on his Truth Social platform, Trump called it “a moment of true historic proportion” and “one of the biggest approvals in the history of the United Nations,” one that would “lead to further peace all over the world.”
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