image source, AFP
The United States and a number of its partners, including Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, on Friday called on the UN Security Council to “accelerate” the adoption of a draft American resolution that supports US President Donald Trump’s plan for peace in Gaza.
The United States, Qatar, Egypt, the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Turkey expressed in a statement their “joint support” for the American draft resolution that gives a mandate to form an international stabilization force, among other things, expressing their hope that it will be adopted “quickly.”
A spokesman for the US mission to the United Nations said in a statement, “Attempts to sow discord, while an agreement on this resolution is being actively negotiated, have serious, tangible and completely avoidable consequences for the Palestinians in Gaza.”
The American envoy’s statements came in apparent reference to Russia, which at the same time presented another draft resolution it had drafted on Gaza in defiance of Washington’s efforts to pass its proposal.
The American diplomat added, “The ceasefire is fragile, and we call on the Council to unite and move forward, to ensure the establishment of the much-needed peace,” considering this a “historic moment to pave the way toward lasting peace in the Middle East.”
Last week, American officials launched negotiations within the Council on a draft resolution that would strengthen the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and support Trump’s plan.
A third draft of the resolution, seen by Agence France-Presse on Thursday, welcomes “the establishment of the Peace Council,” a transitional governing body for Gaza that Trump is supposed to preside over in theory, for a term that will last until the end of 2027.
The resolution would also allow member states to form an “interim international stabilization force,” working with Israel, Egypt and newly trained Palestinian police, to help secure border areas and demilitarize the Gaza Strip.
This force will also be tasked with “permanently disarming non-state armed groups,” protecting civilians and securing humanitarian aid corridors.
Unlike the previous two drafts, the third draft mentions the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state in the future.
It stated that after the Palestinian Authority implements the required reforms and begins the reconstruction of Gaza, “conditions may finally be in place for a reliable path toward Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”
The draft adds: “The United States will launch a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians, to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence.”
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed optimism about the adoption of the resolution. “I think we are making good progress in formulating the resolution, and we hope to take action on it very soon,” he told reporters in Canada.
Despite this, diplomats raise questions about the American draft resolution, most notably that it did not include any oversight mechanism by the Security Council, nor the future role of the Palestinian Authority, nor details about the international force.
The United States officially distributed the draft resolution to the 15 members of the Council last week, and said it had regional support for it.
US President Donald Trump rules out sending American soldiers to the Gaza Strip, but officials have spoken of a force of about 20,000 soldiers, and have held discussions with Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and Azerbaijan to contribute.
“competing proposal”
For its part, Russia’s mission to the United Nations said in a memorandum, seen by Reuters, addressed to members of the Security Council on Thursday afternoon that “its draft resolution was inspired by the American draft resolution.”
The memorandum stated, “The aim of our draft is to enable the Security Council to develop a balanced, acceptable and unified approach towards achieving a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”
The Russian draft resolution requests that the Secretary-General of the United Nations identify “options” for an international force to achieve stability in Gaza, and does not mention the “Peace Council” that Washington proposed to establish to manage the transitional period in Gaza.
A European proposal to train 3,000 policemen from Gaza
Next week, European Union foreign ministers will discuss a proposal under which the bloc would undertake the task of training 3,000 Palestinian policemen with the aim of later deploying them in the Gaza Strip.
This was stated in a document prepared by the European Union’s diplomatic arm, before a meeting of ministers on November 20, and seen by Reuters news agency on Friday.
European officials identified options to contribute to the implementation of a 20-point plan proposed by US President Donald Trump regarding Gaza.
In the document, the European External Action Service outlined proposals to expand the Union’s two civilian missions in the region.
According to the document, the EU Police Support Mission could “take the lead in training the Palestinian police force in Gaza, by providing training and direct support to approximately 3,000 Palestinian police officers (on the Palestinian Authority payroll) from Gaza, in a step towards training the entire Palestinian police force, numbering 13,000.”
The paper also proposes the idea of expanding the scope of the European Union civil border control mission in Rafah to include other border crossing points.
Last October, Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of Trump’s twenty-point plan regarding Gaza, and to the hostage release deal as part of a ceasefire agreement.
Haaretz: “The security system in Israel feels excluded from American plans.”
Haaretz newspaper revealed that the United States is pushing towards implementing the “New Gaza” project, which is based on the reconstruction of areas east of the “Yellow Line” within the Strip under the supervision of companies from intermediary countries, in exchange for “Old Gaza” – west of the line remaining under Hamas control.
According to Israeli security sources, the newspaper said that the yellow line was supposed to be temporary, but it is now turning into what they described as the “new Berlin Wall,” which actually divides the sector into two areas.
According to the Haaretz report, the security system in Israel feels that it is excluded from American plans, and that Washington is leaving the Israeli army alone in the face of “Old Gaza,” which is densely populated and completely subject to Hamas, at a time when the United States is focusing on quickly advancing reconstruction projects east of the line.
The newspaper noted that security sources warned that the absence of an international force ready to operate inside “Old Gaza” would place Israel “faced with full humanitarian responsibility without a real ability to control Hamas’ control.”
Haaretz adds that there is a gap between what is being planned in the American, Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish channels, and what is known by the Israeli security establishment, which says that strategic decisions are taken without its involvement, and that the fate of the Strip after the truce is still ambiguous, with the possibility of the understandings collapsing if the issue of governing western Gaza is not resolved, according to the newspaper.
