UNITED NATIONS/New York: The UN Security Council will vote Monday on a resolution endorsing US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, diplomats said.
Last week the Americans officially launched negotiations within the 15-member Security Council on a text that would follow up on a ceasefire in the two-year war between Israel and Hamas and endorse Trump’s plan.
A draft of the resolution seen Thursday by AFP “welcomes the establishment of the Board of Peace,” a transitional governing body for Gaza — that Trump would theoretically chair — with a mandate running until the end of 2027.
It would authorize member states to form a “temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF)” that would work with Israel and Egypt and newly trained Palestinian police to help secure border areas and demilitarize the Gaza Strip.
Unlike previous drafts, the latest mentions a possible future Palestinian state.
The United States and several Arab and Muslim-majority nations including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye called Friday for the UN Security Council to quickly adopt the resolution.
“The United States, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Türkiye express our joint support for the Security Council Resolution currently under consideration,” the countries said in a joint statement, adding they were seeking the measure’s “swift adoption.”
Friday’s joint statement comes as Russia circulated a competing draft resolution to Council members that does not authorize the creation of a board of peace or the immediate deployment of an international force in Gaza, according to the text seen Friday by AFP.
The Russian version welcomes “the initiative that led to the ceasefire” but does not name Trump.
It also only calls on the UN secretary-general to submit a report that addresses the possibilities of deploying an international stabilization force in war-ravaged Gaza.
The United States has called the ceasefire “fragile,” and warned Friday of the risks of not adopting its draft.
“Any refusal to back this resolution is a vote either for the continued reign of Hamas terrorists or for the return to war with Israel, condemning the region and its people to perpetual conflict,” the US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, wrote in The Washington Post.
“Every departure from this path, be it by those who wish to play political games or to relitigate the past, will come with a real human cost.”
While it seemed until now that Council members supported principles of the peace plan, diplomatic sources noted there were questions about the US text, particularly regarding the absence of a monitoring mechanism by the Council, the role of the Palestinian Authority, and details of the ISF’s mandate.
The Russian UN mission said in a statement that its alternative proposal differed by recognizing the principle of a “two-State solution for the Israeli-Palestinian settlement.”
“Unfortunately, these provisions were not given due regard in the US draft,” it said.
UN Security Council to vote Monday on Trump Gaza plan
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UN Security Council to vote Monday on Trump Gaza plan
- Unlike previous drafts, the latest mentions a possible future Palestinian state
Ukraine’s Zelensky: We have backed US peace proposals to get a deal done
- “The tactic we chose is for the Americans not to think that we want to continue the war,” Zelensky told The Atlantic
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had sought to back US peace proposals to end the war with Russia as President Donald Trump seeks to resolve the conflict before November mid-term elections.
Zelensky, in an interview published by The Atlantic on Thursday, said Kyiv was willing to hold both a presidential election and a referendum on a deal, but would not settle for an accord that was detrimental to Ukraine’s interests.
“The tactic we chose is for the Americans not to think that we want to continue the war,” Zelensky told the US-based publication. “That’s why we started supporting their proposals in any format that speeds things along.”
He said Ukraine was “not afraid of anything. Are we ready for elections? We’re ready. Are we ready for a referendum? We’re ready.”
Zelensky has sought to build good relations with Washington since an Oval Office meeting in February 2025 descended into a shouting match with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance.
But he said he had rejected a proposal, reported this week by the Financial Times, to announce the votes on February 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion. A ceasefire and proposed US security guarantees against a future invasion had not yet been settled, he said.
“No one is clinging to power,” The Atlantic quoted him as saying. “I am ready for elections. But for that we need security, guarantees of security, a ceasefire.”
And he added: “I don’t think we should put a bad deal up for a referendum.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Zelensky is not a legitimate negotiating partner because he has not faced election since coming to power in 2019.
Zelensky has said in recent weeks that a document on security guarantees for Ukraine is all but ready to be signed.
But, in his remarks, he acknowledged that details remained unresolved, including whether the US would be willing to shoot down incoming missiles over Ukraine if Russia were to violate the peace.
“This hasn’t been fixed yet,” Zelensky said. “We have raised it, and we will continue to raise these questions...We need all of this to be written out.”
