US proposes that the UN authorize a Gaza stabilization force for 2 years
[November 05, 2025]
By SAM MEDNICK, MATTHEW LEE and FARNOUSH AMIRI
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States has circulated draft text for a
U.N. Security Council resolution that would provide a mandate for an
international stabilization force in Gaza for at least two years,
marking the next step in President Donald Trump’s plan to halt two years
of war between Israel and Hamas.
The draft, confirmed to The Associated Press by two U.S. officials, is
an early template for what would likely be extensive negotiations
between members of the 15-member council and other international
partners. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the
sensitivity of the situation, said the draft is being discussed and
changed based on those discussions.
Arab and other countries that have expressed interest in participating
in the stabilization force have indicated that U.N. backing of the plan
is necessary to persuade them to contribute troops.
“What we believe is that whatever entity that is created in Gaza should
have the legitimacy of a mandate from the Security Council,” U.N.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters in Doha.
The draft was circulated Tuesday afternoon and has been prepared as a
starting point to find consensus that would give the stabilization force
and participating countries an international mandate.
China and Russia — two of the permanent members of the council — will
likely become the biggest opposition for the U.S. as it tries to push
through a resolution without either country vetoing it.
The draft calls for the force to ensure “the process of demilitarizing
the Gaza Strip” and “the permanent decommissioning of weapons from
non-state armed groups.” A big question in Trump's 20-step plan for a
ceasefire and reconstruction in the territory is the way to disarm
Hamas, which has not fully accepted that step.
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A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches along Zawaida in
the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel
Kareem Hana)
The draft would give countries participating in the stabilization
force a broad mandate to provide security in Gaza through the end of
2027, working with a yet-to-be-established “Board of Peace” that
would temporarily govern the territory. The draft calls for the
force to closely consult and cooperate with Egypt and Israel.
The text also says the stabilization troops would help secure border
areas, along with a Palestinian police force that they have trained
and vetted, as well as coordinate with other countries to secure the
flow of humanitarian assistance. It also emphasizes the “full
resumption” of aid to Gaza by the United Nations, Red Cross and Red
Crescent and ensuring that those needed supplies are not diverted.
Hamish Falconer, Britain's minister for the Middle East and North
Africa, told the AP recently that the focus for the U.K. is ensuring
the fragile ceasefire holds and that scaled-up aid keeps flowing. He
said many questions surround phase two of Trump's plan and that the
implementation of the first phase is still unfinished.
Falconer said it's important for any stabilization force in Gaza to
be “underpinned by a Security Council mandate.”
Axios first reported on the draft.
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Mednick reported from Juba, South Sudan, and Lee from Washington.
Associated Press writer Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to
this report.
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