UN approves the Trump administration's plan for the future of Gaza
[November 18, 2025]
By EDITH M. LEDERER
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Trump administration’s blueprint to secure and
govern Gaza won strong approval at the United Nations on Monday, a
crucial step that provides international support for U.S. efforts to
move the devastated territory toward peace following two years of war.
The U.S. resolution that passed the U.N. Security Council authorizes an
international stabilization force to provide security in Gaza, approves
a transitional authority to be overseen by President Donald Trump and
envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.
“This will go down as one of the biggest approvals in the History of the
United Nations, will lead to further Peace all over the World, and is a
moment of true Historic proportion!” Trump posted on social media.
The vote endorses Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan and builds on the
momentum of the fragile ceasefire he helped broker with allies. It marks
a key next step for American efforts to outline Gaza’s future after the
Israel-Hamas war destroyed much of the territory and killed tens of
thousands of people.
The proposal calls for a yet-to-be-established Board of Peace as a
transitional authority that Trump would head. It also provides a wide
mandate for the international stabilization force, including overseeing
the borders, providing security and demilitarizing the territory.
Authorization for the board and force expire at the end of 2027.
Arab and other Muslim countries that expressed interest in providing
troops for an international force had signaled that U.N. authorization
was essential for their participation.
Russia, which had circulated a rival resolution, abstained along with
China on the 13-0 vote after fears Moscow might use its veto in the
Security Council.
However, Hamas opposed the resolution, saying in a statement that it
does not meet the “Palestinian people’s political and humanitarian
demands and rights.”
Stronger language on Palestinian state helps get the US plan over the
finish line
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz said the resolution “represents
another significant step towards a stable Gaza that will be able to
prosper and an environment that will allow Israel to live in security.”
It came about following nearly two weeks of negotiations, when Arab
nations and the Palestinians pressed the United States to strengthen
language about Palestinian self-determination.
But the proposal still gives no timeline or guarantee for an independent
state, only saying it’s possible after advances in the reconstruction of
Gaza and reforms of the Palestinian Authority, which now governs parts
of the West Bank.
The U.S. revised the resolution to say that after those steps, “the
conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian
self-determination and statehood.”
“The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the
Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous
coexistence,” it adds.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes Palestinian statehood
and repeated that position Sunday at a time when his hard-line governing
partners have expressed concern about the resolution’s endorsement of a
“pathway” to Palestinian independence.
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A Palestinian man carries bags of firewood after collecting them
from the rubbish in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday,
Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters before the vote
that Israel was grateful to Trump “for leading peace to the Middle
East.”
Algeria’s U.N. Ambassador Amar Bendjama, the Arab representative on
the council, thanked Trump for his instrumental role in bringing
about the ceasefire, but said “genuine peace in the Middle East
cannot be achieved without justice, justice for the Palestinian
people.”
A key to the resolution’s adoption was support from Arab and other
Muslim nations that had been critical to the ceasefire and
potentially could contribute to the international force. The U.S.
mission to the United Nations distributed a joint statement Friday
with Qatar, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia,
Pakistan, Jordan and Turkey calling for “swift adoption” of the U.S.
proposal.
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow took note of
that support but abstained because the resolution did not include a
role for the Security Council or emphatically support Palestinian
statehood.
The vote shores up hopes that Gaza’s fragile ceasefire will be
maintained following a war set off by Hamas’ surprise attack on
southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 69,000 Palestinians, according to
the Gaza health ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between
civilians and combatants but says the majority are women and
children.
What else the US proposal says
Trump said the members of the Board of Peace will be named in the
coming weeks, along with "many more exciting announcements."
The U.S. resolution calls for the stabilization force to ensure “the
process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip” and “the permanent
decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups.”
A big question has been how to disarm Hamas, which said Monday that
giving the force a role inside Gaza that includes disarmament
“strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the
conflict in favor of the occupation.”
The resolution authorizes the force “to use all necessary measures
to carry out its mandate” in compliance with international law,
which is U.N. language for the use of military force.
It says the stabilization troops will help secure border areas,
along with a Palestinian police force that they have trained and
vetted, and they will coordinate with other countries to secure the
flow of humanitarian assistance. It says the force should closely
consult and cooperate with neighboring Egypt and Israel.
As the international force establishes control, the resolution says
Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza “based on standards,
milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization.” These must
be agreed to by the stabilization force, Israeli forces, the U.S.
and the guarantors of the ceasefire, it says.
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