Portugal Colonial - Israel hails Trump Gaza plan after UN Security Council vote

The United Nations Security Council voted on Monday in favour of a US-drafted resolution bolstering President Trump's plan for the Gaza Strip -- which has allowed for a fragile ceasefire to hold between Israel and Hamas since October 10.

The peace plan notably authorises the creation of an international force that would work with Israel and Egypt and newly-trained Palestinian police to help secure border areas and demilitarise Gaza.

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday hailed Trump's plan, saying it would lead to "peace and prosperity because it insists upon full demilitarisation, disarmament and the deradicalisation of Gaza".

In a post on X, Netanyahu's office said the plan would also "lead to further integration of Israel and its neighbours as well as expansion of Abraham Accords," under which a few Arab countries have normalised ties with Israel.

There were 13 votes in favour of the text and none against, with Russia and China both abstaining but not deploying their veto as permanent members.

Trump posted on social media that the vote would lead to "further Peace all over the World".

But Hamas, which is excluded by the resolution from any governance role in Gaza, said it did not meet Palestinians' "political and humanitarian demands and rights".

In a statement, the Islamist militant group also decried the establishment of an international force whose "mission includes the disarmament" of Palestinian groups in Gaza.

"The resolution imposes an international trusteeship on the Gaza Strip, which our people, its forces, and its constituent groups reject," the statement said.

- 'Right to self-determination' -

The peace plan allows for the creation of an International Stabilisation Force (ISF) that is mandated to work on the "permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups", protecting civilians and securing humanitarian aid corridors.

The Gaza Strip has been largely reduced to rubble after two years of fighting, sparked by Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The Palestinian foreign ministry, based in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, welcomed Monday's vote in New York, saying it affirmed the Palestinian people's "right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state" and the unimpeded flow of aid into Gaza.

In convoluted language, the resolution does mention a possible future Palestinian state -- an eventuality firmly and repeatedly rejected by Israel.

Once the Palestinian Authority has carried out requested reforms and the rebuilding of Gaza is underway, "the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood," the text says.

It also authorises the formation of a "Board of Peace", a transitional governing body for Gaza -- which Trump would theoretically chair -- with a mandate running until the end of 2027.

- 'Urgent need' for implementation -

The resolution also calls for the resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries at scale through the UN, ICRC and the Red Crescent.

In a statement on X, the Palestinian foreign ministry "stressed the urgent need to immediately implement this resolution on the ground".

It said this should happen in a way that "ensures the return of normal life, protects our people in the Gaza Strip, prevents displacement, secures the full withdrawal of the occupying forces, enables reconstruction, halts the undermining of the two-state solution, and prevents annexation."

Most of Gaza's population of more than two million people were displaced at least once during two years of devastating war, which triggered catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the territory.

Recent heavy rains have compounded Gazans' woes despite the fragile ceasefire, flooding the tents which now house most of the displaced population.

"We need clothes, food, and water. We are dying and suffering every day and every hour," Mohammed Lotfi, a displaced Palestinian in Gaza City told AFP on Sunday.

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P.Cavaco--PC