Netanyahu Applauds UN OK on Gaza Plan  11/18 06:22

   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday applauded the United 
Nations' approval of the Trump administration's blueprint to secure and govern 
Gaza, while Hamas rejected the plan as a foreign instrument of control.

   JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday 
applauded the United Nations' approval of the Trump administration's blueprint 
to secure and govern Gaza, while Hamas rejected the plan as a foreign 
instrument of control.

   The resolution that passed the U.N. Security Council on Monday authorizes an 
international stabilization force to provide security in war-devastated Gaza, 
approves a transitional authority called the Board of Peace to be overseen by 
President Donald Trump and envisions a possible future path to an independent 
Palestinian state.

   "We believe that President Trump's plan will lead to peace and prosperity 
because it insists upon full demilitarization, disarmament and the 
deradicalization of Gaza," Netanyahu's office wrote on X Tuesday.

   The resolution provides a wide mandate for the international force, 
including overseeing the borders, providing security and demilitarizing Gaza. 
Authorization for the board and force expire at the end of 2027.

   Hamas rejects plan

   The U.S. plan calls for the stabilization force to ensure "the permanent 
decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups." It 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.

   Hamas said Monday that the force's mandate including disarmament "strips it 
of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favor of the 
occupation." It said the resolution did not "meet the level of our Palestinian 
people's political and humanitarian demands and rights." Hamas demanded that 
any international force be under U.N. supervision, deploy only at Gaza's 
borders to monitor the ceasefire and operate exclusively with Palestinian 
institutions.

   Palestinian Authority welcomes resolution after statehood is included

   The Palestinian Authority welcomed the resolution and said it was ready to 
immediately implement it on the ground. It said it would cooperate with the 
U.S., the U.N., and other Arab and European states.

   Palestinians largely view the PA, which governs semiautonomous zones in the 
Israeli-occupied West Bank, as weak and corrupt. The authority's security 
coordination with Israel is extremely unpopular, and many Palestinians see it 
as a subcontractor of the occupation.

   The U.N. vote 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. 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.

   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.

   Resolution gains support from Muslim-majority and Arab countries

   A key to the resolution's adoption was support from Arab and other Muslim 
nations that had been critical for 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, the United Arab 
Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan and Turkey calling for 
"swift adoption" of the U.S. proposal.

   Both Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, and Turkey 
said they would work toward a two-state solution, which Netanyahu has opposed.

   Turkish officials have previously said Turkey is ready to contribute to an 
international force in Gaza despite Israeli opposition to a Turkish presence.

   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.

   U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Tuesday that the international 
community needed to "work together to take forward the 20 point plan and to 
turn it into a just and lasting peace." Cooper called for "urgent action to 
open all the crossings, lift restrictions and flood Gaza with aid."

   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 plan calls for the stabilization troops to secure Gaza border areas, 
along with a Palestinian police force that they have trained and vetted. The 
force will coordinate with other countries to secure the flow of humanitarian 
assistance, and 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 time frames 
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.