The United Nations Security Council is set to begin negotiations on a U.S.-drafted resolution endorsing President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, a senior U.S. government official said. The resolution would also authorise a two-year mandate for a transitional governance body and an international stabilisation force.
The draft resolution was formally circulated to the 15 council members late on Wednesday and reportedly has regional backing from Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
“The message is: if the region is with us on this and the region is with us on how this resolution is constructed, then we believe that the council should be as well,” the senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
A Security Council resolution requires at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes from Russia, China, France, Britain, or the United States to pass. When asked about a possible timeline for a vote, the official said: “The sooner that we move, the better. We’re looking at weeks, not months.”
The official added: “Russia and China will certainly have their inputs, and we’ll take those as they come. But at the end of the day, I do not see those countries standing in the way and blocking what is probably the most promising plan for peace in a generation.”
President Trump told reporters that the international force would deploy “very soon.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasised that countries volunteering troops “need this U.N. mandate in order to be able to do it.”
Under the draft resolution, a Board of Peace transitional governance administration would establish a temporary International Stabilisation Force (ISF) in Gaza with authority to “use all necessary measures” to carry out its mandate. The ISF would protect civilians, support humanitarian aid operations, secure border areas with Israel and Egypt, and work alongside a “newly trained and vetted Palestinian police force.”
The ISF would also be tasked with stabilising security in Gaza by overseeing the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip, including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding of military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, as well as permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups.
The U.S. official said the draft resolution gives the ISF authority to disarm Hamas militants but added that the U.S. expects the group to “live up to its end of the agreement” and relinquish its weapons.
The ISF is anticipated to consist of roughly 20,000 troops. While the Trump administration has ruled out deploying U.S. soldiers, it is in talks with Indonesia, the UAE, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and Azerbaijan to contribute personnel.
“We’ve been in steady contact with the potential troop contributors, and what they need in terms of a mandate, what type of language they need,” the official said. “Almost all of the countries are looking to have some type of international mandate. The preferred is U.N.”
