US draft of UN Gaza resolution paves way to Palestinian state

The resolution, if passed, would give the US and partner countries a broad mandate to govern and secure the Strip through the end of 2027, if not longer.

By JNS

The latest in a series of drafts that Washington has penned of a resolution to the United Nations Security Council suggests the Trump administration believes “conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood” after the Palestinian Authority undergoes reforms and Gaza’s reconstruction is “advanced.”

The draft offers no sense of a timeline for a vote, although the Trump administration reportedly wants infrastructure up and running by year’s end for an international stabilization force for the Strip, which would be at the center of the resolution.

Earlier in the week, an American draft text removed a provision that would have deemed groups found guilty of “misuse” of aid “ineligible to provide ongoing or future assistance,” which was widely seen as an effort to bar the U.N. Relief and Works Agency over its Hamas ties.

Other revisions this week stated that the Israeli military will only begin a phased Gaza withdrawal in line with “benchmarks and timetables to be determined jointly with the security forces, the guarantor states and the United States.”

Limited Israeli security presence would remain to defend against “any resurgent terror threat,” it states.

Washington is trying to codify the creation of an international force in Gaza via the Security Council.

The resolution, if passed, would give it and partner countries a broad mandate to govern and secure the Strip through the end of 2027, if not longer.

Key language remains under debate in the second revision of the document. Washington hasn’t publicly defined which precise demands it has of the Palestinian Authority. The draft that JNS saw refers to reforms “as outlined in various proposals.”

“The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence,” it states. (JNS sought comment from the Israeli mission to the global body.)

A spokesman for the U.S. mission to the global body said on Thursday that “we urge the Security Council to seize this historic moment to pave a path towards enduring peace in the Middle East by supporting this resolution.”

The spokesman added that any effort to “sow discord now, when agreement on this resolution is under active negotiation, has grave, tangible and entirely avoidable consequences for Palestinians in Gaza” and that the ceasefire is “fragile.”

Although the spokesman didn’t name any countries, the remark seemed to refer to a new Russian draft resolution, which asks António Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, to “identify options to effectively implement” U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan.

The Russian version does not mention the Peace Board, which Trump has said he would lead and which Washington wants to serve as a transitional Gazan authority.

Any resolution needs the support of at least nine of the Security Council’s 15 members and must avoid a veto by any of the five permanent members, including the United States, Russia and China.