Hamas-led terror groups in Gaza on Monday rejected a “dangerous” resolution submitted by the US to the UN Security Council that would create a stabilization force to oversee its demilitarization.
The statement, made by of Hamas on behalf of itself and other terror groups in Gaza, said the Palestinian factions reject any clause relating to the disarmament of Gaza or harming “the Palestinian people’s right to resistance,” blasting what it said is “an attempt to subject the Gaza Strip to international authority.”
The statement rejected any foreign military presence inside the Gaza Strip, saying it would constitute a violation of Palestinian sovereignty.
“Any international force must be directly subordinate to the UN and work in coordination with the official Palestinian institutions, without the participation of the occupation,” it said, referring to Israel.
The UN will vote later Monday on the resolution endorsing US President Donald Trump’s comprehensive Gaza ceasefire plan, which will deliver Gaza to an International Stabilization Force (ISF) and an apolitical Palestinian administration overseen by a Trump-chaired Board of Peace.
Under the next stage of the plan, Israel is meant to withdraw further from the so-called Yellow Line, alongside the establishment of a transitional authority to govern Gaza, the deployment of the multinational security force meant to take over from the Israeli military, the disarmament of Hamas, and the start of reconstruction.
Hamas has so far refused to agree on the matter of demilitarization. Israel insists the Strip must be demilitarized before Trump’s plan can advance.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday noted the proposal calls for Gaza to be demilitarized and Hamas to be disarmed, telling his Cabinet: “Either this will happen the easy way, or it will happen the hard way.”
In the meantime, Hamas has reportedly begun amassing advanced weapons and stockpiling them abroad in hopes of smuggling them into Gaza in the future.
A draft of the proposed Security Council resolution, which was obtained and verified by The Times of Israel last week, included the entirety of Trump’s 20-point plan, which Netanyahu also endorsed in a joint press conference with the president in September.
The draft authorized UN member states working with the Board of Peace to “establish a temporary International Stabilization Force,” and indicated the board’s mandate would run through the end of 2027. Countries that expressed willingness to contribute troops to the ISF have said they would need a UN resolution enshrining the force.
The ceasefire plan included in the draft also says that, as Gaza is demilitarized and rebuilt and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority “faithfully” reforms itself, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”
Diplomatic sources have noted there are some questions about the US text, particularly regarding the absence of a monitoring mechanism by the Council, the role of the PA, and the specifics of the ISF’s mandate.
Israel, meanwhile, expressed its own objections after the publication this week of a US-organized joint statement — backed by Qatar, Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan and Turkey — that endorsed the resolution establishing an International Stabilization Force in Gaza. The joint declaration stressed that Washington’s plan “offers a pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood” and urged its “swift adoption,” despite pushback from Russia and China.
Israeli officials repeated that Israel will not accept a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu’s hard-line governing partners have urged him to take a tough stand on the calls for Palestinian independence. Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel’s opposition to a Palestinian state has “not changed one bit” and is not threatened by external or internal pressure.
“I do not need affirmations, tweets or lectures from anyone,” he said.
Times of Israel staff and agencies contributed to this report.
