US presents UN Security Council with its plan for international force to govern, secure Gaza: report

The US has presented the United Nations Security Council with a draft resolution to establish an international force to govern and protect Gaza for the next two years, according to a report.

The proposed resolution, sent to security-council members Monday, would give the US and its allied nations a broad mandate to oversee Gaza in place of Hamas and provide security through the end of 2027, Axios reported.

The component of an International Security Force was a key part of President Trump’s cease-fire deal to maintain peace between Israel and Gaza.

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The ISF will also be in charge of training a new Palestinian police force that will serve Gaza once the international board makes its exit.

Hamas currently serves as the de facto police force in Gaza, a position it’s maintained since seizing control of the Palestinian enclave nearly 20 years ago.

While anti-Hamas militias backed by Israel have claimed to be ready to lead a new Palestinian security force, the terrorist group has made it clear that it will not disarm or cede power until Palestinian statehood is granted.

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The UNSC is expected to vote on the resolution in the coming weeks, and if passed, the first troops would be deployed by January, a US official told Axios.

Involving a body of the United Nations — which demonstrated evident bias against Israel throughout the war in Gaza – is risky, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Israel last month explained that other nations “can’t participate in [the ISF] unless they have a mandate from the UN, as an example.”

Still, he went on to say that “getting the right international mandate, whether it’s the UN or an international agreement” would help “make sure that that entity – that security force – that can exist can function, is funded, understands what its mission is clearly, and can execute it effectively.”

But relying on the UNSC to approve the force means winning the support of other members — such as China and Russia — who are not parties to the peace plan.

Beijing and Moscow, specifically, may not be willing to approve the Trump plan as the force will replace Hamas, which is heavily supported by their ally, Tehran, experts say.

“The resolution appears to give the president broad flexibility to be creative in implementing his plan for Gaza. Nothing is foreclosed, all authorities are on the table, and Israel is not sidelined or impeded from defending its security,” said Edmund Fitton-Brown, senior fellow at Washington, DC-based Foundation for Defending Democracies think tank. 

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“The question is whether China and Russia will sign off when Hamas and Iran push for modifications.”

Hamas is expected to resist the creation of the security force, as it aims to supplant the terrorist group as the policing authority in Gaza, explained David May, research manager and senior research analyst at FDD

“Hamas and its allies will do their best to undermine and delay a UN resolution that would cement the terrorist group’s dismantlement,” he said. “Hamas has no incentive to dissolve itself, unless it cares about ordinary Palestinians, which it doesn’t.”

“Instead, Hamas borrows from the Middle Eastern autocrats’ playbook of agreeing to reforms and concessions when the temperature is high and reneging as soon as the pressure relaxes,” he added.

The US-led resolution also seeks to create a “Board of Peace,” a body made up of international leaders that Trump has said he will chair.

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While it remains to be seen which countries and leaders will hold a seat in the Board of Peace, Trump has previously tapped former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to head the group with him.

The board will be tasked with leading the ISF to secure Gaza’s borders with Israel and Egypt and protect the humanitarian corridors leading in and out of the Strip.

Hamas’ unwillingness to disarm may set the stage for a new conflict in Gaza, as the ISF is tasked with overseeing the demilitarization of the Strip if the terror group does not do so voluntarily, Axios reported.

Trump has made it clear that no US troops will be deployed to Gaza, with countries such as Indonesia volunteering to contribute soldiers for the peace-keeping effort instead.

After securing Gaza, the Board of Peace will then provide supervision and support to a “Palestinian technocratic, apolitical committee” to lead the Palestinian enclave, according to the US resolution.

Once all the reforms are made, the interim leaders are then set to hand over the reins to the Palestinian Authority, which will be tasked with overseeing the reconstruction efforts of war-torn Gaza.

Israel has previously signaled that it would not support the Palestinian Authority, which currently governs the occupied West Bank, to serve as the future leaders of Gaza.