UN Security Council backs Trump peace plan for Gaza

The United Nations Security Council has passed a US resolution which endorses Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza.

Russia, which had circulated a rival resolution, abstained along with China on the 13-0 vote.

The resolution endorses the US president's 20-point ceasefire plan, which calls for a yet-to-be-established Board of Peace as a transitional authority that Mr Trump would head.

Read more: What does Trump's Gaza peace plan look like?

US ambassador Mike Waltz said the resolution was "historic and constructive", but it was "just the beginning".

"Today's resolution represents another significant step towards a stable Gaza that will be able to prosper and an environment that will allow Israel to live in security," he added.

The proposal gives no timeline or guarantee for an independent Palestinian state, only saying "the conditions may finally be in place" after advances in the reconstruction of Gaza and reforms of the Palestinian Authority - now governing parts of the West Bank.

It also says that the US "will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence".

The language on statehood was strengthened after Arab nations and Palestinians pressured the US over nearly two weeks of negotiations, but it has also angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He has vowed to oppose any attempt to establish a Palestinian state, and on Sunday pledged to demilitarise Gaza "the easy way or the hard way".

Hamas: International force is 'in favour of' Israel

In a statement rejecting the resolution's passing, a Hamas spokesperson said it "falls far short of the political and humanitarian demands and rights of our Palestinian people".

"The effects and repercussions of this war continue to this day, despite the declared end of the war according to President Trump's plan," they added.

"The resolution imposes an international trusteeship mechanism on the Gaza Strip, which our people, their forces, and factions reject."

The spokesperson then said that "assigning the international force with tasks and roles inside the Gaza Strip, including disarming the resistance, strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favour of the occupation".

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The Palestinian Authority, however, issued a statement welcoming the resolution and said it is ready to take part in its implementation.

(c) Sky News 2025: UN Security Council backs Trump peace plan for Gaza