UN Security Council Endorses Trump’s Gaza Peace Plan, Approves Temporary International Force

New York, November 17, 2025 — The United Nations Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution endorsing a U.S.-proposed peace plan for Gaza and authorizing the deployment of a temporary international force in the enclave, following two years of war between Israel and Hamas. Resolution 2803 (2025), sponsored by the United States, passed with 13 votes in favour and none against, while China and Russia abstained. The text of the resolution welcomes the Comprehensive Peace Plan unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump on September 29, which outlined a 20-point roadmap for ending hostilities and rebuilding Gaza. The plan’s first phase led to a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel several days after its announcement. Creation of Gaza Board of Peace The resolution further welcomes the creation of a Board of Peace (BoP), described as a “transitional administration” responsible for overseeing reconstruction efforts and political stabilisation in Gaza. It authorizes the BoP to establish a temporary International Stabilisation Force (ISF) “to deploy under unified command acceptable to the Board of Peace.” The ISF, the resolution says, will operate “in close consultation and cooperation” with Egypt and Israel, with member states contributing personnel and resources. 📰 Related Story: UN Secretary-General Guterres Urges Swift Deployment of Gaza Peace Force – The UN chief calls for “urgent mobilisation” of resources to stabilise Gaza and rebuild basic services within six months. U.S. Hails ‘New Course’ for the Middle East Speaking after the vote, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, thanked Council members for supporting what he called “a new course in the Middle East for Israelis and Palestinians and all the people of the region alike.” “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,” Waltz said. He added that the International Stabilisation Force “will help stabilise the security environment, support the demilitarisation of Gaza, dismantle terrorist infrastructure, decommission weapons, and maintain the safety of Palestinian civilians.” 📰 Related Story: Trump’s 20-Point Gaza Plan: Key Provisions and Reactions – A breakdown of the U.S. President’s proposed roadmap and how it aims to balance Israeli security with Palestinian reconstruction. Arab States Back Plan, Call for Justice Algerian Ambassador Amar Bendjama welcomed the initiative and acknowledged the efforts undertaken by President Trump to advance peace in the region. However, he stressed that “genuine peace in the Middle East cannot be achieved without justice for the Palestinian people, who have waited for decades for the establishment of their independent State.” Bendjama noted that the resolution had received broad support from Arab and Muslim countries, adding that “the Palestinian Authority at the highest level has openly welcomed the initiative.” 📰 Related Story: Palestinian Authority Welcomes UN Vote, Calls It ‘First Step Toward Statehood’ – Ramallah officials say the new UN resolution could revive the long-dormant two-state framework. Russia, China Abstain Explaining Russia’s decision to abstain, Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said the Council was, in essence, “giving its blessing to a U.S. initiative on the basis of Washington’s promises.” He warned that the resolution handed “complete control over the Gaza Strip to the Board of Peace and the ISF, the modalities of which we know nothing about so far.” China also abstained but did not issue an immediate statement following the vote. Background The two-year Gaza war, which began in late 2023, resulted in thousands of casualties and large-scale destruction across the enclave. The newly endorsed U.S. plan seeks to stabilise the territory, initiate reconstruction, and pave the way for eventual Palestinian self-governance under international supervision. The International Stabilisation Force, to be drawn from multiple countries, is expected to begin deployment within weeks, pending agreement on its command structure and mandate duration.

The carnage in Gaza: A Blight on Our Collective Humanity: It. Must End Now

It is ungodly and unchristianly to support the brutality and genocide being perpetrated against Palestinians in Gaza. Legal minds might argue whether or not the wanton killing of tens of thousands of innocent children, women and the aged in Gaza meets the legal threshold of being described as genocide, but people of good conscience know what genocide looks like when innocent people are being killed on an orgy of collective punishment and retribution. Yes, I am a Christian, but I would rather be an agnostic than worship any God or religion that supports the crudity and inhumanity taking place in Gaza and the West Bank. That was the reason I walked out of my old church in Miami with my family in 2004 during the Israelis-Hezbollah war in Lebanon when women and children were being slaughtered by Israelis bombing. At the height of the war, my pastor stood on the pulpit to justify the killing of Muslims and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon as part of the fulfillment of biblical end-time prophesies. I totally lost it. I stood up in the middle rot the sermon and was about to yell obscenities at him. My wife’s pleading and covering my mouth was what saved the day. That moment, I knew I couldn’t serve the God that my pastor pretended that p be serving. I stood up in rage with my petrified wife I tow, went to the children wings where my children were worshipping, took them up and drove off of the parking lot never to return. That church was our family church for nine years. It was the church where my children were baptized. My children have never forgotten that experience and have now become activists and advocates on behalf of Palestinians. Sadly, that is experience has shaped their attitude toward church and religion in general even though we immediately found another church where they were raised in the Christian faith. Sadly, some misguided Nigerian pastors and so-called Christians who have not read their Bible where it spoke about Christ drinking water from the Samaritan woman in the well, blindly support the Israelis on the basis of some misguided biblical injunction. I have a firsthand experience seeing face to face the worst form of apartheid in Palestine when I spent the summer of 2020 as a visiting professor at the Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron. I saw Israelis soldiers with guns watching over every move of the Palestinians, taking their land and demolishing their homes and farmland. I witnessed the economic strangulation of Palestinians by the Israeli authority in a two-tier economy where the Palestinians are living like refugees in their homeland, deny the right of free movement and access to the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem. I was with a professor friend of mine who had taken me and my wife to the holy Ibrahimi Mosque in Old City Hebron. My good friend during that visit wanted to show my wife and I the house where he took his fresh breath and where he spent his youthful formative years and where his family ran a shop in the Old Hebron market. Of course, we were all excited to see where this great friend of ours and gentle soul grew up. To my and my wife utter shock, as we attempted to cross the security post erected by gun-trotting teenage Israeli soldiers, my wife and I were asked to show our passports. As naturalized African immigrants with US passports, the Israelis soldiers respectfully ushered us in. He bluntly refused our Palestinian Professor friend access to cross the line of divide in his own town and place of birth. It was the first time in my entire life when being black gave us special privilege. Of course, I wasn’t fooled for a second that the teenager soldier would have sent my black butt back without the U.S. passport. We all have read about the second-class status of black Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Of course, have been a victim of racism and racial discrimination ourselves, my wife and I insisted we weren’t going to cross the security line without our Palestinian brother and friend. We also insisted on crossing that line and visiting the site. The soldiers ultimately gave in to our demand giving us just 5-10 minutes. We could sense being watched by the soldiers at the gate and Israelis soldiers at the ubiquitous watchtowers that sits atop of the site, and which dots the landscape of occupied West Bank. I would never forget the tears I shed with young brilliant Palestinian students in a school in Nablus where I had gone with a U.S. Embassy staff to teach these teenagers about entrepreneurship. Some of these teen Palestinians were dual U.S.-Palestinian citizens. They spoke of being trapped in a hopeless enclave with no access to basic Google map, unable to partake in the global digital economy, unable to order and have anything delivered via the online marketplace. They spoke about the constant harassment and imprisonment by the occupying Israeli military. I remember being accompanied by two armored SUV and a contingent of almost 8 heavily armed contract private security company who stood guard even at the door of the school bathroom when I went to ease myself. Mind you, this was an empty high school campus on vacation. There were just about 20 students who were bused in to receive me and the US Embassy staff from Jerusalem plus about three officials of the school. We were ushered into the town by a police rider with siren. I felt totally scandalized by this unnecessary militarization of an innocuous visit to young Palestinians and the sense of siege it created on these young souls and their community. Imagine leaving on a daily basis under such a siege. Well, that is the daily existence of Palestinians in the West Bank. That siege does not spare anyone in the West Bank. During my Fulbright stint at the PPU, I was privileged to participate

Israel/Palestine War: UN Mourns 101 Staff killed In Gaza

Flags at United Nations (UN) offices around the world are flying at half-mast in memory of the 101 UN staff members killed so far in the Gaza war. Staff held a minute’s silence to mourn and honour colleagues from UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) who were killed in the war. The UN relief body said in a statement on Monday that “the UNRWA death toll, already the highest in UNhistory, has continued to increase.” It added that the dead were among the 13,000 UNRWA staff working in Gaza, many of them killed with their families. They were teachers, school principals, health workers, including a gynaecologist, engineers, support staff and a psychologist, the agency said. Tom White, the Director of UNRWA in the Gaza Strip said “UNRWA staff in Gaza appreciates the UN lowering the flags around the world. “In Gaza however, we have to keep the UN flag flying high as a sign that we are still standing and serving the people of Gaza,’’ White said from Rafah. Meanwhile, UN agencies in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and elsewhere posted photos on social media of flags at half-mast in front of and on their office buildings. 

Death Toll Of Palestinians In Gaza Rises To Over 1,200

The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza has tragically climbed to over 1,200 as Israeli airstrikes continue to devastate the region. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, approximately 5,800 people have also sustained injuries. This escalating violence marks the sixth day of intense conflict between Israel and Hamas, the ruling militant group in Gaza. In their efforts, Israel has relentlessly targeted the densely populated and economically disadvantaged Palestinian coastal enclave, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. Vital supplies, including food, fuel, and medicines, are severely restricted from entering Gaza, leading to grave concerns about the welfare of innocent civilians. Additionally, Israeli officials report that 1,200 Israelis have lost their lives since the onset of Hamas’ violent attacks on communities and an electronic music festival near the Gaza Strip over the weekend. Among the casualties, 189 Israeli soldiers have tragically perished in the ongoing conflict.

Israeli Airstrikes Displace About 264,000 Palestinians In Gaza – UN

Israeli airstrikes against Hamas militants have displaced 264,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the UN’s humanitarian relief agency has said. They are sheltering in school buildings, with relatives or neighbours, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, launched a large-scale attack against Israel on Saturday, killing at least 1,200 people and kidnapping around 100 others. Israel responded with ongoing airstrikes on the densely packed coastal enclave. At least 900 people have died in Gaza, health officials there say. OCHA reported Israeli airstrikes on several residential buildings in Gaza. OCHA, citing the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Gaza, said more than 1,500 housing units were destroyed or severely damaged. In addition, five facilities that provided water and sanitation for half a million people were damaged. More than two million people live in the Palestinian territory.