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.

Joseph Aoun Elected Lebanon’s New President

Lebanon’s political deadlock has ended with the election of Army Chief Joseph Aoun as the new president.  This decision came after multiple attempts to fill the vacancy left by former President Michel Aoun, who served until October 2022.  Political negotiations, often hindered by the split between Lebanon’s Western and Iran-aligned factions, had failed for nearly two years. The breakthrough in the election followed a ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States, ending the November 2024 conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.  READ ALSO: Fintiri Appoints Seven New Traditional Rulers in Adamawa This ceasefire played a crucial role in shifting Lebanon’s political landscape, with Joseph Aoun’s leadership playing a vital role in the implementation of the ceasefire terms.  His position was further solidified as the army was deployed to Hezbollah-controlled regions in southern Lebanon. Aoun’s election has garnered support from both Saudi Arabia and the United States, signaling their growing influence in Lebanon’s political scene.  As a Maronite Christian, his ascension to the presidency aligns with Lebanon’s confessional power-sharing structure, marking a new chapter for the country after a prolonged leadership vacuum.

5th Day Truce: More Gaza Hostages, Palestinian Inmates Freed

Another 12 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have returned to Israel via Egypt, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday evening. This occured as the temporary truce in the Gaza war appeared to hold amid reports of an exchange of fire between the two sides. According to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the latest group of freed hostages comprises 10 Israelis and two Thai nationals. Among the Israeli nationals are senior female citizens – one in her 80s and a 17-year-old teenager, who was released together with her mother. One of the releases hostages also holds German citizenship, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on X, formerly Twitter. This puts the total number of hostages released from Gaza since the beginning of a breakthrough truce agreement between Israel and the Palestinian extremist organisation Hamas on Friday at 81, including 61 Israeli nationals. In return for the group released from Gaza on Tuesday, 30 Palestinian prisoners were released from different Israeli jails on Tuesday evening, according to the Israeli prison authority. Among them were 15 women, some of them minors, and 15 male minors, the youngest being 14 years old. In total, 180 Palestinian prisoners have been released from Israeli prisons since the beginning of the temporary ceasefire negotiated by Qatar and Egypt last week. In return, Hamas has released a total of 81 hostages, including 61 Israelis. One male Israeli, who also has Russian citizenship, was released on Monday evening as a gesture of goodwill to Russia, with no Palestinians being released in return. Some 240 people had been abducted into the Gaza Strip amid the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on southern Israel by Hamas and other militant groups. The pause in fighting, which came into effect on Friday morning and was initially set to last four days, has been extended by another two days under the previously negotiated conditions. It is unclear whether it can be extended further. The agreement has also facilitated the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. In spite of the ongoing truce, an exchange of fire between Israel and Hamas was reported in the north of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, according to the Israel army. Israeli soldiers were reportedly shot at and returned fire. In addition, a total of three explosive devices exploded next to soldiers at two locations. This meant that the framework of the ceasefire had been “violated,” the IDF said. According to the army, several soldiers sustained slight injuries. The soldiers were at the locations agreed upon as part of the ceasefire. Hamas confirmed a confrontation with the Israeli army. The group charged that Israel had violated the truce in the north of the Gaza Strip. However, Hamas emphasised that it would continue to feel bound to the agreement as long as Israel also felt committed. Hamas called on mediators Qatar and Egypt to put pressure on Israel to respect the ceasefire. Netanyahu meanwhile reiterated Israel’s commitment to continue its military campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas once the truce agreement runs out. In an interview with German broadcaster Welt TV published on Tuesday, the premier did not comment on for how long the deal could be extended. “We agreed that women and children as well as the foreign hostages would be released first,” Netanyahu said in the interview, which was conducted in English and later translated by Welt TV into German. “After that has happened, we will continue the fighting,” he added. Hamas, who took power in Gaza by force in 2007, had committed the worst murders, Netanyahu said, referring to the brutal Oct. 7 attacks committed by Hamas fighters and other groups from Gaza on Israeli border communities in which some 1,200 people were killed. “We have absolutely no choice but to destroy Hamas,” Netanyahu said in view of the massacre. Israel would continue to do everything in its power to spare civilians in the Gaza Strip as much as possible, he said. However, according to Hamas, almost 15,000 people have already been killed and around 36,000 injured amid Israel’s military campaign in Gaza triggered by the Oct. 7 attacks. A further 7,000 inhabitants of the densely populated coastal area are considered missing. The numbers cannot currently be independently verified.

Israel Releases Another 42 Palestinian Women, Children From Prison

More Trucks With Fuel, Aid Head To Gaza Another 42 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons are to be released on Saturday as part of the agreement between the Israeli government and the Islamist Hamas movement, according to the Times of Israel newspaper. Israel will initially transfer the detainees to Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank for medical examinations by International Red Cross staff, according to the newspaper, which cited Israeli prison officials. Al Jazeera reported that the prisoners to be released include 18 women and 24 teenage boys. As a condition of the agreement, Hamas militants must first release Israeli hostages being held in Gaza before the Palestinian prisoners are released from Israeli custody, according to the report. After their release, the Palestinians are to return to the places where they previously lived, for example in the West Bank or East Jerusalem. The first group of Palestinian prisoners consisted of minors and women held in Israeli prisons on offences ranging from stone-throwing to attacks on police officers, including some who were arrested but never faced trial, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.  Meanwhile, more trucks carrying humanitarian supplies moved through Egypt’s Rafah border crossing to the Gaza Strip on Saturday, the second day of a temporary truce agreed to by Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement. Seven fuel trucks, including four loaded with cooking gas, passed through the crossing on Saturday, an Egyptian official said. In addition, 100 trucks carrying food and medical aid bound for Gaza also crossed through Rafah, Dr Raed Abdel-Nasser, the head of the Red Crescent in Egypt’s northern Sinai, told dpa. The Palestinian Red Crescent, meanwhile, said its teams received 196 trucks of relief supplies via Rafah on Friday from its Egyptian counterpart. The truce agreement, which was brokered and announced by Qatar on Wednesday, involves a four-day pause in fighting between both sides. The pause will allow desperately needed aid to flow into the densely populated Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of some hostages Hamas kidnapped during bloody Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. Israel also agreed to release a number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons as part of the deal.

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.