The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution that outlines key elements of a plan for the post-war future of Gaza. However, the United States of America-sponsored resolution leaves several questions unanswered. The plan, built on the 20-point peace proposal of President Donald Trump, formalises the White House’s idea of a Board of Peace to oversee Gaza. With Mr Trump expected to head it, and with the US in all probability to take a lead in choosing its other members, the Board risks lacking
legitimacy among Palestinians. That will make other governments in the Arab world and the Global South think twice about participating in it. Then, there is the International Stabilization Force that the resolution also calls for. Even the United Arab Emirates, one of the few Arab nations that has diplomatic relations with Israel, has said that as of now it is unwilling to send soldiers into Gaza. Pakistan said at the UNSC that it had concerns about the lack of detail in the ISF plan.
Any plan is, of course, better than no plan. The people of Gaza, the West Bank and Israel deserve peace. The resolution also advocates for a sovereign Palestinian state in line with the majority view within the international community — including India. But the resolution and its US backers have shown no clarity on how they plan to advance towards a two-state solution. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his far-Right government have made it clear that they will not allow a Palestinian nation to take root. Meanwhile, even as the ISF and the Board of Peace sit uneasily with Arab and Muslim nations, Hamas has opposed these concepts more directly. It has also not agreed to give up its weapons. If Hamas does not disarm and Israel keeps bombing Gaza, no country is likely to be willing to send soldiers even under a UN mandate. If broader, popular Palestinian sentiment is opposed to the ISF, no country will want to appear like an occupying force there. As Gaza knows well, the UN is not very good at ending wars. The latest resolution is unlikely to change that.