The Chinese and the Russians --two veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council-- have called for the “Board of Peace” under US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan to be removed from the resolution entirely, according to four UN diplomats briefed on the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations.
In the latest draft released late Wednesday and obtained by The Associated Press, the US maintains the language around the board while providing further commitment to Palestinian self-determination although the language remains weak.
While some of the responses to the US proposal reflect typical negotiations between countries --with detailed back-and-forth and revisions in language-- the objection to the transitional board indicates that wide gaps have emerged between some members of the UN’s most powerful body and the US following more than two years of war.
At the same time, other members said quick action would avoid upending the progress toward peace, one diplomat said.
That was the message Thursday from the US mission to the UN, which said in a statement that the “attempts to sow discord” have “grave, tangible and entirely avoidable consequences for Palestinians in Gaza.” It urged the council to unite and pass the resolution.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also has called on the council to pass the resolution without delay, the AP reported.
“I think we’re making good progress on the language of the resolution, and hopefully we’ll have action on it very soon,” he told reporters Wednesday before departing a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Canada. “We don’t want to lose momentum on this.”
The US first circulated a draft resolution last week to the 15 members of the Security Council that would give a broad international mandate to the stabilization force to provide security in Gaza through the end of 2027, working with the yet-to-be-established Board of Peace. Arab and other countries that have expressed interest in participating in the force have indicated that such a mandate is necessary for them to contribute troops.
Russia, China and Algeria voiced their opposition to that draft, and all but two of the other Security Council members submitted amendments, one of the diplomats said.
The sticking points surrounded the pathway to an independent Palestinian state and timeline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, according to two of the diplomats. The new draft this week responds to objections that the resolution didn’t envision a future independent Palestinian state — but without absolutes.
It says after reforms to the Palestinian Authority are “faithfully carried out and Gaza redevelopment has advanced, the conditions may be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”