…as US President thanked Security Council members, including Guyana, for support
President Dr Irfaan Ali on Monday welcomed the adoption of a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution endorsing United States (US) President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, saying Guyana supported the measure as a matter of principle.
“Guyana welcomes the adoption of the UNSC resolution which endorses President Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza. We applaud the USA for its leadership in this initiative,” President Ali said on social media. He added that Guyana voted in favour of the resolution, which he said aims to build on the existing ceasefire and advance sustainable peace for the Palestinian people.
President Trump, reacting to the vote on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter), hailed the outcome as an international endorsement of what he called the “Board of Peace”, a transitional governance body included in the resolution.
“Congratulations to the world on the incredible vote of the United Nations Security Council… acknowledging and endorsing the BOARD OF PEACE, which will be chaired by me,” Trump wrote. He described the decision as “one of the biggest approvals in the history of the United Nations” and thanked all 15 Council members, including Guyana, along with several countries outside the Council that supported the effort. He said the full membership of the Board of Peace would be announced in the coming weeks.
According to a BBC report, the UNSC voted in favour of the US-drafted resolution on Monday, with 13 members supporting it and none opposing. Russia and China abstained. UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s spokesperson said the adoption was an “important step in the consolidation of the ceasefire.”
The plan establishes an International Stabilisation Force (ISF), which the US says will include contributions from several unnamed countries. The ISF is mandated to work with Israel, Egypt and a newly trained Palestinian police force to secure border areas and oversee the demilitarisation of non-state armed groups, including Hamas. The Palestinian police force in Gaza has until now operated under Hamas authority.
The BBC reported that Hamas rejected the resolution, saying on Telegram that it “imposes an international guardianship mechanism on the Gaza Strip” and assigns roles to an international force that would “turn it into a party to the conflict in favour of the occupation.” The group argued that the plan fails to meet Palestinians’ rights and demands.
According to the BBC report, briefing the Council, US Ambassador Mike Waltz said the ISF would support demilitarisation, dismantle militant infrastructure, remove weapons, and help ensure the safety of Palestinian civilians.
The resolution also establishes the Board of Peace, a transitional governance body that will supervise a Palestinian technocratic committee responsible for reconstruction, governance arrangements, and humanitarian aid delivery. Reconstruction funds would be channelled through a World Bank-backed trust fund.
President Trump, the BBC said, later reiterated on Truth Social that the vote recognised and endorsed the Board of Peace, calling it a “moment of true historic proportion.”
The latest draft references a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, language some Council members had pushed to include. While key Arab states sought stronger assurances, Israel continues to oppose the creation of a Palestinian state, a major obstacle in the peace process.
According to the BBC, Russia and China, although allowing the resolution to pass, criticised it for lacking clarity on the composition of key mechanisms and for not explicitly reaffirming a firm commitment to the two-state solution.
The Palestinian Authority welcomed the resolution and urged its immediate implementation. The UN said the decision must now translate into concrete steps on the ground and support a political process toward a two-state solution.
According to the BBC, the ceasefire phase of Trump’s plan, which began on October 10, paused the fighting that followed Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in which about 1200 persons were killed and 251 taken hostage. According to Gaza’s health authorities, more than 69,483 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations since then.
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