Gaza: Commitment to US-backed plan crucial to recovery, Security Council hears

This article is published in association with United Nations.

As tensions escalate in the Middle East, the international community must not lose sight of the situation in Gaza, an official with US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace across the shattered enclave said on Tuesday in his first appearance in the UN Security Council. 

High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov – a former top UN official in the region – was speaking during a meeting on implementation of Council resolution 2334 (2016) which demands that Israel immediately cease all settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory.  

It was held some four months after ambassadors adopted resolution 2803 (2025) endorsing the US-backed Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, which welcomed establishment of the Board of Peace as a transitional administration to set the framework for redevelopment and authorised the mechanism to set up a temporary International Stabilisation Force (ISF). 

Ceasefire still holding 

The first phase of the US 20-point plan – which led to a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas last October – is largely complete, Mr. Mladenov said, and the truce is holding despite challenges.

The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) has been constituted and has made progress on vetting thousands of civilian police candidates.  

“The National Committee exercises authority solely on an interim basis. The end state is a reformed Palestinian Authority capable of governing Gaza and the West Bank, and ultimately a pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood,” he said. 

Discussions on decommissioning  

Furthermore, Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania have committed troops to the ISF, while a comprehensive framework for the decommissioning and reintegration of armed groups has been developed by his office alongside guarantors the US, Egypt, Türkiye and Qatar. 

The framework has been formally presented to all relevant parties and serious discussions are currently underway. It rests on five principles, the first of which is reciprocity.  

“Decommissioning proceeds in parallel with staged withdrawal. This is fundamental to the credibility of the entire process,” he said. 

Mr. Mladenov asked for the Council’s support in reiterating that decommissioning is not only a fundamental requirement, but the only way forward towards reconstruction and Israeli military withdrawal, “and for the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and statehood to be pursued through meaningful negotiations.” 

Seize the day 

Members were also requested “to use all means at their disposal to urge Hamas and all Palestinian factions to accept the framework without delay.”  

The High Representative added that “the full implementation of the Comprehensive Plan is also the only pathway that provides Israel with durable security.” 

He was adamant that there can be no credible path to Palestinian self-determination and statehood if Gaza remains under the control of Hamas and other armed groups. 

“That is why everyone – every member of this Council, every State in the region, the Palestinian National Authority and every Palestinian faction that cares about peace – has an interest in the implementation of the 20-Point Comprehensive Plan.” 

Settlement activity accelerating 

Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, delivered the Secretary-General’s latest quarterly report on implementation of resolution 2334 (2016), which showed that Israeli settlement activity continued at high levels during the period ending 13 March. 

Israeli authorities advanced or approved more than 6,000 housing units in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, among other measures.  Demolitions of Palestinian-owned structures also accelerated, while evictions and acts of violence continued, with a high number of fatal incidents. 

Overall, 32 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank – including seven children – during large scale Israeli Security Forces operations, armed exchanges, settler attacks, and other incidents.  

Some 833 Palestinians, including 138 children, were injured, including 178 by Israel Security Forces due to tear gas inhalation and 141 by live ammunition, and 322 by Israeli settlers and other civilians. 

Palestinian attacks against Israelis continued in both the West Bank and Israel, which included the killing of two Israelis as well as ramming and stabbing attacks. 

Important step  

Meanwhile, roughly 1.4 million people in Gaza remain displaced across 1,200 sites, and many are living in overcrowded and unsafe conditions.  

Mr. Alakbarov also shared some of the Secretary-General’s observations from the report, including regarding the launch of Phase Two of the US-led Plan, noting that the UN chief described the establishment of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza as an important step.   

“It is crucial that all parties fully abide by their commitments so that recovery can proceed in Gaza while advancing a credible political horizon towards a two-State solution,” he said. 

“In coordination with the Palestinian Authority, the UN stands ready to support the Committee’s efforts to provide critical public services, facilitate humanitarian aid, and lay the groundwork for reconstruction.” 

LATE UPDATE: For full speaker-by-speaker coverage, check out this story from our Meetings Coverage Section