November 19, 2025
Maha Hussaini
After more than two years of Israeli genocide, most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are internally displaced and lack access to basic necessities such as food, shelter, electricity and medical services.
Many had hoped the UN would help alleviate the devastating humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
However, the passing of the US-drafted UN Security Council resolution on Monday showed that the humanitarian needs of the population are still not the top priority, said resident Abu Malek Jerjawi.
“The Security Council should have prioritised reconstruction and the urgent expansion of humanitarian relief,” Jerjawi told Middle East Eye.
“More than one million people need shelter, and even the most basic supplies are still being blocked by Israel,” he added.
Even worse, he said, the “deeply disappointing” resolution now “makes improving the humanitarian situation conditional on political requirements”.
He continued: “The Council disregarded all humanitarian needs and tied them to political considerations by linking reconstruction to disarmament. Legitimising this connection between humanitarian needs and political conditions is a disaster.”
Adopted on Monday, the UNSC 2803 resolution backs a Donald Trump-led transnational governing body of Gaza, as well as the creation of an international force to ensure the “process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip” and the “permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.
According to the resolution, it will be authorised to “use all necessary measures to carry out its mandate”.
The apparent linkage has raised concerns among some that humanitarian needs are being subordinated to political conditions, and that the recovery of more than two million civilians will depend on steps unlikely to be achievable in the short term.
Satellite analysis by the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) shows that, as of October, roughly 81 percent of all structures in the Gaza Strip had been destroyed or damaged over more than two years of conflict.
UNOSAT recorded 123,464 destroyed buildings, 17,116 severely damaged, 33,857 moderately damaged and 23,836 possibly damaged - a total of 198,273 affected structures.
As a result, most of Gaza’s population is now living in temporary shelters, including makeshift tents, schools and badly damaged homes.
‘Our voices don’t matter’
Nermin Basel, a Gaza resident who fled during the first year of the war, said she can only trust any international plan if it guarantees that displaced Palestinians will be able to return.
“Leaving was never our choice, but staying meant certain death,” the mother of three told Middle East Eye.
“Any plan to end the war and improve the situation must ensure we can return. Otherwise, how can we trust efforts to create peace if we are not there to live in it?”
Before Israeli forces seized and closed the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing in May 2024, an estimated 100,000-115,000 Palestinians had left Gaza since the war began in October 2023.
Despite the ceasefire reached on 11 October, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the crossing would remain closed “until further notice”.
The 20-point plan, unveiled by President Trump in September 2025 alongside Netanyahu, was immediately criticised by Palestinians and rights groups for lacking consultation, overlooking Palestinian rights and risking the erosion of their claims to the land.
“The plan is not designed to bring justice or peace,” Basel said.
“It feels like an attempt to erase our struggle. Announcing a peace plan without our input suggests our voices don’t matter.
“Without ending the occupation and guaranteeing our rights, these plans become tools to weaken our identity and our claim to our land.”
Dangers of international force
While Jerjawi does not believe UN resolutions play a major role in shaping the Palestinian cause, he fears the latest one could create further tensions rather than bring stability.
He said the creation of an international force carries the potential to reignite the conflict rather than end it.
Armed Palestinian factions, including Hamas, have rejected the resolution.
Hamas said it would not disarm, arguing that “resisting occupation by all means is a legitimate right guaranteed by international laws and conventions”.
It added that the resistance’s weapons “are tied to the continuation of the occupation”, and that any discussion on disarmament should remain an internal national matter linked to a political process that ensures the end of the occupation, the establishment of a state, and the achievement of self-determination.
“My understanding of the United Nations and the Security Council has always been that their interventions aim to promote security and peace,” Jerjawi said.
“Yet the mandate granted to this force may end up reproducing the war.”
The resolution, which passed by a vote of 13-0 with abstentions by China and Russia, will place Donald Trump in supreme control of Gaza, and see his "board of peace" oversee multinational peacekeeping troops, a committee of Palestinian technocrats and a local police force, for a period of two years.
It's unclear who else will be on the "board of peace" but Trump has declared on social media that it will "be chaired by me, and include the most powerful and respected Leaders throughout the World".
The resolution says the stabilisation troops will help secure border areas along with a trained and vetted Palestinian police force and they will coordinate with other countries to secure the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
It says the force should closely consult and cooperate with neighbouring Egypt and Israel.
It also calls for the stabilisation force to ensure "the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip" and "the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups". The resolution authorises the force to "use all necessary measures to carry out its mandate".
Hamas, which has not accepted disarmament, rejected the resolution, saying it failed to meet Palestinians' rights and demands and sought to impose an international trusteeship on the enclave that Palestinians and resistance factions oppose.
"Assigning the international force with tasks and roles inside the Gaza Strip, including disarming the resistance, strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favour of the occupation," the group said.
The resolution says Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza "based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarisation," which would be agreed by the stabilisation force, Israeli forces, the US and the guarantors of the ceasefire.
The resolution, using vague and non-committal language, also says that if the Palestinian Authority reforms itself "faithfully" and Gaza's reconstruction advances, the "conditions may be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood".
You can read the resolution here in full:
Resolution 2803 (2025)
Adopted by the Security Council at its 10046th meeting, on 17 November 2025
The Security Council,
Welcoming the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict of 29 September 2025 (“Comprehensive Plan”), and applauding the states that have signed, accepted, or endorsed it, and further welcoming the historic Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity of 13 October 2025 and the constructive role played by the United States of America, the State of Qatar, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the Republic of Türkiye, in having facilitated the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,
Determining that the situation in the Gaza Strip threatens the regional peace and the security of neighboring states and noting prior relevant Security Council resolutions relating to the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question,
1. Endorses the Comprehensive Plan, acknowledges the parties have accepted it, and calls on all parties to implement it in its entirety, including maintenance of the ceasefire, in good faith and without delay;
2. Welcomes the establishment of the Board of Peace (BoP) as a transitional administration with international legal personality that will set the framework, and coordinate funding, for the redevelopment of Gaza pursuant to the Comprehensive Plan, and in a manner consistent with relevant international legal principles, until such time as the Palestinian Authority (PA) has satisfactorily completed its reform program, as outlined in various proposals, including President Trump’s peace plan in 2020 and the Saudi-French Proposal, and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza. After the PA reform program is faithfully carried out and Gaza redevelopment has advanced, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood. The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence;
3. Underscores the importance of the full resumption of humanitarian aid in cooperation with the BoP into the Gaza Strip in a manner consistent with relevant international legal principles and through cooperating organizations, including the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent, and ensuring such aid is used solely for peaceful uses and not diverted by armed groups;
4. Authorizes Member States participating in the BoP and the BoP to: (A) enter into such arrangements as may be necessary to achieve the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan, including those addressing privileges and immunities of personnel of the force established in paragraph 7 below; and (B) establish operational entities with, as necessary, international legal personality and transactional authorities for the performance of its functions, including: (1) the implementation of a transitional governance administration, including the supervising and supporting of a Palestinian technocratic, apolitical committee of competent Palestinians from the Strip, as championed by the Arab League, which shall be responsible for day-to-day operations of Gaza’s civil service and administration; (2) the reconstruction of Gaza and of economic recovery programs; (3) the coordination and supporting of and delivery of public services and humanitarian assistance in Gaza; (4) any measures to facilitate the movement of persons in and out of Gaza, in a manner consistent with the Comprehensive Plan; and (5) any such additional tasks as may be necessary to support and implement the Comprehensive Plan;
5. Understands that the operational entities referred to in paragraph 4 above will operate under the transitional authority and oversight of the BoP and are to be funded through voluntary contributions from donors and BoP funding vehicles and governments;
6. Calls upon the World Bank and other financial institutions to facilitate and provide financial resources to support the reconstruction and development of Gaza , including through the establishment of a dedicated trust fund for this purpose and governed by donors;
7. Authorizes Member States working with the BoP and the BoP to establish a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF) in Gaza to deploy under unified command acceptable to the BoP, with forces contributed by participating States, in close consultation and cooperation with the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Israel, and to use all necessary measures to carry out its mandate consistent with international law, including international humanitarian law. The ISF shall work with Israel and Egypt, without prejudice to their existing agreements, along with the newly trained and vetted Palestinian police force, to help secure border areas; stabilize the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding of the military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups; protect civilians, including humanitarian operations; train and provide support to the vetted Palestinian police forces; coordinate with relevant States to secure humanitarian corridors; and undertake such additional tasks as may be necessary in support of the Comprehensive Plan. As the ISF establishes control and stability, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will withdraw from the Gaza Strip based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization that will be agreed between the IDF, ISF, the guarantors, and the United States, save for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat. The ISF shall, (A) assist the BoP in monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire in Gaza, and enter into such arrangements as may be necessary to achieve the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan; and (B) operate under the strategic guidance of the BoP and will be funded through voluntary contributions from donors and BoP funding vehicles and governments;
8. Decides the BoP and international civil and security presences authorized by this resolution shall remain authorized until Dec. 31, 2027, subject to further action by the Council, and any further reauthorization of the ISF be in full cooperation and coordination with Egypt and Israel and other Member States continuing to work with the ISF;
9. Calls upon Member States and international organizations to work with the BoP to identify opportunities to contribute personnel, equipment, and financial resources to its operating entities and the ISF, to provide technical assistance to its operating entities and the ISF, and to give full recognition to its acts and documents;
10. Requests the BoP provide a written report on progress related to the above to the UN Security Council every six months;
11. Decides to remain seized of the matter.
Maha Hussaini
Residents warn new UNSC plan ties
Gaza’s recovery to politics and leaves urgent humanitarian needs unmet
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip
have reacted with scepticism to the UN resolution authorising foreign
governance and forces in the war-torn territory.
After more than two years of Israeli genocide, most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are internally displaced and lack access to basic necessities such as food, shelter, electricity and medical services.
Many had hoped the UN would help alleviate the devastating humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
However, the passing of the US-drafted UN Security Council resolution on Monday showed that the humanitarian needs of the population are still not the top priority, said resident Abu Malek Jerjawi.
“The Security Council should have prioritised reconstruction and the urgent expansion of humanitarian relief,” Jerjawi told Middle East Eye.
“More than one million people need shelter, and even the most basic supplies are still being blocked by Israel,” he added.
Even worse, he said, the “deeply disappointing” resolution now “makes improving the humanitarian situation conditional on political requirements”.
He continued: “The Council disregarded all humanitarian needs and tied them to political considerations by linking reconstruction to disarmament. Legitimising this connection between humanitarian needs and political conditions is a disaster.”
Adopted on Monday, the UNSC 2803 resolution backs a Donald Trump-led transnational governing body of Gaza, as well as the creation of an international force to ensure the “process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip” and the “permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.
According to the resolution, it will be authorised to “use all necessary measures to carry out its mandate”.
The apparent linkage has raised concerns among some that humanitarian needs are being subordinated to political conditions, and that the recovery of more than two million civilians will depend on steps unlikely to be achievable in the short term.
Satellite analysis by the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) shows that, as of October, roughly 81 percent of all structures in the Gaza Strip had been destroyed or damaged over more than two years of conflict.
UNOSAT recorded 123,464 destroyed buildings, 17,116 severely damaged, 33,857 moderately damaged and 23,836 possibly damaged - a total of 198,273 affected structures.
As a result, most of Gaza’s population is now living in temporary shelters, including makeshift tents, schools and badly damaged homes.
‘Our voices don’t matter’
Nermin Basel, a Gaza resident who fled during the first year of the war, said she can only trust any international plan if it guarantees that displaced Palestinians will be able to return.
“Leaving was never our choice, but staying meant certain death,” the mother of three told Middle East Eye.
“Any plan to end the war and improve the situation must ensure we can return. Otherwise, how can we trust efforts to create peace if we are not there to live in it?”
Before Israeli forces seized and closed the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing in May 2024, an estimated 100,000-115,000 Palestinians had left Gaza since the war began in October 2023.
Despite the ceasefire reached on 11 October, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the crossing would remain closed “until further notice”.
The 20-point plan, unveiled by President Trump in September 2025 alongside Netanyahu, was immediately criticised by Palestinians and rights groups for lacking consultation, overlooking Palestinian rights and risking the erosion of their claims to the land.
“The plan is not designed to bring justice or peace,” Basel said.
“It feels like an attempt to erase our struggle. Announcing a peace plan without our input suggests our voices don’t matter.
“Without ending the occupation and guaranteeing our rights, these plans become tools to weaken our identity and our claim to our land.”
Dangers of international force
While Jerjawi does not believe UN resolutions play a major role in shaping the Palestinian cause, he fears the latest one could create further tensions rather than bring stability.
He said the creation of an international force carries the potential to reignite the conflict rather than end it.
Armed Palestinian factions, including Hamas, have rejected the resolution.
Hamas said it would not disarm, arguing that “resisting occupation by all means is a legitimate right guaranteed by international laws and conventions”.
It added that the resistance’s weapons “are tied to the continuation of the occupation”, and that any discussion on disarmament should remain an internal national matter linked to a political process that ensures the end of the occupation, the establishment of a state, and the achievement of self-determination.
“My understanding of the United Nations and the Security Council has always been that their interventions aim to promote security and peace,” Jerjawi said.
“Yet the mandate granted to this force may end up reproducing the war.”
UN Resolution 2803 places Donald
Trump in control of Gaza and, using vague language, says if certain targets are
met there could be a pathway to the creation of a Palestinian state
The UN Security Council approved
US President Donald Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza, which backs the creation of
an international stabilisation force and also supports a possible "pathway
to Palestinian self-determination and statehood" if certain targets are
met.The resolution, which passed by a vote of 13-0 with abstentions by China and Russia, will place Donald Trump in supreme control of Gaza, and see his "board of peace" oversee multinational peacekeeping troops, a committee of Palestinian technocrats and a local police force, for a period of two years.
It's unclear who else will be on the "board of peace" but Trump has declared on social media that it will "be chaired by me, and include the most powerful and respected Leaders throughout the World".
The resolution says the stabilisation troops will help secure border areas along with a trained and vetted Palestinian police force and they will coordinate with other countries to secure the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
It says the force should closely consult and cooperate with neighbouring Egypt and Israel.
It also calls for the stabilisation force to ensure "the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip" and "the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups". The resolution authorises the force to "use all necessary measures to carry out its mandate".
Hamas, which has not accepted disarmament, rejected the resolution, saying it failed to meet Palestinians' rights and demands and sought to impose an international trusteeship on the enclave that Palestinians and resistance factions oppose.
"Assigning the international force with tasks and roles inside the Gaza Strip, including disarming the resistance, strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favour of the occupation," the group said.
The resolution says Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza "based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarisation," which would be agreed by the stabilisation force, Israeli forces, the US and the guarantors of the ceasefire.
The resolution, using vague and non-committal language, also says that if the Palestinian Authority reforms itself "faithfully" and Gaza's reconstruction advances, the "conditions may be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood".
You can read the resolution here in full:
Resolution 2803 (2025)
Adopted by the Security Council at its 10046th meeting, on 17 November 2025
The Security Council,
Welcoming the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict of 29 September 2025 (“Comprehensive Plan”), and applauding the states that have signed, accepted, or endorsed it, and further welcoming the historic Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity of 13 October 2025 and the constructive role played by the United States of America, the State of Qatar, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the Republic of Türkiye, in having facilitated the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,
Determining that the situation in the Gaza Strip threatens the regional peace and the security of neighboring states and noting prior relevant Security Council resolutions relating to the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question,
1. Endorses the Comprehensive Plan, acknowledges the parties have accepted it, and calls on all parties to implement it in its entirety, including maintenance of the ceasefire, in good faith and without delay;
2. Welcomes the establishment of the Board of Peace (BoP) as a transitional administration with international legal personality that will set the framework, and coordinate funding, for the redevelopment of Gaza pursuant to the Comprehensive Plan, and in a manner consistent with relevant international legal principles, until such time as the Palestinian Authority (PA) has satisfactorily completed its reform program, as outlined in various proposals, including President Trump’s peace plan in 2020 and the Saudi-French Proposal, and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza. After the PA reform program is faithfully carried out and Gaza redevelopment has advanced, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood. The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence;
3. Underscores the importance of the full resumption of humanitarian aid in cooperation with the BoP into the Gaza Strip in a manner consistent with relevant international legal principles and through cooperating organizations, including the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent, and ensuring such aid is used solely for peaceful uses and not diverted by armed groups;
4. Authorizes Member States participating in the BoP and the BoP to: (A) enter into such arrangements as may be necessary to achieve the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan, including those addressing privileges and immunities of personnel of the force established in paragraph 7 below; and (B) establish operational entities with, as necessary, international legal personality and transactional authorities for the performance of its functions, including: (1) the implementation of a transitional governance administration, including the supervising and supporting of a Palestinian technocratic, apolitical committee of competent Palestinians from the Strip, as championed by the Arab League, which shall be responsible for day-to-day operations of Gaza’s civil service and administration; (2) the reconstruction of Gaza and of economic recovery programs; (3) the coordination and supporting of and delivery of public services and humanitarian assistance in Gaza; (4) any measures to facilitate the movement of persons in and out of Gaza, in a manner consistent with the Comprehensive Plan; and (5) any such additional tasks as may be necessary to support and implement the Comprehensive Plan;
5. Understands that the operational entities referred to in paragraph 4 above will operate under the transitional authority and oversight of the BoP and are to be funded through voluntary contributions from donors and BoP funding vehicles and governments;
6. Calls upon the World Bank and other financial institutions to facilitate and provide financial resources to support the reconstruction and development of Gaza , including through the establishment of a dedicated trust fund for this purpose and governed by donors;
7. Authorizes Member States working with the BoP and the BoP to establish a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF) in Gaza to deploy under unified command acceptable to the BoP, with forces contributed by participating States, in close consultation and cooperation with the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Israel, and to use all necessary measures to carry out its mandate consistent with international law, including international humanitarian law. The ISF shall work with Israel and Egypt, without prejudice to their existing agreements, along with the newly trained and vetted Palestinian police force, to help secure border areas; stabilize the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding of the military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups; protect civilians, including humanitarian operations; train and provide support to the vetted Palestinian police forces; coordinate with relevant States to secure humanitarian corridors; and undertake such additional tasks as may be necessary in support of the Comprehensive Plan. As the ISF establishes control and stability, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will withdraw from the Gaza Strip based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization that will be agreed between the IDF, ISF, the guarantors, and the United States, save for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat. The ISF shall, (A) assist the BoP in monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire in Gaza, and enter into such arrangements as may be necessary to achieve the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan; and (B) operate under the strategic guidance of the BoP and will be funded through voluntary contributions from donors and BoP funding vehicles and governments;
8. Decides the BoP and international civil and security presences authorized by this resolution shall remain authorized until Dec. 31, 2027, subject to further action by the Council, and any further reauthorization of the ISF be in full cooperation and coordination with Egypt and Israel and other Member States continuing to work with the ISF;
9. Calls upon Member States and international organizations to work with the BoP to identify opportunities to contribute personnel, equipment, and financial resources to its operating entities and the ISF, to provide technical assistance to its operating entities and the ISF, and to give full recognition to its acts and documents;
10. Requests the BoP provide a written report on progress related to the above to the UN Security Council every six months;
11. Decides to remain seized of the matter.
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