US presses for approval of UN resolution on Gaza as Russia offers rival proposal

UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The United States stepped up calls Friday for U.N. consensus on its plan for Gaza as Russia circulated a rival proposal that would strip out reference to a transitional authority meant to be headed by President Donald Trump and asks the United Nations to lay out options for an international stabilization force.

The United States and eight countries that have played a role in reaching the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after more than two years of war in Gaza urged “swift adoption” of the latest U.S. draft resolution by the 15-member U.N. Security Council. Just one of the eight is on the council – Pakistan.

The joint statement with Qatar, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan and Turkey came after the U.S. faced objections this week and made changes to its U.N. proposal to include more defined language on Palestinian self-determination, according to a U.N. diplomat briefed on the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations.

The latest U.S. draft and the Russian proposal are both expected to be put up for a vote early next week, the diplomat said, adding that the American plan could garner the nine votes needed to pass, with Russia and China likely abstaining instead of using their vetoes.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump’s ceasefire plan “is the best path to peace in the Middle East” and said the U.S. resolution will enable the effort to move forward.

The U.S. resolution endorses Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan, which calls for a yet-to-be-established Board of Peace as a transitional authority that he would head. It also would authorize an international stabilization force in Gaza with a wide mandate, including overseeing the borders, providing security and demilitarizing the territory.

Arab and other countries that have expressed interest in participating in the stabilization force have indicated that such a mandate is necessary for them to contribute troops.

After facing objections from some U.N. Security Council members that the resolution didn’t envision a future independent Palestinian state, the U.S. made revisions.

It now says that 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.”

Russia’s rival draft resolution, obtained Friday by The Associated Press, includes stronger language supporting Palestinian statehood alongside Israel and stressing that the West Bank and Gaza must be joined as a state under the Palestinian Authority.

Russia’s U.N. mission said in a statement that it took the step because the U.N. Security Council, which is responsible for maintaining international peace and security, “should be given a rightful role and the necessary tools to ensure accountability and control.”

Russia said council resolutions also are supposed to reaffirm fundamental decisions, “first and foremost the two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian settlement.”

Russia said those provisions were not in the U.S. draft, so it circulated its own text whose objective is “to amend the U.S. concept and bring it into conformity” with previous council decisions.

“We would like to stress that our document does not contradict the American initiative,” the Russian mission said. “On the contrary, it notes the tireless efforts by the mediators – the United States, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey – without which the long-awaited ceasefire and the release of hostages and detainees would have been impossible.”

Russia said it also welcomes provisions of Trump’s plan that brought about the ceasefire, release of hostages and detainees, exchange of bodies and resumption of humanitarian access and aid deliveries.

On Thursday, the U.S. mission to the United Nations warned in a statement that “attempts to sow discord” have “grave, tangible and entirely avoidable consequences for Palestinians in Gaza.” It urged the council to unite and pass the latest U.S. draft resolution.