The Big First Step

The UN Security Council voted to accept the Trump ceasefire plan that is already close to the end of the first phase. We learn more about the vote and more from a report from The Epoch Times:

The U.N. Security Council on Nov. 17 approved a U.S.-drafted resolution that endorses President Donald Trump’s Gaza cease-fire plan, a central component of Washington’s push to end the two-year conflict between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group.

Of course Trump sees the vote as a huge victory:

Trump congratulated the U.N. on the vote in a post on Truth Social.

“Congratulations to the World on the incredible Vote of the United Nations Security Council, just moments ago, acknowledging and endorsing the BOARD OF PEACE, which will be chaired by me, and include the most powerful and respected Leaders throughout the World,” Trump wrote.

Clearly Trump thinks that he crafted a deal that will bring peace to the Middle East, something presidents Carter, Clinton, and Bush 43 among others couldn’t pull off:

“This will go down as one of the biggest approvals in the History of the United Nations, will lead to further Peace all over the World, and is a moment of true Historic proportion!”

A former US ambassador sees it as big first step to that end:

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz, who previously served as Trump’s national security adviser, said the resolution is “historic and constructive.”

“[The Nov. 17] resolution represents another significant step towards a stable Gaza that will be able to prosper and an environment that will allow Israel to live in security,” he said. Waltz said the passage of the resolution is “just the beginning” as the United States seeks to carry out Trump’s plan to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas, which began in October 2023.

Two members of the council didn’t vote:

Russia and China—two veto-holding members of the U.N. Security Council—ultimately abstained from the vote on the evening of Nov. 17, following concerns that either might veto the resolution. Russia had previously put forward an alternative draft, saying that the U.S. plan does not adequately reflect long-standing international legal principles, including the two-state framework. Moscow’s proposal outlined clearer terms for deploying a peacekeeping contingent and administering the Gaza Strip.

The Same Plan

Trump’s proposal is already in place for the most part:

The U.S. proposal approved on Nov. 17, which was first announced on Sept. 29 and then circulated in November, backs Trump’s 20-point peace plan, called the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict. The plan lays out a phased approach that began with the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees and expanded humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip.

As of now the first phase still needs three more hostage remains to be returned by Hamas before the parties can work on the rest of the plan:

Under the second phase, Hamas would be required to decommission its weapons. The Israel Defense Forces would withdraw further from the enclave as security responsibilities were transferred to a new International Stabilization Force. The plan also calls for the creation of an interim technocratic government consisting of Palestinian and international experts and overseen by a Board of Peace chaired by Trump. This body would eventually hand authority over the Gaza Strip to a reformed Palestinian Authority (PA), creating what the document describes as “a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the U.N. said in a statement on Nov. 5 that the resolution “welcomes the [Board of Peace] and authorizes the [International Stabilization Force]” and paves the way for “a safer and more prosperous Gaza.”

A reformed PA? Two-state solution? Ironically that will happen when pigs fly, kosher or otherwise. Trump, as he is want to do is pushing more than talk of meaningless documents:

The spokesperson wrote that the United States wants to “deliver results at the UN—not endless talk” and that regional actors had “seized this historic opportunity to finally end decades of bloodshed.”

Just getting to this point is impressive as Trump and his team got even Islamic states to agree:

On Nov. 14, the United States and several regional and Islamic states—Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Turkey—issued a joint statement in support of the draft resolution, urging its swift adoption. The UK, a permanent member of the council, voiced support a day later, stating that it was imperative to “seize the momentum” and begin that work as soon as possible.

My question is at what cost? The majority of these nations hate Israel to this day, even attacking them to take over their land. It all sounds good, but one major party isn’t onboard.

Hamas Isn’t Disarming

Add triple rainbows, unicorns, and leprechauns to the list of things we’ll see before Hamas surrenders its weapons:

Hamas has expressed opposition to the deal so far. Ahead of the vote, Hamas, which has committed to the first phase of the cease-fire agreement but has so far refused to disarm, said amendments and core elements of the U.S. text “do not contribute to stabilizing the situation in Gaza,” according to Al-Aqsa TV, a Hamas-run media outlet.

They want an agreement that leaves out the US and Israel, or as they call them the big and little Satan’s:

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said on Nov. 17 that the group wants a resolution that stops what it described as Israel’s “aggression against Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem,” stating that the United States is “trying to appease certain parties with non-binding wording.”

The terrorist group Popular Resistance Committees stated that the U.S. draft served to “reinforce U.S.–Israeli dominance” and amounted to “a new form of Israeli occupation,” according to Al-Aqsa TV. The group stated that it opposed any deployment of international or foreign forces inside the Gaza Strip and objected to what it described as U.S. oversight of Gaza Strip administration.

We tend to forget that Muslims consider any land they once ruled to be theirs forever. In short they don’t want just Gaza to be theirs but all of Israel which explains this:

Maher Al-Taher, a senior official of the terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said the danger of establishing an international force in the Gaza Strip is that it could turn the enclave “into an area outside Palestinian governance,” according to Al-Aqsa TV.

“The transitional phase could last for years, posing a major risk and keeping Gaza under a new form of occupation,” he said.

Of course Israel sees what Hamas is trying to do:

Israel maintains that Hamas is seeking to block Trump’s peace plan from advancing because the proposal requires the group to disarm.

One Israeli representative said this:

“Hamas is trying to do everything possible to avoid this,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said on Oct. 29.

As for that peacekeeping force, well Prime Minister Netanyahu said that they will approve it, not anyone else:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Oct. 26 that Israel would decide which international forces could operate in the Gaza Strip. A day later, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel would not accept the deployment of Turkish armed forces in the enclave.

At least one US cabinet member echoes that sentiment:

According to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, any international security force sent to the Gaza Strip under a cease-fire arrangement would need to consist of countries Israel is “comfortable with.”

Which is an understatement considering that the Gaza Strip is right on their doorstep. From a Biblical standpoint the land is still theirs and will be taken back as we read in Zephaniah 2:4-7:

Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron—these Philistine cities, too, will be rooted out and left in desolation. 5 And woe to you Philistines living on the coast and in the land of Canaan, for the judgment is against you too. The Lord will destroy you until not one of you is left. 6 The coastland will become a pasture, a place of shepherd camps and folds for sheep. 7 There the little remnant of the tribe of Judah will be pastured. They will lie down to rest in the abandoned houses in Ashkelon. For the Lord God will visit his people in kindness and restore their prosperity again. (TLB)

Will this happen now or later? I tend to see it being a part of how this war, on its 775th day, ends.