Overview
- The Security Council is scheduled to vote Monday on a U.S.-drafted resolution that backs President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan and would authorize an International Stabilization Force.
- A joint U.S.–Arab statement on Friday signaled support for the draft, while Russia circulated a competing text with stronger statehood language and key members voiced objections.
- Netanyahu, under pressure from far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich who threatened coalition fallout, said Israel’s opposition to Palestinian statehood has not changed.
- The Israeli leader insisted Gaza must be demilitarized and Hamas disarmed before reconstruction, saying this would happen “the easy way or the hard way.”
- Hamas condemned the U.S. proposal as granting external guardianship over Gaza, and U.N. officials reported a sharp rise in West Bank settler attacks that complicates implementation.