The US plan for Gaza won UN backing. Carrying it out could be far more difficult

By LEE KEATH Associated Press CAIRO AP The U N Measure Council has backed the United States ambitious plan for the future of the Gaza Strip How and when it will be carried out remain largely unknown In a twist unimaginable across the tumultuous history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the plan would mean President Donald Trump becomes the de facto ruler of Gaza The territory remains devastated by Israel s campaign to eliminate Hamas after its Oct attack that sparked the war An international body known as the Board of Peace chaired by Trump is to govern Gaza and oversee reconstruction under a two-year renewable U N mandate An armed International Stabilization Force is to keep prevention and ensure the disarming of Hamas a key demand of Israel Major questions hang over nearly every part of the plan and the timeframe for implementation In the meantime nearly all Palestinians remain displaced and dependent on humanitarian aid Hamas retains vital control over nearly half of Gaza and the rebuilding of the territory has barely begun President Donald Trump waits to welcome Saudi Arabia s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House Tuesday Nov in Washington AP Photo Mark Schiefelbein Challenges at every step Chosen talks over the next efforts have taken place behind the scenes among the U S Israel Qatar Egypt and other countries But serious negotiations have not begun because Israel and Hamas remain in the first phase of the ceasefire deal that came into effect in October Hamas is still required to hand over the bodies of the last three hostages The U N resolution passed Monday gave the plan international legitimacy That opens the door for Arab and Muslim-majority nations to participate particularly by contributing troops to the ISF The U S is hoping that the more those countries are involved the more palatable the international rule will be for Gaza s more than million people But the Palestinian inhabitants s acceptance is far from certain Without it the Board of Peace risks becoming seen as a foreign occupation working on behalf of Israel further thwarting their dream of self-determination and statehood The plan gives Palestinians almost no voice in governing Gaza Because of Israel s fierce opposition it doesn t promise statehood offering only a vague reference that it might one day be doable It also gives only an ambiguous timetable for reconstruction to begin and for the Israeli military to withdraw from the around of the Gaza Strip that it still holds since the ceasefire began Israeli tanks are parked in a staging area near the perimeter with Gaza in southern Israel Tuesday Nov AP Photo Ohad Zwigenberg Will disarmament happen Disarming Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza are the keystones to the whole plan But there s no detail on how that will happen So far Hamas has not agreed to disarm In a comment after the U N resolution s passage Hamas explained the fate of its weapons is connected to ensuring a path to the end of the Israeli occupation and the creation of a Palestinian state The International Stabilization Force is tasked with ensuring disarmament and the destruction of Hamas military infrastructure The ISF will also oversee a Palestinian police force made up of vetted members trained by Egypt and Jordan A number of nations have been cited as accomplishable contributors to the ISF including Egypt Indonesia Turkey and Azerbaijan But none has committed to sending troops yet and Israel opposes Turkey participating in the force They are unlikely to want their soldiers to take Hamas weapons by force Hamas warned that trying to do so would turn the ISF into a party to the conflict in favor of the occupation Hamas is under heavy pressure particularly from Qatar and Egypt to find a compromise One accomplishable idea is a decommissioning handing the arsenal over to the ISF for safekeeping which Hamas could argue is not a permanent surrender of its right to armed resistance Without disarmament much of the rest of the plan could stall Israel s troop withdrawal is linked to the pace of Hamas demilitarization and the deployment of the ISF Reconstruction is also unlikely to happen in majority of Gaza unless Hamas disarms Numerous Palestinians fear the end development will be a partition of Gaza between an Israeli-controlled zone where chosen reconstruction might take place and the rest where almost all of the population of more than million live with little rebuilding Palestinian children look at the camera as they play in a makeshift camp for displaced people in Zawayda in the central Gaza Strip Tuesday Nov AP Photo Abdel Kareem Hana Who will make up the Board of Peace Trump has reported the board will be made up of distinguished leaders from other countries including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and that its members will be named in the coming weeks But who they will be is unknown and even Blair s participation has not been authenticated The U N resolution gives the Board complete say in Gaza with powers over the ISF reconstruction and economic recovery The Board is also to oversee a technocratic apolitical committee of competent Palestinians who will run the day-to-day civil arrangement in Gaza FILE A general view shows a Guard Council meeting at the U N headquarters Sept at the United Nations AP Photo Yuki Iwamura File Who are these independent Palestinians The members of the Palestinian committee are to have no connection to either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority which currently administers scattered parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank Israel has rejected any role for the PA in Gaza The plan doesn t specify who will select the members but that likely will fall to the Board of Peace Israel will want to have a strong say in who can be included In an online post Palestinian political analyst and pollster Khalil Shikaki explained the committee should be picked through an all Palestinian process to boost its help consulting among political factions deal syndicates local leaders and women s and youth organizations But if the Board and the committee are seen as a tool for the U S or Israel prominent Palestinians may be reluctant to join In its message Monday Hamas denounced the international guardianship that the U N resolution places on Gaza saying it aims to further Israel s interests Related Articles Poland says Ukrainians working for Russia are suspected in railway track blast Zelenskyy will visit Turkey in a new bid to jump-start talks to end Russia s invasion Israeli killed and wounded in West Bank stabbing as UN approves Trump s Gaza plan MI warns UK lawmakers that Chinese spies are trying to reach them via LinkedIn In contemporary times in History November Robert Blake ordered to pay million in wife s slaying What is all this leading to The plan emphasizes two goals for Gaza demilitarization and reconstruction Anything beyond that remains largely blank The U N resolution offers the possibility of the Palestinian Authority eventually taking control of Gaza if it carries out a slate of internal reforms to the satisfaction of the Board of Peace everything from fighting corruption increasing efficiency to holding elections The Palestinian Authority welcomed the U N resolution in a comment Monday and commented it was prepared to step in to govern Gaza But Israeli opposition raises doubts whether that will ever be allowed to happen Under pressure from Arab allies the United States inserted a reference to Palestinian statehood in the U N resolution But it remains only a vague nod It states that if the Palestinian Authority faithfully carries out reforms and if Gaza redevelopment advances conditions may conclusively be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood The lack of a clear path to self-determination threatens to complicate every other step For example Shikaki wrote without a path to statehood disarmament will be seen as capitulation with it demobilization can be framed as part of national strategy For much of the population the priority is to see reconstruction and a revival of Gaza s commercial sector so families have livelihoods If that comes it could paper over reluctance toward international rule at least for a time If it doesn t or if Palestinians see no progress toward self-determination resentment is likely to mount The probable for chaos is high with the multiple divisions within Gaza Already the territory has Hamas several Israeli-backed armed gangs that oppose the group and the Israeli military itself Add to those a Palestinian police force international troops Palestinians who join the administration and those who oppose it and the scene becomes even more volatile