Iran says UN Gaza resolution must not weaken Palestinian rights
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Tuesday that a new US-backed Security Council resolution on Gaza must not be applied in any way that harms Palestinian rights.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Tuesday that a new US-backed Security Council resolution on Gaza must not be applied in any way that harms Palestinian rights.
“The resolution and its mechanisms must not be interpreted or implemented in a way that violates or undermines the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,” Amir Saeid Iravani said.
“Gaza is an inseparable part of Palestinian territory ... The area must be administered by a Palestinian transitional committee,” he added.
Iravani’s comments follow Monday's UN Security Council’s approval of a US-drafted resolution backing President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war and establishing an international stabilization force for the Palestinian enclave.
The resolution passed with 13 votes in favor and abstentions from Russia and China.
Last month, Israel and Hamas agreed to the initial phase of President Donald Trump’s 20-point proposal for Gaza, which includes a ceasefire in their two-year war and an exchange of captives.
The UN resolution is viewed as an important step toward giving international legitimacy to a temporary governing structure for Gaza and providing assurances to states weighing the possibility of contributing troops.
Under the text, member states may participate in the Trump-led Board of Peace, a transitional body envisioned to oversee reconstruction and economic recovery in Gaza.
The body which aims to supervise rebuilding in the shattered enclave of two million Palestinians does not currently have any formal Palestinian participation.
The measure also authorizes an international stabilization force tasked with advancing the enclave’s demilitarization, including the removal of weapons and dismantling of military sites.
Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas rejected the move, saying the resolution does not meet Palestinian rights and demands and amounts to an attempt to impose an international trusteeship on Gaza which it said Palestinians reject.
"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 favor of the occupation," Hamas said in a statement on Monday after the resolution was adopted.
But the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which opposes Hamas and exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli occupied West Bank, welcomed the resolution and said it stands ready to help implement it.
The resolution has proven controversial in Israel, whose right-wing government opposes Palestinian statehood.
"Conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood,” the resolution said, citing reforms by the Palestinian Authority and further progress toward redevelopment in Gaza as a prerequisite.
