Israel / Palestine

The EU has called on the Palestinian Authority to speed up reforms to get European funding. But as long as Hamas controls half the territory and refuses to disarm, the EU's bid to help rebuild Gaza faces big obstacles.

The UN is prepared to play “any role” needed to advance the breakthrough Security Council resolution endorsing the United States-led Gaza peace plan. … Although the UN has no defined role in either finalizing the Board of Peace chaired by President Trump – which will oversee the transition and reconstruction of Gaza – or the planned stabilization force, Mr. Haq said the UN was “committed to implementing the roles entrusted to it in the resolution.”

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on Monday that endorses a peace plan for Gaza put forward by United States President Donald Trump and a temporary international force in the enclave following two years of war.  Resolution 2803 (2025) received 13 votes in favour, and none against, with permanent members China and Russia abstaining.

Following an outcry over inadequate amounts of humanitarian aid being allowed into Gaza, the Israeli government says it has opened a major crossing to the north of the Gaza Strip.

US President Donald Trump's envoy and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, returned to Israel on Monday, as mediators face a new obstacle in their efforts to advance negotiations on the fragile Gaza ceasefire deal to the next and more complex phase. Key sticking points remain unresolved, including Hamas's disarmament, the reconstruction and future governance of Gaza, and the deployment of an international security force to the territory.

President Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan and the New York Declaration on a two-state solution have created an opening for peace in Gaza—though one that is fragile and fraught with danger. These blueprints are wide in scope but light on detail where it matters, including on stabilization support, which must be carefully designed if it is to contribute to longer-term peace in Palestine and Israel.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that any stabilisation force in Gaza must have “full international legitimacy” to support Palestinians in Gaza.

The United States has circulated draft text for a U.N. Security Council resolution that would provide a mandate for an international stabilization force in Gaza for at least two years, marking the next step in President Donald Trump’s plan to halt two years of war between Israel and Hamas.

Never has the cliché that we are at a pivotal moment in Middle East diplomacy been more accurate. Yet at this critical juncture, the post of UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) has remained vacant for months. It is time to appoint a new envoy and restore the UN’s political role in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

The UN Secretary-General has strongly condemned the killing of civilians, including children, in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza overnight into Wednesday, calling for all parties to uphold their commitments to the fragile ceasefire.