The Palestinian Authority (PA) welcomed Monday’s adoption by the UN Security Council of the US draft resolution on Gaza.
In a statement posted on the PA’s official Wafa news agency, the PA “stressed the urgent need to immediately implement this resolution on the ground, in a manner that ensures the return of normal life, protects our people in the Gaza Strip, prevents displacement, secures the full withdrawal of the occupying forces, enables reconstruction, halts the undermining of the two-state solution, and prevents annexation.”
The PA also said it is fully ready “to cooperate with the US administration, members of the Security Council, the Arab and Islamic states, the European Union and its member states, the United Nations, and all parties of the international coalition and partners in the New York Declaration, in order to ensure the implementation of this resolution in a way that ends the suffering of our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, and advances the political path leading to peace, security, and stability between Palestinians and Israelis, based on the two-state solution grounded in international law and international legitimacy.”
It also renewed “its affirmation of its readiness to assume its full responsibilities in the Gaza Strip, within the framework of the unity of land, people, and institutions, considering the Strip an integral part of the State of Palestine.”
13 member-states of the Security Council voted in favor of the proposal on Monday. Russia and China abstained.
The main elements of the resolution include establishing an international force to stabilize the region, disarming Hamas, and creating a “pathway to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
While the PA welcomed the resolution, Hamas was quick to denounce its approval, saying, “The resolution imposes an international guardianship mechanism over the Gaza Strip, which our people, its forces, and factions reject.”
The terrorist organization added, “Resistance to occupation by all means is a legitimate right enshrined in international laws and conventions. The weapons of resistance are tied to the existence of the occupation, and any discussion on the matter must remain a national internal issue linked to a political path that guarantees the end of the occupation, the establishment of a state, and the determination of destiny.”