Mohammad Sio
17 November 2025•Update: 17 November 2025
ISTANBUL
Palestinian resistance factions warned Sunday that a US draft resolution to deploy an international force in Gaza amounts to an attempt to impose foreign guardianship over the territory and sideline Palestinian decision-making.
In a joint statement, the factions said the proposed mandate would pave the way for “external domination over the Palestinian national decision,” shifting Gaza’s administration and reconstruction to a supranational body with wide authority - a move they argue would strip Palestinians of their right to govern their own affairs.
The groups stressed that any humanitarian effort must be managed through “competent Palestinian institutions” under UN oversight, based on respect for Palestinian sovereignty and the needs of the population, and free from attempts to use aid as a political or security tool to reshape Gaza’s internal reality.
They warned that channeling humanitarian assistance through a foreign-run mechanism would turn aid into a tool of pressure, undermining Palestinian institutions and weakening the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), whose role they said “must be protected as an international witness to the refugee issue and their inalienable rights.”
The factions rejected any clause involving disarmament in Gaza or any infringement on the Palestinian people’s internationally recognized right to resist the Israeli occupation.
According to the statement, any discussion related to weapons must remain “a purely national matter” tied to a political process leading to an end to the Israeli occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The statement criticized the envisioned role of a proposed multinational force, warning that it would “practically serve the (Israeli) occupation” through direct coordination with Tel Aviv.
The groups said any international mission, if established, must fall fully under UN authority, coordinate exclusively with official Palestinian institutions, and limit its tasks to protecting civilians, ensuring aid delivery, and separating forces - without becoming a security authority or supranational administration.
They also rejected any form of foreign military presence, trusteeship, or international bases inside Gaza, calling such measures a direct assault on Palestinian sovereignty.
They called for international mechanisms to hold Israel accountable for its ongoing violations, including responsibility for civilian safety and the worsening humanitarian crisis resulting from Israel’s control of Gaza’s crossings.
The statement concluded that an Arab–Islamic framework for administering Gaza is the most acceptable model, and that any future arrangements must be rooted in “the free Palestinian will” and the unity of land, people, and cause.
The Arab–Islamic framework envisions that Hamas would hand over the administration of Gaza to a transitional Palestinian administrative committee of independent technocrats.
The statement comes as the UN Security Council is scheduled to vote Monday on implementing the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, which includes deploying an international force in the enclave and outlining a pathway toward establishing a Palestinian state.
The Gaza ceasefire agreement entered into force on Oct. 10 under Egyptian-Qatari-US-Turkish mediation, though Israel has continued violations and blocked the move to the second phase of the deal, which centers on security and administrative arrangements in the strip and Israeli withdrawals.
