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The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, presented a draft U.N. Security Council draft resolution on Wednesday to partner nations aimed at advancing President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, including authorization for an international security force, according to a senior U.S. official.
Waltz recently met with representatives from Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, who are expected to coordinate humanitarian and reconstruction efforts around the proposal. The draft resolution seeks to authorize a two-year international stabilization force in Gaza under U.N. oversight — part of what officials describe as “phase two” of the broader postwar plan.
According to Reuters and the Associated Press, the draft would empower the mission to “use all necessary measures” to secure Gaza, protect civilians and begin the demilitarization of armed groups once large-scale combat ends. The plan includes forming a transitional “Board of Peace” to coordinate with Egypt, Israel and a vetted Palestinian police force.
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Washington has ruled out sending U.S. combat troops but has asked Muslim-majority countries, including Indonesia, Egypt, the U.A.E. and Turkey, to contribute. Israeli officials have already said they will not allow Turkish troops on their borders.
The meeting, in which the Palestinian Authority took part, marked a rare diplomatic engagement, notable because the U.S. plan envisioned handing authority back to the PA after reforms, a condition Israel opposes, Axios reports.
Military vehicles are gathered near the Israel-Gaza border, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in southern Israel on Oct. 12, 2025. (Ammar Awad/Reuters)
In an interview with Fox News Digital, John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute, said the concept can work — but only if it follows successful precedents. “For Gaza, I personally would like people to think Kosovo, not Lebanon,” he said. “History shows exactly what determines success: a clear mandate, enough troops and the authority to act.”
Kosovo: A model of success
Polish soldiers, part of the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo KFOR guard a municipal building in the town of Zvecan, northern Kosovo, Monday, May 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)
After the 1999 NATO campaign, the Kosovo Force (KFOR) deployed under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244 with about 50,000 troops to stabilize the region, separate combatants and rebuild governance.
“Kosovo gives you the best example,” Spencer said. “It had a clear disarmament mandate, a capable coalition and enough troops to enforce peace.”
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He warned that Gaza will require similar patience. “If somebody believes this will just disappear from the news in six months, that’s not reality,” he said, noting that KFOR remains in place decades later, albeit with fewer troops.
Bosnia: Mandate and mass
July 11, 2015: A woman mourns among graves in Memorial Center Potocari, near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (AP)
The 1995 Dayton Accords ended the Bosnian war and authorized the NATO-led Implementation Force (IFOR), followed by the Stabilization Force (SFOR). About 60,000 troops were deployed to enforce the peace, separate armies and support reconstruction.
“These were significant forces with clear mandates for disarming,” Spencer said. “That’s what success looks like — a mission with both muscle and legitimacy.”
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He added that Gaza’s mission must mirror Bosnia’s strong command structure and clear legal authority, not rely on unarmed observers.
East Timor: Fast-track legitimacy
In this Oct. 24, 1999, photo, then East Timorese rebel leader Xanana Gusmao is embraced as he returns to the Armed Forces of National Liberation of East Timor (FALINTIL) rebel army camp for the first time since his release from an Indonesian prison, in Remexio, in the hills outside of Dili, East Timor. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (The Associated Press)
In East Timor, an Australian-led mission entered under U.N. authority in 1999 after post-independence violence. It restored order and laid the groundwork for local governance.
“East Timor shows how quickly you can start rebuilding governance when the force has legitimacy and local trust,” Spencer said. “That legitimacy must exist from day one in Gaza.”
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Lebanon: A cautionary tale
A member of the Spanish UNIFIL peacekeepers forces stands in front of the rubble of destroyed buildings during a patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Borj El Mlouk, near the border with Israel, on January 7, 2025, amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah. (ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)
By contrast, the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), established in 1978 and expanded after the 2006 war, is what Spencer calls a failure.
“Southern Lebanon was not a success story,” he said. “They were glorified observers without a mandate to demilitarize anything.”
Israel has long criticized UNIFIL for allowing Hezbollah to entrench under its watch. Spencer said the same mistake cannot be repeated in Gaza. “It has to be seen as liberating areas from militant rule, not occupying them,” he said.
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Lessons for Gaza
Destroyed buildings lie in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 28, 2025. (Reuters)
Spencer described an “inkblot strategy” — stabilizing cleared districts while combat continues elsewhere. “You can create safe areas where a stabilization force, under the right mandate and equipped correctly, is stabilizing areas while you are also conducting operations against Hamas,” he said.
He predicts that the Israel Defense Forces will continue high-intensity operations while the international force focuses on humanitarian aid, demining and restoring order in secured zones. “Part of the lesson is giving people a vision of life after Hamas,” Spencer said.
During a recent visit to Gaza, Spencer said he saw “a glimmer of hope” in newly established humanitarian zones inside cleared areas. “If you start quickly, even on a small scale, success builds success,” he said.
About 200 U.S. personnel are already on the ground in a civil-military coordination center managing logistics and planning for the proposed transition in Israel. Spencer said this small presence will be vital to coordinating aid, reconstruction and stabilization without engaging in combat.
He warned that the mission will face disinformation and attacks from groups opposed to peace. “There are people who do not want this to succeed,” he said. “Thinking through how they’ll try to undermine it — especially online — is vital.”
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He added that stabilization must move alongside local capacity-building. “You have to start training a vetted Palestinian police force and governance team,” he said. “That’s how you build legitimacy.”