Updates: Hamas-Israel ceasefire holds

US President Donald Trump has congratulated the world on the UNSC vote, which endorses his peace plan for Gaza.

On his Truth Social network, Trump said: “Congratulations to the World on the incredible Vote of the United Nations Security Council, just moments ago, acknowledging and endorsing the BOARD OF PEACE, which will be chaired by me, and include the most powerful and respected Leaders throughout the World.”

The US president said that this would go down as one of the biggest approvals in the history of the UN, would lead to further peace all over the World, and is a moment of true historic proportion.

“Thank you to the United Nations, and all of the Countries on the UN Security Council, China, Russia, France, The United Kingdom, Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, South Korea, Pakistan, Panama, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Somalia,” he added.

Trump also thanked to those countries that weren’t on the committee, but strongly backed the effort, including Qatar, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkiye, and Jordan.

“The members of the Board, and many more exciting announcements, will be made in the coming weeks,” he added.

Pakistan’s permanent UN envoy, Asim Iftikhar, spoke up today in support of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan. He said it is a step toward stopping the fighting in the Palestinian territory, though he noted there is still a lot to do.

"The plan helped bring a pause to the conflict," the ambassador told the UNSC session. 

He called Trump’s efforts “commendable” and said Pakistan voted for the resolution. The main aim, he stressed, is to stop the killing of innocent Palestinians and make sure Israeli forces fully leave Gaza.

Iftikhar said the plan gives a fresh hope for peace in Gaza, even if it is a fragile hope. Pakistan supported proposals from Arab countries and also shared its own ideas. He said Pakistan tried to make the plan stronger through discussions and suggestions.

He repeated Pakistan’s support for a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital. He made it clear that this is very important to Pakistan.

The Security Council passed the resolution with 14 votes in favour. No country voted against it. Russia and China abstained and did not vote.

The US envoy thanked Pakistan, Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, and Indonesia for their backing at the council.

Hamas rejected the United Nations Security Council passing a US-drafted resolution endorsing US President Donald Trump's Gaza plan, saying it fails to meet Palestinians' rights and demands and seeks to impose an international trusteeship on the enclave that Palestinians and resistance factions oppose.

"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," the group added.

The UN Security Council voted in favor of a US resolution bolstering Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan that includes the deployment of an international force and a path to a future Palestinian state.

There were 13 votes in favor of the text, which Washington heralded after the vote as "historic and constructive," with Russia and China abstaining and no vetoes.

Gazans said they paid $2,000 per seat to fly their families to South Africa on a trip arranged by a group offering a way out of the devastated enclave, in what South Africa alleged on Monday appeared to be part of a bid to displace Palestinians.

Two Gazans interviewed by Reuters said they were among 130 Palestinians granted entry by South Africa after being bussed from Gaza and flown out of an Israeli airport last week, arriving in Johannesburg on Thursday after a stop in Nairobi.

The Palestinian resistance group and its factions rejected the US’s Gaza peace draft is set to be voted on today to give a mandate for the deployment of an International Stabilisation Force (ISF) and for the establishment of transitional governance there, Al Jazeera reported.

Hamas and other armed groups censured the draft resolution, warning that it paves the way for foreign control over Palestinian decision-making.

The groups said reconstruction of Gaza and its governance should be handed over to a supranational body.

The factions insisted that humanitarian aid should be managed by Palestinian institutions under UN supervision.

They also rejected disarming Gaza or curbing the right to resist, and called for international mechanisms to hold Israel accountable for rights abuses and border control policies.

Two more Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers, over allegedly crossing the “yellow line”, a demarcation line separating areas under Israeli control, in two separate incidents.

The army accused both of posing threats to Israeli forces, failing to provide evidence for those claims.

The Gaza authorities urged for humanitarian aid, including tents and other equipment to protect displaced Palestinians from the harsh winter and rains.

In a statement on Telegram, the media office of Gaza’s government said that tens of thousands of tents were swept away during the first major winter storm of the season, which hit the area days ago.

It said that “288,000 Palestinian families live a harsh tragedy under difficult climatic conditions”, blaming Israel for failing to allow in sufficient temporary shelters to house those made homeless by its two-year all-out bombing campaign.

Among the other needs, the authority said they require:

• “Safe heating means for children, patients, and the elderly”
• “Flooring to prevent tents from turning into mud pools”
• “Covers, mattresses, and thermal insulation materials”
• “Mobile sanitary facilities with water and sewage services”
• “Lighting supplies and alternative energy.”

The Palestinian Resistance Committees (PRC), an allied faction of Hamas, said that one of its local armed leaders was killed by what it described as an Israeli undercover force near Deir Al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip.

The group said Waseem Abdel-Hadi, a commander of its armed wing, was killed in what it called a “cowardly and treacherous assassination operation".

The PRC said Abdel-Hadi had played a role in developing its armed wing. It did not issue any direct threat of retaliation.