Russia: Trump's Gaza peace plan largely on paper

UNITED NATIONS, May 21. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump’s peace plan to resolve the situation in the Gaza Strip remains largely on paper, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said.

Addressing a United Nations Security Council meeting on the Middle East, the Russian envoy pointed out that Moscow had abstained from voting on UN Security Council Resolution 2803 in support of the plan. "Six months after the vote on Resolution 2803, Trump’s plan remains largely on paper, while claims of achievements are aimed at masking unpleasant realities in the Strip," he noted.

Nebenzya emphasized that Israel’s demands to release hostages held in the Palestinian enclave and return bodies of the deceased had been met in full, while a number of other provisions remained unimplemented. "The plan’s provisions concerning a ceasefire, full-scale humanitarian aid deliveries to the enclave, the handover of control of the Strip to a committee of technocrats, and the deployment of international stabilization forces - to say nothing of promises to turn Gaza into a Middle Eastern Riviera of exemplary cities, breathe new life into the region and create a special economic zone - were not fulfilled," the Russian envoy added.

Tensions intensified again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing residents of border settlements and taking hostages. In response, Israel initiated a military operation in the Palestinian enclave to dismantle Hamas' military and political structures and free all hostages.

On October 9, Israel and Hamas - with mediation from Egypt, Qatar, the United States, and Turkey - agreed to implement the first phase of a peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump. The Gaza ceasefire agreement took effect on October 10. Under the deal, Israeli forces withdrew from central areas of the enclave to the so-called yellow line but retained control over more than 50% of the Strip’s territory.