Norway welcomes UN Security Council resolution on Gaza, calls for moving into next stage

By Necva Tastan Sevinc

ISTANBUL (AA) - Norway on Tuesday welcomed the UN Security Council’s resolution endorsing a ceasefire and a 20-point plan for peace in Gaza, while calling for immediate progress into the initiative’s next stage.

Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said the council’s approval was a “welcome” development but stressed that the momentum must not be lost.

It is “essential now to move into phase two of the plan," Eide said on US social media company X.

Eide added that Norway will continue working toward “a unified Palestinian state, governed by Palestinians."

The UN Security Council on Monday adopted a US-drafted resolution establishing a transitional Board of Peace (BoP) and authorizing International Stabilization Forces (ISF) to oversee governance, reconstruction and security efforts in the Gaza Strip.

The resolution passed with 13 votes in favor, while Russia and China abstained. It authorizes the ISF and the Board of Peace until Dec. 31, 2027.

Since October 2023, nearly 69,500 Palestinians have been killed – mostly women and children – and more than 170,700 wounded in Israel’s war that has reduced much of the enclave to rubble.