[News] Ex-UN official decries resolution backing Gaza force as 'colonial outrage'

[Anti-Imperialist News]

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<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/former-un-official-slams-security-council-adoption-trump-gaza-plan-colonial-outrage> 



  Ex-UN official decries resolution backing Gaza force as 'colonial outrage'

Mera Aladam
November 18, 2025
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Craig Mokhiber, former senior human rights official, describes Security 
Council vote on US resolution as a ‘day of shame’

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators outside the UN ahead of a Security Council 
vote on a Gaza stabilisation force, 17 November 2025, New York City 
(Adam Gray/Getty Images via AFP)

Published date: 18 November 2025 11:17 GMT | Last update: 4 hours 56 
mins ago

A former senior UN human rights official has denounced the Security 
Council’s adoption of a resolution backing a US plan for foreign forces 
and governance in Gaza, calling it a “colonial outrage”.

Craig Mokhiber, former director of the New York office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), described the vote as a “day of 
shame” for the UN and accused governments worldwide of being “on their 
knees before the US empire and its violent Israeli client”.

He criticised the "horrific" resolution as a violation of international law.

“This proposal has been rejected by Palestinian civil society and 
factions, as well as by defenders of human rights and international law 
everywhere,” Mokhiber said on X.

He concluded: “The struggle for Palestinian freedom will continue 
undeterred.”

The US-drafted resolution was adopted on Monday with 13 votes and favour 
with two abstentions from Russia and China in the 15-member United 
Nations Security Council (UNSC).

The plan is based on US President Donald Trump's 20-point plan for 
Gaza's future, including only a singular line that envisions a future 
Palestinian <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine> state.

It outlines a Trump-chaired "Board of Peace" to oversee affairs in Gaza 
as a transitional authority.

It also authorises an "international stabilisation force" that would 
ensure "demilitarisation" of Gaza.


      'New colonialism'

Hamas and other Palestinian factions, including Islamic Jihad, have 
condemned the resolution for imposing an “international guardianship” 
over Palestinians.

“The resolution imposes an international guardianship mechanism on the 
Gaza Strip, which our people and their factions reject,” Hamas said.

“It also seeks to achieve the occupation’s objectives, which it failed 
to accomplish through its brutal genocide.”

The Palestinian movement criticised the resolution for “detaching the 
Gaza Strip from the rest of Palestinian territory” in an attempt to 
impose new realities against the will of the Palestinian people.

The Islamic Jihad Movement also affirmed its rejection of the US 
resolution, stating that it violates the Palestinian people’s “right to 
self-determination”. It further condemned the use of humanitarian aid as 
a tool of pressure and noted that the resolution fails to hold Israel 
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel> accountable for the 
blockade of Gaza.

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestinian-coalition-rejects-new-colonialism-proposal-us>

Palestinian coalition rejects US 'colonial' plan for Gaza

Read More » 
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestinian-coalition-rejects-new-colonialism-proposal-us> 


The Palestinian Authority, however, welcomed the vote and said it was 
prepared to work with the Trump administration to advance the plan.

Critics argue the US draft seeks to use the UN’s authority to normalise 
Israel’s genocide and impose another foreign regime on Palestinians. The 
plan is also criticised for operating outside recognised international 
legal frameworks, establishing a parallel order based on security 
control and external authority.

On Sunday, a group of Palestinian organisations issued a statement 
rejecting US proposals to place Gaza under an externally imposed 
transitional administration, warning that such a move amounts to “a new 
colonialism”.

The National Commission for Palestinian Popular Action 
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestinian-coalition-rejects-new-colonialism-proposal-us> 
(NCPPA) said any attempt to install a governing body “outside the will 
of the Palestinian people” violates their right to self-determination 
and repackages old forms of domination “under updated labels”.

The NCPPA, a global alliance that includes the Popular Conference for 
Palestinians Abroad, the Palestinian National Conference, the Popular 
Palestinian Conference, the Palestinian Federation in Latin America, and 
independent Palestinian figures, recently held a conference in Istanbul, 
according to the Palestinian Information Centre 
<https://english.palinfo.com/>.

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