[News] Why the recent UNSC Resolution 2803 “Board of Peace” violates the UN Charter

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 Comments <https://english.palinfo.com/opinion_articles/>
Why the recent UNSC Resolution 2803 “Board of Peace” violates the UN Charter
Mohammad Yousef <https://english.palinfo.com/authors/Mohammad-Yousef>

Saturday 22-November-2025

On 17 November 2025, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted
Resolution 2803, known as “Board of Peace,” to create an International
Stabilization Force (ISF) for the Gaza Strip. The resolution passed 13–0,
with Russia and China abstaining, and surprisingly with Algeria voting in
its favor. The Palestinian Authority welcomed it, while Hamas rejected it.
UN experts and OHCHR see it as a violation of the UN Charter, international
law, and the inalienable rights of Palestinians, especially their right of
self-determination.

The resolution, in its preamble, welcomes “the constructive role” that the
US and other countries played in facilitating the ceasefire in the Gaza
Strip, while the US administration remains complicit in the genocide by
shielding Israel from any UNSC resolution through its veto power,
sanctioning the ICC, and providing massive, continuous military aid to the
Israel.

Before examining the legality of this resolution, there are some facts that
I believe were not addressed accurately in the text of the resolution. The
resolution didn’t mention the main subject of the resolution, which is the
Palestinians themselves. Palestinians were excluded from the drafting
process and the negotiations prior to voting on it. Moreover, the
resolution mentioned that a ceasefire was reached before the resolution;
however, on the ground, Israel has violated the ceasefire 400 times,
continued airstrikes and bombardment of the Gaza Strip, killing 279 and
injuring 400 Palestinians.

The Resolution calls on all parties to implement Trump’s comprehensive plan
and maintain the ceasefire in good faith and without delay. While the
resolution does not provide a clear monitoring mechanism for the ceasefire,
Israel continued to violate the ceasefire, just a few days ago on
19/11/2025, Israel’s airstrikes killed 28 and injured 77 Palestinians in
one-day attacks in the Gaza Strip.

In its Paragraph 2, the resolution describes the Board of Peace (BoP) as “a
transitional administration with international legal personality” which
will rule the Gaza Strip until the Palestinian Authority completes its
reform as scheduled. It further states that Palestinian self-determination
and statehood can be achieved when the PA reform program is completed and
the Gaza Strip redevelopment advances. The right of self-determination is
universal and unconditional. UN Charter Art. 1(2), and the joint Article 1
of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR) highlight all peoples’ right to self-determination without
addressing this right with any preconditions. The UN Special Rapporteur
Aureliu Cristescu concluded that the right of self-determination is a
peremptory norm (jus cogens), which makes it binding unconditionally on all
states.

The Palestinians’ right of self-determination is an inalienable right
enshrined in international law and cannot be subjected to preconditions,
like the reformation of the PA and the advancement of Gaza’s redevelopment
plan.

Francesca Albanese support’s this position, stating that: ““The ICJ was
clear: self-determination is an inalienable right of the Palestinian people
and the UN and all States have an obligation to assist in its realization.
This can only begin with the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of
Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

Moreover, this right cannot be granted by external powers and authorities
through a specific pathway; it is an inherent right belonging exclusively
to the Palestinian people and can neither be taken from them nor granted to
them by other states. This narrow interpretation of the self-determination
right not only violates international law and the UN Charter, but it
undermines the legal value of the self-determination right and enhances
colonial systems.

The resolution legitimizes the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip, in
clear violation of previous UNSC and UNGA resolutions and recent ICJ
advisory opinions 2024, which all concluded that the Israeli occupation in
the OPT, including the Gaza Strip, is a belligerent illegal occupation,
calling Israel to withdraw from all the territories it occupied in 1967. It
doesn’t mention the Israeli occupation or call for its full withdrawal.
However, the resolution calls on the member states in the International
Stabilization Forces (ISF) to work and cooperate with Israel. Israel, the
occupying power, cannot be treated as a monitoring neutral power that
should cooperate with the BoP to make sure that the ceasefire is
maintained. In contrast, Israel, as an occupying power accused by the UN of
committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, cannot be legally and morally a part
of the implementation mechanism. Moreover, the PA and PLO seem to have no
part in the suggested plan; the resolution only mentions “the newly trained
and vetted Palestinian police force” without stating who they are, how they
are going to be formed, and to which Palestinian political body they
belong. In other words, the resolution calls to legitimize the Israeli
occupation in the Gaza Strip and delegitimize the PA, PLO, and the
Palestinians’ right to self-determination. This violates Article 24(2) of
the UN Charter which states: “the Security Council Must Act Within Charter
Principles.”. Th UNSC acts ultra vires by adopting Donald Trump’s
comprehensive plan which excludes the Palestinians and the and include
their occupiers. The UN special rapporteur in the OPT Francisca Albanese
supports this interpretation stating that:

“I am deeply perplexed. Despite the horrors of the last two years and the
ICJ’s clear jurisprudence, the Council has chosen not to ground its
response in the very body of law it is obliged to uphold: international
human rights law, including the right of self-determination, the law
governing the use of force, international humanitarian law, and the UN
Charter. Rather than charting a pathway toward ending the occupation and
ensuring Palestinian protection, the resolution risks entrenching external
control over Gaza’s governance, borders, security, and reconstruction. The
resolution betrays the people it claims to protect.”

The resolution ignores root causes, settlement expansion, and systemic
apartheid, a very important fact, the prolonged Israeli occupation and
siege of the Gaza Strip. Instead of calling on Israel to adhere to
international law and UN resolutions, withdraw from the occupied
territories, and stop the ethnic cleansing and genocide, it focuses on
disarming Palestinian armed groups and imposing an external power (i.e.,
International Stabilization Forces) on Palestinians, thereby weakening
their aspirations and hope for self-determination. In this regards,
Albanese highlighted that: ““If the OPT, including Gaza, requires an
international presence, it should be mandated to supervise Israel’s
immediate and unconditional withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian
territories, in line with the ICJ’s 2024 advisory opinion and General
Assembly resolution,” the Special Rapporteur said. “Such a presence should
protect civilians, guarantee the cessation of hostilities, prevent further
displacement, ensure accountability for grave breaches, and support the
Palestinian people in exercising their right to freely determine their
political future.””

The foundations of this resolution appear to be political rather than
legal. It comes at a time when legal and international pressure against
Israel is increasing, providing a way out for Israel from its predicament.
Albanese described the resolution as: “political pressure valve” to suspend
discussions on sanctions and other concrete measures necessary to halt
serious violations”

This resolution undermines Palestinians’ rights rather than providing
protection for them. It imposes a foreign external power as a guardian over
the Palestinians, ignoring their legitimate struggle—emphasized by UNGA
Resolution 3236 (XXIX) of 22 November 1974—against Israel’s occupation to
achieve their rights, including the right to self-determination. It further
erodes Palestinians’ self-determination by linking its implementation to
preconditions that violate international law and the UN Charter, as
mentioned above. States, including those that voted in favor of the
resolution, have an international responsibility to act against this
wrongful measure by neither recognizing it nor cooperating with its
implementation. A permanent peace can only be achieved by upholding the
rule of law, strengthening global justice, ending the Israeli occupation
and impunity, and advocating for Palestinians’ right to self-determination
and statehood.

*-Mohammad Yousef is a doctoral candidate in International law. His article
appeared in MEMO.*
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