As United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed Monday’s Security Council resolution paving the way for a consolidated ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, UN aid teams have expressed cautious optimism that the peace plan will improve the situation on the ground. On Monday, the Council endorsed the United States–backed “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict” and authorized the establishment of a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF) in Gaza.
On Tuesday, following the endorsement, UN humanitarian officials urged prioritizing aid access under the scheme as severe rains and flooding worsened the situation for Palestinians in Gaza. More than two million people in the war-torn territory are in urgent need of life-saving humanitarian aid after two years of extreme deprivation.
“We're very optimistic that the peace plans will improve the situation,” UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson Ricardo Pires told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday. “But again, the reality for children on the ground continues to be very tragic.”
“We’re still in the hypotheticals,” Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), cautioned regarding the Security Council resolution, stressing that it “needs some meat on the bones” but recalling that the UN Secretary-General had welcomed the development.
Monday’s hasty resolution
The resolution endorsing the “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict,” announced by the US government on September 29, authorizes a transitional administration: the “Board of Peace (BoP).” The BoP will coordinate reconstruction efforts and establish a temporary international force in the enclave following two years of war.
The Council adopted Resolution 2803 (2025) with 13 votes in favor, 0 against, and 2 abstentions from China and Russia. The resolution authorizes the Board and participating member states to make arrangements to achieve the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan and establish operational entities for this purpose.
The Security Council underscored the importance of resuming humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip fully, in cooperation with the BoP and in accordance with relevant international legal principles. This aid will be provided through cooperating organizations, including the United Nations, and it must not be diverted by armed groups.
Furthermore, the text states that as the ISF establishes control and stability, the IDF will withdraw from the Gaza Strip based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization agreed upon by the relevant parties.
The Council also decided that the Board and international civil and security presences authorized by Monday’s resolution shall remain authorized until December 31, 2027, pending further Council action. The UN organ also requested that the BoP provide it with a written progress report every six months.
The resolution text lacks clarity on critical elements, such as the structure, composition, and terms of reference for the BoP and the ISF. It also omits other important details. There is concern over its limited transparency, particularly regarding the roles of the United Nations and the Palestinian Authority. An explicit reference to the two-state solution is absent.
Nevertheless, in an overnight statement, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the resolution an "important step in the consolidation of the ceasefire" and said that "it is essential now to translate the diplomatic momentum into concrete and urgently needed steps on the ground."
However, Guterres's statement also emphasized the importance of progressing to the second phase of the US plan, which would lead to a "political process for the achievement of the two-state solution," in accordance with previous UN resolutions.
Additionally, his statement emphasized the UN's commitment to increasing humanitarian assistance in the territory.
Humanitarian access remains central
In line with the call to increase aid access, UNICEF’s Ricardo Pires emphasized on Tuesday that this is “part of the deal, and we need to see more humanitarian corridors open.”
According to the OCHA, more than 5,400 metric tons of aid, including shelter, medical, and food items, were collected between Thursday and Sunday. The Zikim border crossing reopened after being closed for two months, bringing the total number of open crossings to three.
Pires highlighted the importance of the Zikim crossing's reopening and mentioned that UNICEF recently brought in 96 pallets of high-energy biscuits for the famine-stricken northern part of Gaza.
While hailing this as a “positive development”, he stressed that the needs are huge following two years of deprivation.
“We need more, a lot more,” he said. “Hopefully with the new plan, that will become a reality for children and families.”
The humanitarian situation has become particularly dire as heavy rains and flooding have made life even more unbearable for thousands of displaced families.
On Monday, UN relief chief Tom Fletcher said that Palestinians across Gaza are cold and soaked following the recent rains. He added that frustration is growing as floodwaters rise and destroy what little people have left. He reiterated that the UN and its partners are mobilizing to help, but that much more is needed. Fletcher said that remaining restrictions must be lifted to urgently bring in more aid.
“We're seeing heartbreaking stories of desperate families feeling completely lost and exhausted after their tents got flooded,” UNICEF’s Pires said on Tuesday.
“Most of them have been displaced multiple times and lost everything in the past two years. [...] When children are sleeping in flooded tents without warm clothing or dry bedding, many lacking the required nutrition, with very low immunity and already traumatized by conflict, winter becomes extremely dangerous.”
The UNICEF spokesperson emphasized the risks of hypothermia, respiratory infections, and death.
Children in Gaza are much less prepared to handle extreme weather conditions because they have lived through two years of conflict, deprivation, and repeated displacement. Children represent over half of Gaza's population.
The spokesperson also pointed out that Israeli forces occupy more than 50 percent of Gaza’s territory and that many of the coastal areas to which Palestinians have been forced to evacuate are also the most flood-prone.
Pires concluded by saying that children should be at the center of any new plan moving forward.
“Ensuring that their safety, education, healthcare, mental well-being and family unity is not only a legal and moral imperative – it's actually a practical investment in long-term stability and recovery for Gaza,” he said.
Scaling-up of humanitarian aid is continuing
In an update on Tuesday, OCHA stressed that the UN and its partner organizations remain committed to providing life-saving support, including shelter, in Gaza. Humanitarian organizations continue to distribute tents, tarpaulins, and other essential items to affected families, while assessing people’s needs to guide the response.
Aid agencies providing food assistance have reported that, as of Saturday, they have distributed over 1.3 million meals through 195 kitchens — more than 180,000 in northern Gaza and approximately 1.2 million in the governorates of Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis. As of Saturday, the UN and its partners had also provided general food assistance to over 64,000 households — approximately 320,000 individuals.
The latest UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, released in August, found that over half a million people are experiencing famine in Gaza, with approximately 640,000 facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.
It is estimated that 132,000 children under the age of five are suffering from acute malnutrition, including 41,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Additionally, over 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as 25,000 infants, are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition and require urgent nutritional support.
On Tuesday, Tarik Jašarević, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that there has been a surge of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) since the start of the Gaza conflict. More than 36,000 children have been admitted to stabilization centers for treatment of SAM in the first ten months of 2025 alone.
The ceasefire that took effect in Gaza on October 10 allowed many humanitarian organizations to resume operations gradually in previously inaccessible areas and expand the delivery of aid and services. However, Israeli forces have repeatedly violated the ceasefire by launching heavy air bombardments on the territory, killing hundreds of civilians.
Over 239,000 Palestinians, primarily civilians, have been killed, injured, or maimed in Israeli military operations since October 2023. The recorded death toll exceeds 69,000, including over 20,000 children, while the number of injuries exceeds 170,000. However, the actual number of casualties is estimated to be much higher.
According to UN commissions, international and Israeli human rights organizations, human rights experts, and leading genocide scholars, Israel's actions in Gaza —including the blockade and obstruction of humanitarian aid —not only meet the legal definitions of war crimes and crimes against humanity but also amount to genocide against Gaza's population.
Further information
Full text: UN Security Council Resolution S/RES/2803(2025), The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, adopted on November 17, 2025
https://docs.un.org/en/S/RES/2803(2025)