Washington – PNN – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced progress on the draft United Nations Security Council resolution proposed by the United States regarding the deployment of an international force in Gaza.

Rubio told reporters on Thursday: “I believe we have made significant progress regarding the wording of the resolution.”

The U.S. Secretary of State also expressed hope that action on the draft resolution would be taken “very soon,” but he did not specify whether this would include putting the draft to a vote.

Earlier, the United States had proposed a draft resolution at the UN Security Council for the deployment of an international security force in the Gaza Strip as part of the ceasefire agreement reached in the territory.

The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza went into effect on October 10.

Under this agreement, Hamas released 20 prisoners who had been held in Gaza since October 7, 2023, thereby freeing all remaining hostages. In response, Israel released approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including those serving life sentences.

Hamas is currently returning the remains of hostages who died in captivity to Israel. The Palestinian side has returned the bodies of 24 identified hostages. According to Israeli data, four other bodies of deceased hostages remain in Gaza.

In October, the Wall Street Journal reported that Hamas and Israel had begun technical discussions on the second phase of the Trump peace plan, which includes disarming Hamas, managing Gaza after the war, and deploying an international peacekeeping force in the besieged territory.

The New York Times quoted diplomats saying that the United States is pressuring the UN Security Council to approve former President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the Gaza Strip.