live U.S.-Iran standoff continues as Hormuz shipping and diplomacy remain uncertain
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to res...
Palestinian resistance factions have rejected a U.S. draft resolution proposing an international stabilisation force in the Gaza Strip, warning it seeks to impose external control over the territory and undermine Palestinian sovereignty.
The joint statement, issued ahead of a scheduled United Nations Security Council vote on the draft, described the plan as paving the way for “foreign guardianship” over Gaza and sidelining Palestinian decision-making.
They insisted that any humanitarian or security effort must operate through Palestinian institutions, under full UN oversight, and without becoming a political instrument or security apparatus.
The factions rejected any clause that would involve disarmament in Gaza or divert from their internationally recognised right to resist occupation.
They also criticised language in the draft resolution that they say would turn aid into leverage, weaken the role of the UN agency UNRWA and effectively reshape Gaza’s internal reality via a foreign-run mechanism.
The statement stressed that any discussion over arms must remain a national matter tied to a political process that ends Israeli occupation and secures a Palestinian state.
The groups labelled the proposed international role as effectively serving the Israeli occupation if it coordinated with Israeli forces, and they called for any future force to fall under direct UN command, liaise only with official Palestinian bodies and restrict its tasks to protecting civilians, ensuring aid delivery and separating forces.
They also rejected any foreign bases, trusteeship or foreign military presence in Gaza, calling those a direct assault on Palestinian sovereignty.
The factions called for an Arab-Islamic framework for Gaza’s administration, advocating for a transitional Palestinian technocrat committee to take over from Hamas, rooted in the “free Palestinian will” and maintaining unity of land, people and institutions.
The draft resolution is tied to the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, which introduced the idea of an international force and outlined a pathway toward statehood.
The ceasefire went into effect on 10 October under Egyptian-Qatari-U.S.-Turkish mediation, but the planned transition into security and administrative arrangements has been delayed amid Israeli objections and continued violence in the Strip.
The collective-defence agreement between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signals that regional powers no longer want to rely solely on external security guarantees. Whether it becomes a stabilising deterrent or another axis of rivalry remains unresolved.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed, according to the latest data, as uncertainty over the waterway’s reopening kept most shipowners away. Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from nine the day before and below the 10-day daily average of 11.
Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. fulfils the terms of an interim deal, including lifting the maritime blockade and sanctions and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.
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