The United Nations Security Council on Thursday will start negotiations on a US-drafted resolution to endorse President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, said a senior US government official, and authorize a two-year mandate for a transitional governance body and international stabilization force.

The US formally circulated the draft resolution to the 15 council members late on Wednesday and has said it has regional support from Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates for the text.

“The message is: if the region is with us on this and the region is with us on how this resolution is constructed, then we believe that the council should be as well,” the senior US government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.

A council resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, France, Britain, or the United States to be adopted.

When asked when the draft text could be put to a vote, the official said: “The sooner that we move, the better. We’re looking at weeks, not months.”

“Russia and China will certainly have their inputs, and we’ll take those as they come. But at the end of the day, I do not see those countries standing in the way and blocking what is probably the most promising plan for peace in a generation,” the official said.

INTERNATIONAL FORCE WOULD HAVE AUTHORITY TO DISARM HAMAS

The draft resolution, seen by Reuters, would authorize a Board of Peace transitional governance administration to establish a temporary International Stabilization Force in Gaza that could “use all necessary measures” – language for force – to carry out its mandate.

The ISF would be authorized to protect civilians and humanitarian aid operations, work to secure border areas with Israel, Egypt, and a “newly trained and vetted Palestinian police force.”

The ISF would stabilize security in Gaza by “ensuring the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding of the military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups.”

The official said the draft UN resolution gives the ISF authority to disarm Hamas, but that the US was still expecting the Palestinian terrorist group to “live up to its end of the agreement” and give up its weapons.

Hamas has not said whether it will agree to disarm and demilitarize Gaza — something the terrorists have rejected before.

INTERNATIONAL FORCE LIKELY AROUND 20,000 TROOPS

The senior US official said the ISF was shaping up to be around 20,000 troops.

While the Trump administration has ruled out sending US soldiers into the Gaza Strip, it has been speaking to Indonesia, the UAE, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and Azerbaijan to contribute.

“We’ve been in steady contact with the potential troop contributors, and what they need in terms of a mandate, what type of language they need,” said the official. “Almost all of the countries are looking to have some type of international mandate. The preferred is UN.”

The official said he was unaware if Israel had ruled out any specific countries from contributing troops to the ISF, but added: “We’re in constant conversations with them.” Israel said last month it would not accept Turkish armed forces in Gaza under the US peace plan.

Israel and Hamas agreed a month ago to the first phase of Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, a ceasefire in their two-year war and a hostage release deal. That 20-point plan is annexed to the draft UN Security Council resolution.

“Time is not on our side here. The ceasefire is holding, but it is fragile, and … we cannot get bogged down in wordsmithing in the council. I think this is a real test for the United Nations,” the senior US official said.

HAMAS FIGHTERS IN ISRAELI-HELD RAFAH

Meanwhile, Hamas fighters holed up in the Israeli-held Rafah area of Gaza would surrender their arms in exchange for passage to other areas of the enclave under a proposal to resolve an issue seen as a risk to the month-old truce, according to two sources familiar with the talks.

Since the US-brokered ceasefire took effect in Gaza on Oct. 10, the Rafah area has been the scene of at least two attacks on Israeli forces which Israel has blamed on Hamas; the terrorist group has denied responsibility.

Egyptian mediators have proposed that, in exchange for safe passage, fighters still in Rafah surrender their arms to Egypt and give details of tunnels there so they can be destroyed, one of the sources, an Egyptian security official, said.

Israel and Hamas have yet to accept mediators‘ proposals, the two sources said. A third confirmed that talks on the issue were underway.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the accounts; Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesperson in Gaza, declined to comment.

The attacks in Rafah spiraled into some of the worst violence since the ceasefire took hold, with three Israeli soldiers killed, prompting Israeli retaliation that killed dozens of Palestinians.

Two of the sources said the Hamas fighters in Rafah, which the group’s armed wing has said have been out of contact since March, might be unaware a ceasefire was in place. One of them added that getting the fighters out served the interest of safeguarding the truce.

The sources did not say how many Hamas fighters might be holed up in the Rafah area.