US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz has said that he expects "upcoming" announcements on advancing President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan for Gaza.
Speaking after meeting Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday, Waltz praised last month’s UN Security Council resolution on the Gaza plan as "probably the most positive resolution we’ve seen for Israel, for stability in the region."
"We now have that authorisation. I think we will see announcements upcoming in terms of the Board of Peace, led by President Trump. The key components of that are a technocratic authority of Palestinians to get the water, the gas, the sewage, to get those basic services going again in Gaza. Of course, a funding mechanism for the owners to pay for it, and then the international stabilisation force," Waltz said, according to a statement from Herzog’s office.
Herzog said he hoped that the process "will not take too long, because in the Middle East, if you wait for too long, then the vacuum fills in… Iran is trying to regroup, and its proxies are trying to regroup, and we have to show momentum to implement (the) resolution."
In a separate statement, the US Mission to the UN said Waltz and Herzog discussed "the need to maintain maximum pressure against Iran, which continues attempting to destabilise the region."
They also agreed on the need to "move quickly" with the implementation of Trump’s Comprehensive Plan to End the War in Gaza to ensure Hamas is demilitarised and plays no role in Gaza’s future governance.
"Waltz thanked President Herzog for his close cooperation with the United States and both pledged to work together to combat antisemitism and anti-Israel bias at the United Nations," it said.
The ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza on 10 October under Trump’s plan, halting two years of Israeli genocide that has killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and wounded nearly 171,000 others since October 2023.
