Prolonged Occupation Will Only Breed More Hatred, Antagonism, Sowing Seeds of Instability in Middle East, Says Delegate
The collective punishment of the Palestinian people and the relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces is horrific and unjustifiable, a high-level United Nations official told the Security Council today, which also heard from the brother of an Israeli hostage held by Hamas, who implored the 15-member organ not to let his brother's life to be "used as a bargaining chip".
"Ceasefire is long overdue," said Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific in the United Nations Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations.
Since 7 October 2023, more than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to Gaza's health ministry, and over 1,700 Israeli and foreign nationals have been killed in attacks in or originated from Gaza, according to Israeli sources. All hostages must be treated humanely and allowed visits from the Red Cross, he said, condemning acts of sexual violence and abuse perpetrated against hostages.
International humanitarian law always applies to all parties to a conflict, and its application does not depend on reciprocity, he went on to say. The protection of civilians is paramount. There must be full accountability for any atrocity crimes that have been committed, he added, also condemning the looting of aid and calling for a full investigation into such acts.
He further reiterated that all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, "have no legal validity" and are in flagrant violation of international law. Such acts are provocative, he added, calling on the Government of Israel to cease such settlement activities immediately.
Shira Efron, Director of Research at Israel Policy Forum, noting that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "remains a tragedy for both Jews and Arabs", said that, 438 days after 7 October 2023, 100 hostages, including a two-year-old baby and an 86-year-old grandfather, remain in captivity, while in Gaza, devastation is unimaginable, with countless lives lost, families shattered, homes reduced to rubble and a population struggling for food, water and healthcare.
A two-State solution will remain only a vision unless the international community shifts "from platitudes to planning". "There is still no shared coherent plan for post-war Gaza," she pointed out, adding that, without a green light from the Palestinian Authority, regional and other international partners will not commit to its recovery. Yet, the Israeli Government has until now vetoed Palestinian Authority involvement, exacerbating the risk of either full Israeli occupation of Gaza or a Hamas resurgence.
Involving the Palestinian Authority and ensuring it has the capacity to succeed would help alleviate fiscal and economic pressures in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority should demonstrate that it can be part of the solution by reforming the so-called prisoner and martyr payments system, addressing incitement and undertaking education reform. For its part, Israel should take decisive action to stop settler violence in the West Bank. "The UN and Israel must repair their fractured relationship which has reached an unprecedented low", she said.
"My brother Or is one of the 100 innocent hostages currently held by Hamas in Gaza for 439 days," Michael Levy told the Council. Or was abducted by Hamas from the Nova Music Festival which he attended with his wife. She was murdered. "Or is a real human being, a father to an amazing three-year-old son," he said. You have the power to save his life, he told Council member, appealing to them not just as diplomats, "but as people, as mothers, fathers, siblings and friends". "Your silence is deafening, your inaction is suffocating," he went on to say. "I refuse to accept the world where my brother's life can be used as a bargaining chip and be forgotten," he said, adding: "Demand the release of them all."
In the ensuing debate, delegates expressed alarm for the humanitarian situation in Gaza, as well as Israel's continued settlement-expansion. The representative of Malta urged Israel to end its presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory without delay. Reiterating condemnation of the horrific 7 October 2023 attacks, she also called for the unconditional release of all hostages.
Guyana's delegate called on Israel to strictly abide by its legal obligation as an occupying Power and safeguard the rights and interests of the Palestinian people. "It is unjust that Palestinians are forced to live with the constant threat of violence and even death by the Israeli security forces and Israeli settlers, even when they are engaged in routine activities, such as picking olives from their olive groves," she said. The Council has been unable to achieve consensus to act for the Palestinian people while hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians are killed, disabled, orphaned, widowed and starved.
Several delegations including representatives from Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Switzerland, Japan, Mozambique, Ecuador, United Kingdom, France and the Republic of Korea also echoed calls, demanding an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, expressing concern that the widespread destruction of homes there has made the already vulnerable population exposed to extreme weather this winter.
"In Gaza, people are not living, they are simply waiting to die," said Algeria's delegate. Humanitarian aid remains highly insufficient to meet the needs of the population. Entire neighbourhoods in Gaza have been demolished. Violence, disease and starvation are omnipresent. "Quite simply, Gaza has turned into a graveyard of the living," he said.
The representative of the Russian Federation, noting that the United States vetoed a ceasefire six times so that the Israeli military operation can continue in Gaza, pointed to statements by Israeli officials about forcibly changing the demographics of the Strip. Highlighting atrocities in the West Bank, he said Israel is using the "fabricated pretext that that there are no construction permits" to systematically destroy Palestinian homes. The height of cynicism is that Palestinians who cannot afford to pay high duties to Israel are then compelled to destroy their homes with their own hands. "If you push people to a situation where they have nothing to lose, don't be surprised when radical ideas become popular," he said.
China's delegate pointed out that while the Jewish nation has long since had an independent State, the Palestinian people's right to statehood, survival and return has long been ignored. The prolonged occupation will only breed more hatred and antagonism, sowing the seeds of instability in the Middle East. Piece meal crisis management alone will not prevent a relapse into the vicious cycle of conflict, he said. Gaza is an inseparable and important part of Palestine, and its future should be decided by Palestinian people.
The representative of the United States said that granting Hamas, a terrorist organization, their demand for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire will not end the suffering of cycles of violence for Israelis and Palestinians. "Instead, we must speak with one voice and demand that Hamas agree to release the hostages they're holding," she said. It is time for Israel and the United Nations to stop working against each other and instead take pragmatic steps to ensure there's no interruption of humanitarian aid delivery. Advancing Israeli settlements in the West Bank is an obstacle to achieving a two-State solution. Hundreds of violent attacks over the past year have forced Palestinians to abandon their homes and vacate villages.
"In Gaza, every Palestinian life has either been upended, or completely ended," said the Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine, adding that Palestinian children now represent the largest cohort of child amputees per capita in the world. Recalling that, over a year ago, his delegation called for a ceasefire that would allow Palestinian and Israeli families "to be reunited in life, not death", and warned of what would come if it was not imposed, he regretted that yet another ceasefire draft resolution, supported by 14 Council members was recently vetoed by the United States.
Israel's aim has always been "to seize maximum Palestinian land with minimum Palestinians, but even that was not enough", he said, adding that it is forcibly displacing Palestinian communities and building settlements in the heart of their cities in order "to destroy the territorial integrity of our State". Israel has now accused the UN, almost every State, international courts, as well as the world's most renowned moral voices of antisemitism. Recalling how the Israeli Foreign Minister closed his country's embassy in Dublin stating that Ireland has crossed every red line, he asked: "So, Israel commits genocide […] but it is Ireland which has crossed every red line?"
Those who hope to end this conflict by taking more Palestinian lives and colonizing more Palestinian land are delusional, he said, adding: "We are out of time, but we are not out of options". Welcoming the launch of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, he highlighted the Assembly decision to hold a high-level international conference in June 2025 on the implementation of relevant UN resolutions. Each State must examine what more they can do to uphold international law. "We ask for nothing more than the rights international law guarantees to our people, but we also cannot accept anything less," he said.
The representative of Israel said that the Middle East in the past year has become "virtually unrecognizable". "We continue to dismantle Hamas […] and rid Gaza from their terrorist oppressors," he said. "The chance before us is clear, the chance to finally end the Islamic regime of Iran's aspirations for a Shiite supremacist empire," he said. Israel has acted decisively. "We have struck the terror networks that once cast a shadow over our region," he said. Iran's provocations continue to escalate with shameless threats about its nuclear ambitions and its proxies in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq, remain active and deadly, spreading chaos far beyond the region.
This is not a localized threat, he said. Iran is a danger to the entire world. This is not about a hypothetical future. The danger is already here. The time to act is now. "This Council must implement crushing sanctions to suffocate Iran's ability to fund its proxies," he said. These steps are not optional. They are imperative. "The Islamic regime thrives on inaction and indecision," he added. Israel has no intention of occupying Syria or parts of Syria. "We are not empire builders; we are defenders," he said. Further, he urged the Iranian people to "take action now, the people of Israel stand by your side". "In your hands lie the power to restore the beautiful Iranian nation, to rebuild a land which is rich in history and culture," he said.
There are still 100 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, enduring conditions that are beyond comprehension, he added. Israel is negotiating for their freedom. Hamas' crimes against humanity are despicable, and yet much of the world remains silent. He pledged to continue to facilitate aid to be delivered to Gaza and open new aid crossings. "Israel will remain clear eyed," he said, vowing to "bring back all of our hostages".
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