Amid a tenuous ceasefire in Gaza, punctuated by airstrikes and shelling, as well as soaring humanitarian needs, the Security Council today heard updates on what a transitional governance structure and reconstruction efforts would resemble in the devastated Strip during the organ's quarterly open debate on the Palestinian question.
"In Gaza, the ceasefire is increasingly fragile as Israeli strikes and armed activities by Hamas and other groups continue," declared Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, voicing concern over the "steadily worsening" situation in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. While Gazans face ongoing and deadly Israeli strikes and dire humanitarian conditions, in the West Bank, rampant settler violence, displacement and accelerating settlement activity threaten communities and erode the prospects for a political process based on a viable two-State solution.
Despite ongoing diplomatic efforts to consolidate the ceasefire and implement Phase II of the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict endorsed by the Security Council in resolution 2803 (2025) , talks to disarm armed groups have not produced an agreement, risking the potential return to hostilities, he said.
Civilians are bearing the brunt; approximately 800 Palestinians, including over 200 children and seven humanitarian workers, have been killed due to Israeli actions since the ceasefire began, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health, he said. Nearly Gaza's entire population - 1.8 million people - is displaced and dependent on aid. Unpredictable access and restrictions on critical humanitarian items termed "dual-use" by Israel continue to constrain the UN response.
Final Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment: $71.4 Billion over Next Decade
Underscoring the urgent need to advance plans for aid as well as early recovery and reconstruction, he spotlighted the UN and the European Union's final Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment, released this month, which estimated needs at $71.4 billion over the next decade.
In the West Bank, he drew attention to the increasingly frequent and severe settler attacks, against the backdrop of the Israeli Cabinet's approval in March of 34 settlements across Area C, "the most extensive such approval to date in a single Cabinet decision".
Speakers Welcomed Comprehensive 20-Point Plan as Viable Road Map to Peace
"A pivotal juncture has been reached" in the implementation of United States President Donald J. Trump's Comprehensive 20 Point Plan, declared Tony Blair, member of the Executive Board of the Board of Peace, which the Council endorsed as "a transitional administration with international legal personality" through resolution 2803 (2025).
The Plan was able to end the war in Gaza because it was based on a strategically coherent framework, he stressed, urging Council members to support its implementation and to mobilize funds for the humanitarian response and recovery in full coordination with the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, "an apolitical transitional governing body of respected Palestinians", under the Board's oversight, set up in January.
Outlining the Plan's three elements, he said, Hamas, as presently constituted, can have no role in the government of Gaza - "not directly running the government of Gaza. Not indirectly by retaining their weapons and therefore their power." "Equally important but often overlooked is that if disarmament occurs, the network of restrictions on people and goods entering and leaving Gaza should and will be lifted," he went on, adding: "This is a huge prize for the people of Gaza."
According to the Board's reconstruction plans, Gaza would not be rebuilt, but reimagined: "A port. Free movement of people and goods. Proper infrastructure. New housing. Fully able to access the digital economy." The Plan's third element, "since trust is low and scepticism high", he went on, is to put in place "a transitional period where international support is necessary to help Gaza on its feet and disarmament happen in a manner Israel will accept".
Calls on Hamas to Disarm
"I call on Hamas to decommission its weapons without delay," said Espen Barth Eide, Norway's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Representative of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, the International Donor Group for Palestine, outlining progress made in a meeting held last week in Brussels to discuss how to implement the 20-point plan and improve the situation on the ground in Palestine. "One objective of our meeting was to establish a clear link between the new, temporary structures established under resolution 2803 (2025), and the pre-existing, established structures," he said, adding that this should consolidate alignment around unified coordination mechanisms, which will speed up implementation.
"I want to be clear that every day matters," declared the United States representative. "Every day, we either move closer to a future where Palestinians live in freedom, prosperity and at peace with Israel, or we drift back to chaos, rockets, hostages and rubble." His country, with its partners in the Board of Peace, is working daily towards that "brighter vision", he said, citing a recent mass wedding held by the United Arab Emirates in Deir al-Balah in Gaza. There is just "one obstruction" to that vision: Hamas, he said, calling on the group to accept that it will not have any role in Gaza and to demilitarize. "Gaza will not be safe or free if weapons are shifted from Hamas to one of its lookalike groups," he said, stressing that "an internationally funded buyback is on the table".
State of Palestine: Israel Must End Annexation, Restrictions on Aid
"In devastated Gaza, while many lives were saved by the ceasefire, the suffering continues," said Varsen Aghabekian, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the State of Palestine, demanding an "immediate response" to "the human and humanitarian consequences of this man-made reality", including the spread of rodents and diseases and delays in restoration of basic services and recovery. "There is no justification for the delays by Israel in allowing shelter in or the restrictions on aid and humanitarian access," she added.
"As we embark on phase two of the ceasefire, we reiterate our vision of One State, One Government, One Law and One Gun, and the need for full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip," she went on, underscoring the need to not "derail these efforts by pursuing policies that President Trump's plan rejected: forcible displacement and annexation" - objectives Israel still pursues in Gaza and the West Bank. Affirming Palestinian's "commitment to liberation by peaceful means", despite its devastating reality, she said: "Diversity is this land's destiny. It is a blessing, not a curse. There is no space here for exclusivity, monopoly or supremacy."
Israel: Extremist Settler Violence Miniscule Compared to Palestinian Terrorist Attacks
"Israel is implementing our side of the deal; all major crossings are open", countered Israel's delegate, stressing that for over two years it has been fighting a war "forced upon us". While his country has facilitated the entry of 1.5 million tons of food into Gaza, Hamas is blackmailing civilians and pressuring civilians "to sell themselves for food vouchers", he said. "Hamas uses rape as a tactic," and it is rejecting Gaza's disarmament plan, he said, asking: "Where is the outrage?"
Turning to settler violence, he said that "a tiny number of extremists, dozens not even hundreds" are condemned, investigated, convicted. "Extremist violence by Israelis exists but it is significantly smaller in scale compared to the scale of attacks carried out by Palestinian terrorists in Judea and Samaria," he stated. On the situation in Lebanon, he said Hizbullah is not just set on Israel's destruction, it has weakened Lebanon's Government. "Israel has entered direct negotiations with Lebanon… but while we negotiate Hizbullah continues to fire on Israel's civilians," he said.
Calls for Restraint, Dialogue, Implementing Council Resolution 2803 (2025)
Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Bahrain's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Council President for April, underscored the need to implement resolution 2803 (2025) as a binding framework to end the conflict in Gaza, consolidate the ceasefire and establish the Board of Peace. Noting the Bahraini King's participation in the Board's inaugural meeting in Washington, D.C., he urged the international community to shift from crisis management to finding solutions.
At this critical juncture, restraint, dialogue and diplomacy must prevail, chimed in Pakistan's representative, highlighting his country's active engagement in advancing diplomatic pathways and advocating for a peaceful resolution of the ongoing crisis in the region. "The recent talks hosted in Islamabad between the United States and Iran stand as a testament to this commitment," he added.
Khalifa bin Shaheen Al Marar, Minister of State of the United Arab Emirates, highlighted his country's provision of nearly $3 billion in humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people in Gaza, adding that it has pledged an additional $1.2 billion through the Board of Peace. "However, aid alone is not sufficient," he stressed, calling for the opening of the Rafah Crossing in both directions.
France's delegate, echoing the call of many speakers for full implementation of resolution 2803 (2025), underscored the need for the Council to be regularly informed of its progress, including through the first written report in mid-May.
"The present pause in largescale violence must not be mistaken for peace," Liberia's delegate added. "Cement without political courage merely rebuilds future ruins," he stressed, calling for a timebound international framework linking recovery, governance, accountability and a credible pathway toward the two-State solution.
Alarm over 'Deteriorating Trajectory' in West Bank and East Jerusalem, Stalled Action towards Creation of Independent Palestinian State
The United Kingdom's delegate, meanwhile, was among speakers voicing alarm over the "deteriorating trajectory" in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, drawing attention to "extremely troubling reports" of sexual and gender-based violence and illegal evictions. Deploring the recent killing of a 14-year-old boy in a school by settlers, he called for concrete steps to prevent attacks against Palestinians, pointing out that accountability for previous such incidents was "severely lacking".
"The State of Israel was established long ago, while the State of Palestine remains out of reach," China's delegate said, urging the international community to rectify this historic injustice.
Meanwhile, the Russian Federation's representative pointed out that the Comprehensive Plan and implementation of Council resolution 2803 (2025) - adopted at Washington, D.C.'s initiative - have stalled. The International Stabilization Force for Gaza has yet to be deployed. Instead of working towards creation of an independent Palestinian State, the international community is witnessing attempts to "buy the goodwill of the Palestinians through grand commercial projects of the 'New Gaza' variety", he added.
Countries in Region Strike Less-than-Encouraging Note
Other speakers representing the region also struck a less-than-encouraging note.
"Israel has adopted a policy which can only be described as one of permanent war," stressed Ahmed Aboulgheit, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, noting that Iran's "unjustified, hostile and unlawful" attacks on Arab countries should not deter attention away from Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian and other Arab lands. Condemning what he described as Israel's treatment of the United States-facilitated ceasefire as a one-sided commitment binding only Palestinians, he called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory.
Egypt's delegate, speaking for the Arab Group, condemned illegal Israeli measures in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including settlement expansion, settler violence, forced displacement, attacks on humanitarian actors and incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram al-Sharif. Türkiye's representative, speaking for the Organization of the Islamic Conference, noted that Palestinians continue to endure "untold hardships" under Israel's illegal occupation, with Gaza's death toll surpassing 73,500 people.
Umar Hadi, Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, warned that the Occupied Palestinian Territory is moving not towards peace, but "deeper fragmentation, dispossession and despair", as Israel entrenches its illegal occupation. Citing UN experts' warnings of "ethnic cleansing and annexation" and the "de-Palestinization" of Jerusalem, he condemned restrictions on worship at holy sites. "We must also speak plainly about dangerous legislative measures," he said, pointing to the so-called "death penalty for terrorists" law passed by the Knesset on 30 March, calling for this "cruel, inhumane law" to be repealed.
"The Israeli occupation forces are using every means to provoke the Syrian people," warned Syria's delegate, condemning the Israeli occupation in southern Syria, including the Summit of Mount Hermon. Israeli forces are crossing the Line of Disengagement and approaching villages, threatening crops and livelihoods and diverting water sources to supply settlements. Meanwhile, Israeli occupiers are also terrorizing peaceful civilians through deadly night raids, he said, stressing: "They are kidnapping Syrians from their beds while sleeping."
Iran's representative assailed Israel and the United States violations of international humanitarian law in his country, citing attacks on healthcare, cultural facilities and educational institutions, including the targeting of a girls' school, which killed more than 168 students. "The United States and the Israeli regime must bear full responsibility and must be held accountable," he stressed.
