Delegates also Stress Importance of Hostage Release, Relations Devoid of Violent Extremism
"The current conditions are among the worst we've seen during the entire war and are not set to improve," Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, warned the Security Council during a meeting on ending the war in Gaza and Lebanon and securing durable peace in the Middle East, as Member States echoed the need for a ceasefire and voiced concern over developments that jeopardize the two-State solution.
"After over a year of horrific war and bloodshed, the region is at a grim crossroads," he said, outlining the ever-escalating situation in the Middle East, with the war between Hamas and Israel spreading to the region, involving non-State armed groups and now engulfing large swaths of Lebanon. "We are living a nightmare," he said, describing daily rocket fire from Lebanon towards northern and central Israel; massive Israeli air strikes across Lebanon and an Israeli ground operation in southern Lebanon; exchanges of missiles and strikes between Israel and Yemen, Iraq and Syria; and overt and direct military confrontations between Iran and Israel.
The "immeasurable" trauma and grief unleashed since Hamas's terrorist attacks inside Israel on 7 October 2023 "will reverberate for generations and shape the region in ways we cannot yet fully comprehend", he stressed, reiterating his concern over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, particularly in the north, where the near-total displacement of the population is taking place "amidst what looks like a disturbing disregard for international humanitarian law". While humanitarian agencies in Gaza faced a challenging and dangerous environment, amid access restrictions and attacks, including by armed Palestinians, the occupied West Bank is "stuck in a destructive spiral of violence and hopelessness", he went on, pointing to unabated and even accelerated settlement expansion, with some ministers openly calling for formal annexation in the coming months.
Addressing Israel's laws against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)'s operations, he said: "I must issue an urgent warning that the very institutional framework of support to the Palestinian people and Palestinian state are on the brink of dissolution, threatening to plunge the Occupied Palestinian Territory into even greater chaos." "How much more misery can Israelis and Palestinians be expected to endure? How much further can we bend the system of international laws and institutions meant to protect innocent civilians?" he asked, adding: "Frankly, I don't have the answers, but I can tell you that what we are living now is the result of us testing all these breaking points for way too long."
Against this grim backdrop, he called on the international community to change the present dangerous course of events, beginning with an immediate ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza. In addition, he reiterated principles in need of urgent safeguarding, including for Gaza to remain an integral part of a future Palestinian State, for no long-term Israeli military presence in Gaza, and for Gaza and the West Bank to be politically, economically, administratively unified. "There can be no long-term solution in Gaza that is not fundamentally political," he emphasized, calling on the international community to ensure that recovery and reconstruction needs in Gaza are addressed in the context of a political process that ensures tangible advancements towards a two-State solution and lasting peace.
"There is nothing hidden about what Israel is doing in Gaza," declared the observer for the State of Palestine, pointing out that, 408 days into the conflict, "no one can claim that civilians are not being killed on purpose, starved on purpose, forcibly displaced on purpose, terrorized on purpose, all part of an undeniable plan for the annexation of the land and annihilation of its people." In this context, "the only question that matters now is: Are you willing to do what is necessary to stop it?" he stressed, underscoring that "there is only one course of action for this Security Council, if it is to retain any credibility - demanding an immediate and unconditional ceasefire under Chapter VII of the Charter [of the United Nations]."
"We are on the brink of total collapse of life in Gaza," he said, warning that justifying under any pretext harming civilians; the use of starvation as method of war; or depriving an entire people of medical care in a time of genocide will upend the fundamental rules elaborated to safeguard humanity. Israel has declared war on the international rules-based order, with its attacks on the UN, its Secretary-General, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the International Criminal Court, he stressed, underscoring that "Gaza's fate will haunt the world for generations to come". Therefore, he appealed to the Council to "act now" to protect civilians, recognize the State of Palestine, implement the International Court of Justice advisory opinion, and ensure respect for international legal obligations, starting with an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.
However, Israel's delegate, spotlighting the kidnapping of hostage Yonatan Samihano by a "monster on the UN's payroll", questioned why today's meeting did not focus on the sponsorship of terrorism by UNRWA. His country would never stop fighting to secure the freedom of Mr. Samihano, who remained in Gaza along with 100 other Israeli hostages, he said, calling on the Council to condemn Hamas and demand their unconditional release. While his country continues to combat terrorism across Gaza, it is continuing its unrelenting efforts to facilitate humanitarian assistance, he said, highlighting the passage of 100 aid trucks through the border crossings at Kerem Shalom and Erez in the past six days. However, the Council is ignoring the true cause of the humanitarian situation, which is "Hamas' violent greed", he went on, citing the looting at gunpoint by Hamas of 97 aid trucks in the past 48 hours.
Week after week, Council members demonize Israel, exposing the blinding hatred behind their bias, he said, adding that his country is under attack on seven fronts. Iran, through its sponsorship of terror, was the "common thread" through all crises in the Middle East, he said, calling for a "coalition of the courageous" to counter the existential threat posed by its nuclear ambitions. The resolution put forth by the 10 elected Council members, slated for a vote on 19 November, fails to outline the release of the hostages as a condition for a ceasefire, he said, adding: "History will remember who stood with us and who allowed terror to flourish."
In the ensuing debate, which included ministers and other high-level representatives, delegates echoed the Special Coordinator's calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages, including Malta, Slovenia and Switzerland's Ignazio Cassis, Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, who condemned Israel's destruction of a residential building in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, causing numerous civilian casualties, including children, as well as incessant rocket fire by Hamas on Israel.
Algeria's representative was among several speakers urging the Council to adopt the resolution submitted by its elected members, aimed at halting the ongoing tragedy by imposing a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon. Admitting Palestine as a full member of the UN reinforces international law, stressing that "the cost of silence and inaction is steep".
Also highlighting the need for a universal recognition of the State of Palestine and its full admission as a member of the United Nations, the delegate of Sierra Leone underscored that such recognition is a prerequisite for the Palestinian Authority to progressively assume its security and governance responsibilities in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. On the political front, he also cited the Arab League Initiative, which calls on all Member States - especially those in the region - to accept Israel as a neighbour living in peace and security in the context of a comprehensive settlement, and normalization of relations void of violent extremism, provocation and incitement.
David Lammy, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom and Council President for November, was among several speakers drawing attention to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where "famine is imminent", with just 37 humanitarian trucks entering the Gaza Strip each day in October - the lowest average in the last year. In northern Gaza, the situation "is a nightmare of disease, destruction and despair", while over 300 aid workers have been killed, the highest number in UN history, amongst them three British nationals, he said. "We must bring this multi-front conflict to an end," he stressed, underscoring the need for the international community to give the people of the West Bank and Gaza a credible, irreversible pathway to a Palestinian State.
Also voicing support for a two-State solution, Fujii Hisayuki, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, highlighted several initiatives led by his country under "Corridor for Peace and Prosperity", which promotes regional cooperation by establishing an agro-industrial park on the West Bank.
Many speakers, including those from the Republic of Korea and Mozambique, voiced concern over Israel's ongoing actions that jeopardize the two-State solution, with the latter calling for an end to that country's policy of land grabbing and occupation. "Illegal settlements are totally contrary to the notion and spirit of a two-State solution," he stressed, adding that such actions belong to the ideology of one-State solution - one that the Council does not embrace, and which contravenes General Assembly and Council resolutions as well as International Court of Justice orders and rulings.
Meanwhile, several Council members, including Ecuador and Guyana, underscored the need to end the war in Lebanon and for attacks on UNIFIL personnel to cease, with France's delegate echoing calls for full implementation of Council resolution 1701 (2006). This is the framework recognized by all, and is more relevant than ever, he stressed, noting that the Paris conference of 24 October made it possible to mobilize $200 million to strengthen international support for the deployment of Lebanese armed forces south of the Litani River.
On that, Lebanon's delegate, speaking for the Arab Group, deplored Israel's attacks on his country, which have killed civilians, internally displaced 1.2 million Lebanese people, targeted UN Education Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) heritage sites, and led to losses of $8.5 billion, he said. No single country could bear such a burden, let alone his, which has been beset by crises, he said, urging the Council to stop that country's aggression. As well, he urged the 15-member organ to establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate crimes perpetrated in Gaza.
For his part, China's delegate singled out the United States for the Council's failure to discharge its duties on the Gaza issue, pointing out that it would not have been so "weak and incompetent" if it had not been for the repeated exercise of the veto by Washington, D.C. Moreover, had it not been for that country's weapons supplies, the war would not have lasted for so long, he added, underscoring the need for Israel to "let go of its obsession with the use of force", and stop supressing UNRWA.
Similarly, the Russian Federation's delegate pointed out that the international community has been unable to take effective measures to stop the violence "due to the opposition of one State that deems itself the leader of the Western world". Condemning "the vortex of instability" in the Middle East and narratives presenting one side as barbarians and the other as an innocent victim of terrorism, he noted that Western delegations try "to start the clock of the Middle Eastern conflict from 7 October 2023, as if peace reigned in the region before that". 7 October 2023 as the "day zero" of the conflict is a handy version concealing the root of the brutal tragedy: the United Kingdom's unprincipled policy regarding Mandate Palestine and crass political engineering regarding Arabs and Jews, he said, pointing out that the United States and United Kingdom gave Israel a license to kill the Palestinian population, while UNIFIL peacekeepers face daily threats to their lives deliberately posed by the Israeli military.
For its part, the United States' delegate highlighted her country's leadership and resolve in pursuing several clear objectives, including bringing the war in Gaza to an end by securing the release of hostages and surging aid for Palestinians. In that context, she stated that her Government has pressed Israel to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Gaza, pointing to progress in implementing 12 out of 15 outlined steps.
While Israel has achieved its goals, which included eliminating the leadership responsible for the 7 October 2023 attacks, Hamas has refused to engage in proposals over the past eight weeks, despite public claims to the contrary, she said. Further, Council members should speak in favour of diplomatic efforts to bring about a durable end to the fighting, rather than call for an unconditional ceasefire, "which Iran and its proxies have no intention of honouring", she added.
The meeting was suspended at 1:30 p.m., to be resumed on 18 November.
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