S/PV.9711 Security Council

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representative of Israel to participate in this meeting. I propose that the Council invite the Permanent Observer of the Observer State of Palestine to the United Nations to participate in this meeting, in accordance with the provisional rules of procedure and previous practice in this regard. There being no objection, it is so decided. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the following briefers to participate in this meeting: Mr. Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process; and Dr. Louisa Baxter, Operations Lead, Save the Children’s Emergency Health Unit, Gaza. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. I give the floor to Mr. Wennesland. Mr. Wennesland: I address the Security Council today with grave concern about the trajectory of the situation in the Middle East. The war in Gaza, with all of its human tragedy, the serious risk of regional escalation and the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict and continued occupation are combining to create a combustible situation in the Middle East. Our individual and collective capacities to manage or resolve those crises are stretched beyond their limits. Any spark or miscalculation could set off a series of uncontrollable escalations, embroiling millions more in conflict. We need a ceasefire now. We must continue all efforts to alleviate human suffering in the region. That means an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza. It means diplomatic steps for de-escalation in the region. And it means irreversible moves towards re-establishing a political framework to end the conflict and establish a two-State solution. If any one of those elements remains unaddressed, then prospects for a more stable, peaceful and secure region will remain elusive. The war in Gaza continues to take a staggering toll on human life. In the more than 10 months of war since the horrific acts of terror perpetrated by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups on 7 October 2023, more than 40,000 Palestinians and over 1,600 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed. One hundred and nine Israelis are still being held in Gaza, and the ones who are alive are denied humanitarian visits. Tens of thousands of people have been injured, the vast majority of them Palestinians, including a staggering number of women and children. In Gaza, incidents of mass civilian casualties, air strikes by Israel on schools and mosques sheltering the displaced and the wanton destruction of civilian infrastructure are fuelling suffering and violence, which is reverberating throughout the broader region. The indiscriminate launching of rockets by Hamas and other groups towards population centres in Israel continues. Civilian objects, including infrastructure and United Nations premises, are also reportedly being used to shield fighters and military objectives, endangering the lives of civilians around them. The lives of the remaining hostages are at grave risk. Many Palestinians in Gaza feel they have nowhere safe left to turn. Over the past month, around 200,000 Palestinians were affected by evacuation orders. That is merely the latest round of mass displacement in Gaza, where nearly 2 million people have been forced out of their homes and shelters during the war, most of them multiple times. Eighty-five per cent of the Strip has come under evacuation orders since 7 October. Despite facing overwhelming challenges, United Nations agencies and humanitarian organizations continue to deliver life-saving assistance with remarkable courage through all available crossing points. However, their efforts are jeopardized by unsafe conditions on the ground, which are exacerbated by a complete breakdown of law and order. If those unacceptable conditions are allowed to prevail, humanitarian operations in Gaza will continue to fall short of meeting the massive needs of the population. The scale of destruction is immense and will take years, if not decades, to recover from. The United Nations is working to repair and improve almost entirely defunct water, sanitation and hygiene systems in Gaza. The five wastewater treatment plants have shut down, and five out of six solid waste management facilities are damaged. The Palestinian Ministry of Health just confirmed the first cases of polio in 25 years  — 1.6 million doses of polio vaccine have been released for a campaign scheduled to begin on 31 August. The United Nations estimates that nearly 40 million tons of debris have been generated in this conflict. Clearing the debris from key areas alone is estimated to take at least five years. While the eyes of the international community are focused on Gaza, the occupied West Bank is a tinderbox of violence and tension. Israeli security forces continue to carry out large-scale operations in Area A, including targeting Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other armed groups in densely populated refugee camps and Palestinian urban centres. Those operations often result in lethal exchanges with those groups, in addition to the killing or injuring of bystanders. Fatal attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis in the West Bank and Israel have continued, including a failed bombing attack claimed by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Tel Aviv on 19 August. The Israeli settler rampage in the Palestinian village of Jit, near Nablus, which killed one Palestinian and critically injured others on 15 August, was yet another illustration of the violent consequences of settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and the persistent lack of accountability for such crimes. Inflammatory rhetoric and provocative acts are further enflaming the situation. In recent days, we have seen Hamas threaten to launch a new campaign of suicide bombings. We have also seen two Israeli ministers, alongside hundreds of Israelis, visit the holy esplanade on the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’Av. Let me be clear: if we are to prevent yet another spiralling escalation, the violence must end. There are no justifications for acts of terror, civilians must be protected, and the incitement must stop. Any violation of the status quo at the holy sites must also be firmly rejected. The war in Gaza and the deteriorating situation in the occupied West Bank are continuing in the context of wider regional tensions and the threat of even more serious escalation. Across the Blue Line and beyond, exchanges between Israel and Hizbullah continue to intensify, particularly following the recent strike in Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan, which resulted in the killing of 12 children, followed by a subsequent strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which killed a senior Hizbullah commander. In the wider region, several fatal events exacerbated tensions: aerial attacks on Israel from various locations across the region, which Israel has attributed to Iran-backed forces, including a Houthi drone strike on Tel Aviv; Israel’s strike targeting Al-Hudaydah port infrastructure in response; and the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas’s politburo in Tehran. With all those negative trends and after more than 300 days of war in Gaza, we are at an inflection point in the Middle East. A ceasefire and hostage-release deal in Gaza is imperative now for regional peace and security. I have continued to emphasize that message in support of regional de-escalation in discussions with the relevant parties and Member States in the region, including Lebanon, Egypt and Qatar. I commend the mediators, Egypt, Qatar and the United States, for their continued relentless efforts in Doha and Cairo this week. I urge the parties to reach a deal in the coming days. There is simply no time to lose. The United Nations remains committed and ready to scale up humanitarian assistance during a ceasefire and support the implementation of a deal. Only a sustained ceasefire can enable a full-scale humanitarian and early recovery response in Gaza. The profound social, economic and political fallout from this devastation is yet to be seen and comprehended. We must work to put in place, as soon as possible, the political and security frameworks necessary to more ably address the humanitarian crisis, start early recovery, eventually rebuild Gaza and change the negative dynamic in the West Bank. Those political and security frameworks — even ones that are considered transitional — cannot be divorced from the context of the ongoing Israeli occupation and unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are no shortcuts and no quick fixes. Security and governance are intrinsically linked and must be addressed in tandem to achieve a lasting peace in Gaza and address the West Bank situation. It is imperative that we establish a comprehensive political framework that is accepted by the Palestinian population and addresses their legitimate aspirations and grievances, while also addressing Israel’s legitimate security concerns. The United Nations will strongly support that work. The framework must facilitate a Palestinian Government that can effectively govern both Gaza and the occupied West Bank and ensure stability and security across the occupied Palestinian territory. The Palestinian Authority (PA) must be at the centre of governance in the occupied Palestinian territory. There is simply no credible alternative. However, to achieve that and to promote a more durable and credible model of governance to ensure stability and security for Palestinians and Israelis, steps must be taken by all parties and the international community to strengthen and support the PA. Violence in the occupied West Bank must be significantly reduced, including violence taking place in the context of scaled-up Israeli security operations. Palestinian security forces must be supported and empowered to carry out their responsibility fully. Israeli measures that weaken the PA must be urgently addressed, including Israel Defense Forces operations in Area A, settlement expansion, settler violence and extreme financial pressures. The international community must work together to address the PA’s persistent financial crisis, strengthen its capacity and enable its return to Gaza. Recent commitments from the World Bank and the European Union offer the promise of relief but will not resolve the precarity of the PA’s fiscal situation. We must work together to strengthen the PA’s ability to meet the needs of its people. Most important, for any of those efforts to be credible or durable, a political horizon must be re-established. Security fixes alone will not lead to a more stable future for anyone in the region. But let us not be naive about what is required. It will take concerted efforts from committed leaders from the region and the international community. It may also require us to rethink how we get there. The steps I have just outlined, which are informed by the principles I outlined to members in May (see S/PV.9638), are a start. In conclusion, ultimately, the only path out of those vicious cycles of despair is a political horizon that will end the occupation and achieve a two-State solution  — Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous, viable and sovereign Palestinian State, living side by side in peace and security within secure and recognized borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the capital of both. The United Nations will continue to support all efforts towards that goal.

I thank Mr. Wennesland for his briefing. I now give the floor to Dr. Baxter. Dr. Baxter: I am speaking to the Security Council today from Gaza, where I am a doctor working with Save the Children’s Emergency Health Unit. For 320 days, children in Gaza have endured relentless bombardment, displacement, siege and death. In that time, their needs have risen exponentially, as have the restrictions on our ability to meet them. According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, more than 1 per cent of the total child population, 14,000 children, have been killed, and that is likely to be a gross underestimate. Outside this room, I am surrounded by overwhelming destruction. More than 1.9 million people have been displaced and are moving through streets filled with rubble, rubbish and wastewater. The bodies of at least 10,000 people, many of them children, remain lost under the rubble. Just yesterday, a so-called evacuation order was issued for Deir Al-Balah, where I am sitting now. Overnight, thousands of people have been displaced and are looking for shelter and safety. Clinics, humanitarian warehouses and supply hubs are all inaccessible. Our medical teams have seen more than 13,000 people in our clinics. The children we are seeing are showing signs of profound trauma. Common childhood illnesses have been made worse by malnutrition, a lack of water and the absence of medications. Supplies of antibiotics, pain relief and even fridges for vaccines have been blocked by the Government of Israel. We are seeing the wilful and repeated obstruction of humanitarian assistance in Gaza. My team has been waiting for life-saving medicines for four months. They are held at the crossing gates by a myriad of rules and restrictions, many of which are unwritten and arbitrary. In the locations where we operate, families have been forced to relocate up to 10 times owing to ongoing violence or so-called evacuation orders. With each displacement, the risks of separation from family and of injury, illness and death multiply. Let me be clear today: nowhere in Gaza is safe. Our protection teams are working with children released from the Israeli military detention system. Those children report sexual violence, including rape. They report being denied food, beaten and being attacked by dogs. They report seeing their parents stripped and beaten in front of them. Those children are struggling to cope with the profound trauma and mental and physical harm that that has caused. There are Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza, and disturbingly little is known about their whereabouts or treatment. There is now a confirmed polio outbreak in Gaza. The first confirmed case — a 10-month-old baby in Deir Al-Balah — is an individual tragedy and, at the same time, a sign of a larger looming catastrophe. Polio is a highly infectious virus and can infect anyone at any age. However, those most at risk are children under five. For every 200 children who become infected, one will suffer irreversible paralysis. Polio is easily prevented by a safe and effective vaccine. At least 50,000 children born in Gaza since October 2023 are unlikely to have had any of their childhood vaccinations. Older children — their brothers and sisters — have had their regular childhood vaccination schedules severely disrupted. Polio mostly spreads via water, particularly wastewater, which is now everywhere in Gaza. The Government of Israel has destroyed the water and sanitation infrastructure, while effectively shutting off clean water from entering the Strip. It is that drop in population immunity, combined with dire public health and environmental conditions, that has allowed polio to re-emerge. That decimated health system is wholly unprepared to face this new polio crisis, with more than 750 health staff killed since October 2023 and less than a quarter of hospitals remaining functional. Unless preventative action is taken immediately, this polio outbreak will not only be a disaster for children in Gaza, but it may substantially set back global eradication efforts. Polio anywhere is a threat to children everywhere. As we speak, polio is spreading in Gaza, and it will not wait at the inspection gates at Kerem Shalom or the customs desks at Ben Gurion Airport. Let us be clear: we should not need negotiations or special permissions to bring in life-saving medical supplies for civilians. Humanitarians and medical teams like my own should not spend almost a year pleading for the rules of war to be upheld by parties to the conflict. Urgent action to protect children in Gaza should not only come when the harm they face poses risks beyond their borders. There is a legal, a normative and a moral obligation on all parties to the conflict to facilitate humanitarian and medical access to the full extent needed by the population. And it is the responsibility of every Member State, including the 15 in the Council, to ensure that those rights are upheld. In order to effectively respond to the polio outbreak, two sustained cessations of hostilities, of no less than one week for each phase, must commence immediately. That time frame assumes that all attacks on humanitarian and medical personnel end now and end permanently. Aid groups must be able to move across Gaza without obstruction. Parents must be able to bring children to vaccination points in safety. Any cessation of hostilities must consist of full, consecutive days, with the conditions publicly stated and shared with all communities. Compliance must be monitored with robust accountability from the Council. We must use this opportunity not just for vaccines, but to provide Gaza with humanitarian assistance at scale. Ultimately, the only way to comprehensively address the vast multitude of needs in Gaza is through an immediate and sustainable ceasefire. If the parties to conflict cannot agree on and implement a ceasefire, then it falls to the Council and its Member States to demand and enforce one, including by adopting measures to halt the transfer of weapons to the Government of Israel and to Palestinian armed groups. Regardless of the status of a ceasefire, full, unhindered humanitarian access into and within the Gaza Strip is essential for all humanitarian supplies and personnel like me. We have collectively failed the children of Gaza for 320 days. I ask the Council and its Member States in their national capacities to take immediate, decisive action. We leave that in Council members’ hands.

I thank Dr. Baxter for her briefing. I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements.

I thank Coordinator Wennesland and Dr. Baxter for their briefings. Secretary Blinken just concluded his ninth visit to the region since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023 and unleashed a war that has caused so much suffering and devastation. The Secretary reaffirmed the ironclad support of the United States for Israel’s security, but he also aimed to advance discussions on a comprehensive ceasefire and hostage release deal that now is in sight and to emphasize that no one in the region should take any action that would undermine ongoing negotiations. While the Secretary was in Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu confirmed that Israel accepts the bridging proposal that the United States, Qatar and Egypt put forward last week. The proposal is consistent with the principles that were outlined by President Biden in May 2024 and that the Security Council endorsed in resolution 2735 (2024). Also, that builds on areas of agreement from talks convened in Doha last week and bridges the remaining gaps in a manner that allows for a swift implementation of the deal. We appreciate the Council’s support for the efforts that the United States, Qatar and Egypt have made to help get that deal done. We now have a path forward to save lives, bring relief to the people of Gaza, get the hostages back home and de-escalate regional tensions. Again, Israel has accepted the bridging proposal. Now Hamas must do the same. As members of the Council, we must speak with one voice, and we must use our leverage to press Hamas to accept the bridging proposal, which includes massive and immediate benefits for the Palestinians in Gaza and incorporates a number of Hamas’s earlier demands. This is a decisive moment. It is a decisive moment for ceasefire talks and for the region. Therefore, every member of the Council should continue to send strong messages to other actors in the region to avoid actions that would move us away from finalizing this deal. At the same time, the United Nations and humanitarian agencies need to accelerate planning so that they can surge assistance into Gaza in the event of a ceasefire, while we all continue to press for increased humanitarian assistance now. We continue to work with the Israeli authorities to speed up clearances and remove restrictions so that Palestinian civilians can get much-needed food, medicine, shelter, clean water and other essentials, including vaccines, as we just heard from Dr. Baxter. A disease like polio must be prevented from making a comeback in Gaza. And we urge Israel to continue working with humanitarian agencies to provide polio vaccinations for Palestinian civilians, in particular children, in Gaza. That effort is urgent, and having a ceasefire deal will greatly facilitate the implementation of that crucial vaccination campaign. Even as we press for a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza, we must also continue to speak out about the situation in the West Bank. I want to be clear: actions in the West Bank that could escalate tensions at this fragile moment must stop. As the White House has made clear, attacks by violent settlers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank are unacceptable and must stop. Israeli authorities must take measures to protect those communities from harm, including by intervening to stop such violence and by holding all perpetrators to account. It is also critical that Israel release all owed Palestinian Authority tax revenues on time. Those funds are needed to pay Palestinian Authority salaries, provide essential services and ensure peace, security and stability in the West Bank, all of which are key to Israel’s security interests. Additionally, we remain concerned about Israel’s West Bank settlement announcements and the legalization of outposts. The settlement programme of the Government of Israel is inconsistent with international law, and those unilateral actions are detrimental to the prospects of a two-State solution, which, as we have repeatedly said, offers the only durable and secure path forward for Israelis and Palestinians. The suicide bombing in Tel Aviv on 18 August, which Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed, was a stark reminder of Israel’s very real security concerns. The United States unequivocally condemns that attack, as it does all acts of terrorism, and calls on the Security Council to do the same. This week, I spoke with two individuals whose family members were murdered in cold blood by Hamas on 7 October 2023: Iris Weinstein Haggai, who lost both of her parents, Judi and Gadi, on that horrific day; and Ruby Chen, whose son Itay, a 19-year-old Israeli-American, was killed by Hamas. It is beyond heartbreaking and infuriating that the remains of Iris’s and Ruby’s loved ones are still being held by Hamas as they have held the body of Hadar Goldin since 2014, denying his family closure. Today we again call on Hamas to release the remains of Judi, Gadi, Itay, Hadar and all those still in Gaza, immediately. Here is what is truly remarkable to me: Iris and Ruby have turned their immense pain into purpose by organizing and speaking out and lobbying for an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages. During our call, Ruby invoked some of Martin Luther King’s most powerful words. He reminded me of a quote: “the fierce urgency of now”. To me, that perfectly sums up the moment we find ourselves in and the task before us, as we also just heard from Special Coordinator Wennesland. It is urgent that we secure a ceasefire and a hostage deal now — not soon, but now, because families like Iris’s and Ruby’s desperately need closure, because the well-being of all hostages is in jeopardy, because Palestinians in Gaza are living under hellish conditions and are caught in the crosshairs of war, and because there is very real danger of regional escalation. And so, let us do everything in our power to get this ceasefire and hostage release deal over the finish line now. Let us be confronted with the “fierce urgency of now”.

I want to thank the briefers, Special Coordinator Wennesland and, especially, Dr. Baxter from Save the Children for her very chilling briefing. I think that we are not human if such briefings do not touch us. An ancient saying confirms that the first victim of war is the truth. But the biggest victims of the war in Gaza will surely be children. The children of Gaza have gone through indescribable suffering. Being deprived of adequate nutrition, they face a cycle of endless violence and repetitive displacement, without access to hospital care or psychological support. Over 20,000 children in Gaza are missing, lost, disappeared, detained or buried. They have been orphaned, maimed and killed at an unprecedented rate. Today childhood in Gaza in a synonym for trauma. As a parent myself, I cannot imagine the suffering of parents not being able to provide their children a safe and carefree childhood and not being able to shelter them from that trauma. In the light of that immense suffering, Slovenia supports the Secretary-General’s appeal for a polio pause. As underlined by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, a humanitarian pause is crucial to allow for two rounds of vaccination campaigns to take place. Such days of tranquillity would enable children and families to reach health facilities and United Nations entities to carry out outreach. Successful campaigns will also require sufficient fuel, functional telecommunications networks and cash. The requests of the health community are clear, and we therefore repeat our call for a humanitarian pause. That should also be the moment to flood Gaza with humanitarian aid and to carry out much-needed repairs to health, water and sanitation systems. The lack of safe drinking water is one of the biggest dangers caused by the destruction of critical infrastructure. Lack of clean water for adequate personal hygiene contributes to the risk of disease and infection, especially among women and children. It is a reality we knew was coming. A sobering milestone was reached last week: 40,000 fatalities of the war in Gaza. In recent days we witnessed one of the biggest evacuation orders to date, further shrinking so-called humanitarian zones for civilians. And we heard today from both briefers that there is no safe place in Gaza. While the humanitarian community continues to face a severely challenging environment, including the breakdown of law and order, we see an increase in denied humanitarian assistance missions and a decline in the volume of aid picked up. We talk about another cycle of civilian suffering. To stop it, a lasting ceasefire must be reached. We once again express our full support to the negotiators, Egypt, Qatar and the United States, to finalize the deal during the Cairo round of negotiations in the coming days, or as my United States colleague said, to finish it now, but definitely within the next few days. Slovenia, as a Security Council member, stands ready to support the process with meaningful action in the Council. Not many reasons for optimism were outlined in Mr. Wennesland’s briefing. Negative trends cannot be prevented with further violence. We strongly condemn the latest suicide attack carried out by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Tel Aviv. Negative trends will not be stopped by further settlements. We call on Israel to reverse their settlement policy, including the plans for the first new West Bank settlement since 2017. Slovenia calls on Israel to comply with its duties and obligations under international law, as set out by the International Court of Justice in its provisional measures and in its advisory opinion, as well as in the relevant Security Council resolutions. We strongly condemn settler violence. Negative trends will not cease with inflammatory rhetoric and provocations, including the latest visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque. We condemn that violation of the holy sites status quo. And lastly, negative trends cannot be addressed without steps towards the two-State solution. They must be done on the ground, including through addressing the liquidity crisis in Palestine and strong support to the Palestinian Authority. They must also be done in the Council, with future-oriented discussions and decisive actions without delay. The region is on the brink, including along the Blue Line, in the Red Sea and elsewhere in the region. We call for maximum restraint by all actors and a refraining from further attacks and threatening rhetoric. Dr. Baxter concluded her statement with “we are in your hands”. And indeed, the entire international community is watching us and is watching the Council. At least we, Slovenia, feel that pressure, and we feel the duty and responsibility to do something and to act, within the authority of the Council.

I thank Mr. Tor Wennesland for his briefing and Ms. Louisa Baxter for her testimony, which was indeed harrowing. France supports the mediation efforts of the United States, Egypt and Qatar. Those negotiations must be concluded as swiftly as possible. France calls on the parties to make the necessary compromises so that the war in Gaza ends, humanitarian aid flows in on a massive scale and the hostages are finally reunited with their families. Those were the messages from the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné, and his British counterpart during their joint visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories last week. An immediate and a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is crucial and urgently needed to end the suffering of the civilian population and to allow for the large-scale and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid. In particular, France echoes the Secretary-General’s concerns about the health situation, especially the rise in polio cases in Gaza. France calls on Israel to take all necessary measures to enable the population to be vaccinated. Against a backdrop of extreme tensions, France condemns all acts of provocation in Jerusalem and the West Bank alike. The Israeli authorities have a responsibility to ensure that the historic status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem is respected. We underline the importance of Jordan’s specific role in that connection. France urges Israel to take all measures necessary to tackle the unacceptable attacks by settlers against the civilian Palestinian population in the West Bank. It reiterates its condemnation of the settlement policy, which is contrary to international law and a major impediment to peace. France reaffirms its commitment to Israel’s security and its utmost condemnation of the barbaric terrorist attacks and sexual violence committed on 7 October 2023 by Hamas and other terrorist groups. The rocket attacks launched by those groups against Israel are also unacceptable and must stop. The current situation is a reminder, if ever one was needed, of the urgent need to implement the two-State solution, which alone is capable of guaranteeing stability and security for all in the region. France objects to any long-term occupation of the Gaza Strip by Israel. Amid mounting tensions in the Middle East, the Council must do its utmost to avert a regional conflagration. France is pursuing its efforts to that end, alongside its international and regional partners. During his recent visit to Lebanon, Minister for Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourné called for a de-escalation and an end to the clashes along the Blue Line. France reiterates its support for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the work of which is essential, and calls on the Council to support the draft resolution renewing UNIFIL’s mandate for 12 months. We can avoid a regional conflagration, which would have devastating consequences for the entire region. Iran and its allies must desist from any attack, which would exacerbate regional tensions and jeopardize the prospects of a ceasefire and the release of the hostages.

I wish to thank Coordinator Wennesland and Dr. Baxter for the information they provided. First, I would like to touch on the health situation in Gaza and the grave risk posed by the re-emergence of polio, given that diseases resulting from the lack of basic services, water and sanitation are also claiming numerous lives on a daily basis, in particular those of children. Any epidemic of a preventable disease is unacceptable. That is why Ecuador supports the United Nations initiative to hold a mass vaccination campaign to protect the children of Gaza. The need for the parties to give security guarantees, without delay or excuses, is urgent and paramount. As the Secretary-General rightly has pointed out, the disease does not wait, and the only ultimate vaccine against polio, under the circumstances, is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. In that regard, I reiterate my country’s support for ongoing efforts towards reaching an agreement to secure an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and an improvement in the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the vaccination campaign. Last week’s negotiations in Doha and those to be held in the coming days in Cairo must conclude with a final agreement in line with resolution 2735 (2024). To that end, the political will and the good faith of the parties are essential  — I repeat, essential. It is unacceptable that obstacles and excuses are continuing. Ending the war and the escalation of tensions in the region must be the priority. Countries with influence over each of the parties must exhaust every effort to making an agreement possible, as the mediators have been doing. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, violent settler attacks on Palestinian civilians continue. What happened last Thursday in the village of Jit is deplorable, and those responsible must be brought to justice. Ecuador condemns all violence against civilians and recalls that they must be protected at all times. The rules and principles of international humanitarian law are binding at all times. Terrorist activities also continue to be reported, such as the detonation of a suicide bomb in Tel Aviv on Sunday — an act claimed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Ecuador condemns those acts, as it does the attacks of 7 October 2023 and the taking of hostages, which are the direct cause of the current war. Violence begets only more violence and has in no way resolved the dispute — a fact that should be obvious to all by now, when it comes to this and every other conflict. I would like to conclude this statement by expressing the hope of soon hearing that the parties have reached an agreement that will allow for a ceasefire and the release of hostages. I am convinced that civilians in Gaza, in Israel and throughout the region share that same hope.

I thank Special Coordinator Wennesland and Dr. Baxter of Save the Children for their briefings and for the tireless work of their teams. Gaza has become the deadliest place in the world to be a child. Women and children continue to bear the brunt of the brutal conflict, which, since 7 October 2023, has killed over 40,000 people. Children account for nearly a third of identified casualties. We call on Israel to take all possible steps to avoid civilian casualties. More than 100 innocent hostages remain captured by Hamas in Gaza. Time is running out for them as they remain in captivity, subjected to unimaginable horror. We call again for their immediate and unconditional release. We have heard today that Gaza is on the brink of a devastating polio outbreak, another deadly threat to a people already facing a multitude of deadly threats  — ongoing bombardment, risk of famine and dire sanitary conditions. Meanwhile, regional tensions remain high. Any attack by Iran would have devastating consequences. Urgent action is needed on three fronts. First, we need an immediate ceasefire. All sides need to focus on the negotiations led by the United States, Egypt and Qatar. Those talks offer a vital opportunity to secure an immediate ceasefire that ends the conflict, gets the hostages out, allows urgent access to aid and de-escalates regional tensions. We also urge Iran, Lebanese Hizbullah and other Iranian-aligned militia groups to stand down with respect to the ongoing threats of military escalation against Israel. All parties need to exercise restraint, as my Prime Minister has made clear in recent weeks. Secondly, Gaza stands on the precipice of a polio outbreak, with over 640,000 children under the age of 10 in need of vaccinations. We call on the parties to continue cooperating with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and partners to facilitate vaccine roll-outs. Israel needs to allow safe and unhindered aid access into and across Gaza and to put in place an effective deconfliction mechanism to ensure aid and vaccines can be delivered and administered safely. Israel’s ramping up of new evacuation orders is causing chaos in Gaza. The humanitarian zone, now just covering 11 per cent of Gaza, is chronically overcrowded, with people desperately seeking shelter. It is not safe and is still under fire. British non-governmental organization UK-Med reported just last night that its residential compound in a humanitarian zone was damaged by Israeli shelling. Humanitarian actors are being forced to evacuate their offices and abandon warehouses full of aid. If this does not stop, a polio vaccine roll-out may become impossible. All parties must comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law. Thirdly, settler violence in the West Bank is inexcusable. The violence in the Palestinian village of Jit last week was abhorrent. We call on Israel to take action against these extremists. The United Kingdom has sanctioned eight individuals and two entities related to settler violence. We condemn the continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank  — it is a clear violation of international law. Finally, my Foreign Secretary and French Foreign Minister Séjourné visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories last week. They conveyed three key messages: that the current ceasefire talks were the only way to avert a full regional crisis, that the humanitarian situation was catastrophic and we needed to see immediate improvements and that there had to be accountability for the appalling settler violence in the West Bank. I hope that we can all unite around those three messages today.

I thank Mr. Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Dr. Baxter, Operations Lead from the Save the Children’s Emergency Health Unit in Gaza, for sharing insights into the challenging situation in Palestine. The war in the occupied Palestinian territories has reached a critical point, with catastrophic humanitarian consequences. Many civilians have perished, and many innocent lives are at risk because of raging famine and illnesses. We call for an immediate end to the cycle of violence and full respect for international law. In fact, our efforts to prevent regional escalation need to be stepped up. The protection of innocent civilians must be our priority. An urgent sustainable ceasefire is therefore necessary to protect civilians, allow the hostages to return and enable humanitarian aid delivery. As we celebrated World Humanitarian Day just few days ago, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs highlighted a grim reality — 2023 was the deadliest year on record for humanitarian workers. For our reflection today, the majority of the casualties occurred in the first three months of the war in 2023, during the hostilities in Gaza, primarily due to air strikes. Every day we receive reports about the tragedy that is plaguing Gaza, and they are deeply terrifying. The relentless and horrifying Israeli settler violence forcing out Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, coupled with the ongoing bombardment in the war- ravaged Gaza Strip, underscores the urgency of our meaningful intervention. The violent appropriation of land and destruction of property for settlements violate international law and breach other rules of international humanitarian law. International peace and security are built on truthful, constructive and meaningful dialogue, as well as trust. The parties to the conflict in Gaza should therefore demonstrate their interest and willingness to change the course of events in Palestine through their actions. Non-governmental organizations and the World Health Organization have warned us about the risk of a polio outbreak in Gaza, where the health situation is already chaotic. Amid these gloomy circumstances, we echo the call for urgent and immediate humanitarian and health assistance in Gaza, while the conditions for negotiation between the parties are being determined. Within the scope of its functions and powers, with primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, the Council approved concrete measures with regard to the conflict in the Gaza Strip by adopting resolutions 2712 (2023), 2720 (2023), 2728 (2024) and 2730 (2024). It is our collective responsibility to ensure their full implementation. The parties to the conflict must comply with those resolutions and act in strict compliance with the Charter of the United Nations. We reiterate our full support for dialogue and negotiation efforts, mindful of the fact that the goal remains peace and prosperity for Gaza, the region and beyond. We also reiterate our firm support for a just and comprehensive resolution between Israelis and Palestinians, with the State of Israel and a democratic, sovereign State of Palestine  — both as full members of the United Nations, living side by side in peace and security and with mutual recognition of each other as full members of the Organization.

I thank Special Coordinator Wennesland and Ms. Baxter for their briefings. Gaza has been subjected to more than 10 months of blockade, siege, bombing and attacks that have killed more than 40,000 people and displaced 1.9 million. Eighty per cent of homes in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, and 85 per cent of the area is under emergency evacuation orders imposed by the Israeli military. In the West Bank, nearly 600 Palestinians have been killed since October. This tragedy cannot go on any longer. The international community has repeatedly issued clarion calls for a ceasefire and an end to the fighting, and the General Assembly, the Security Council and the International Court of Justice have all made clear demands. Nevertheless, Israel has turned a deaf ear and has not given any indication that it will implement a ceasefire. More than two months after the adoption of resolution 2735 (2024), Israeli military operations in Gaza continue causing new casualties every day. At the same time, the repeated provocative and adventurous actions by the Israeli side have intensified the risk of conflict spillovers. The Middle East is hanging by a thread. It is important to note that blind faith in achieving a total victory in Gaza through military means will only result in additional innocent civilian casualties and will not create the conditions for the release of hostages, nor will it bring peace or calm to Israel and the region. Ceasefire negotiations and a political solution are the fundamental way out. It is important to note that humanitarian issues cannot be politicized, hunger cannot be weaponized and civilian lives cannot be trivialized as bargaining chips. Israel must fulfil its obligations under international humanitarian law by opening all border crossings, guaranteeing rapid and safe access to humanitarian supplies at scale, ceasing restrictions and attacks on the United Nations and humanitarian agencies and providing support and cooperation for the polio vaccination programme in Gaza. It is important to note that sustainable security can be achieved only by upholding the concept of common security. Regional peace must be built with the responsible participation of all parties. Achieving an independent Palestinian State and the implementation of the two-State solution is the only viable way forward for a political settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli question. China urges Israel to immediately cease all military operations in Gaza, to immediately stop actions that stoke escalation of the situation in the region and to immediately cease placing obstacles to a ceasefire in Gaza. We urge countries with significant influence to demonstrate a sincere, impartial and responsible attitude in pushing Israel to cease its military operations in Gaza as soon as possible and to stop the killing of civilians. China supports the Council in taking further necessary actions to promote the implementation of the relevant resolutions and achieve a ceasefire in Gaza. China stands ready to work with the international community to make unremitting efforts to end the war in Gaza at an early date, alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe, implement the two-State solution and achieve lasting peace and security in the Middle East.

I thank Special Coordinator Wennesland and Dr. Baxter for the important updates provided. I am almost certain that many around this table are burdened by the fact that the Security Council remains so impotent in the face of such colossal suffering by the Palestinian people over the past 10 months, and indeed the past seven decades. Although we have adopted four resolutions since 7 October 2023, none has had the desired impact, because we have not taken any decisions to enforce them, even as the mass atrocities being carried out by the Israeli Government multiply. Consequently, more than 40,000 lives have been lost, and that number climbs every day. Simultaneously, a wider regional conflagration seems imminent, and the situation for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is deteriorating owing to a mix of settler violence and Israeli policies and actions that enable the violence. Last Thursday’s attack on the Palestinian town of Jit in the West Bank was so unprecedented that it elicited rare condemnation from the Israeli Government. One Israeli Minister did say, however, that such incidents happen because Israeli soldiers are not allowed to “shoot terrorists who throw stones”. The Minister’s assertion is illustrative of Israel’s heavy-handedness when it comes to Palestinians — every form of resistance to the ongoing occupation and oppression is met with brutality that would make some of history’s cruellest oppressors blush. Guyana condemns the actions of Israeli citizens in Jit and calls on the Israeli Government to ensure that its investigations lead to justice for every Palestinian affected by the incident. That leads me to contemplate the illogical philosophy that has driven Israel’s behaviour towards Palestine over the past seven decades. Israel has established that security guarantees are one of its highest priorities. Yet it uses its military might to make enemies in the region, thereby undermining its own security. That has now led to heightened mistrust and tensions in the region, with civilians losing the most. That cycle must be halted, because peace in the Middle East is not elusive. Guyana calls on all concerned to lay down their weapons and seek the path of peace. The exasperation of the Palestinian people is palpable, having suffered indignity after indignity over the past 10 months. They have reportedly been used as human shields as Israel scopes out buildings in search of Hamas operatives. Part of the reasoning reportedly offered was that too many dogs had died from the dog units that searched for explosives. Is Palestinian life worth nothing? The lives of both Palestinians and Israelis are sacred, and neither is superior to the other. Neither is more worthy of protection than the other. It is ironic that Israel denies the Palestinians the very thing it wants for itself — peace and security. Peace and security for Palestinians is rooted in their freedom from the occupying Power and achieving their independence. The International Court of Justice has already determined that the Israeli occupation of Palestine is unlawful and puts the two-State solution at risk. Successive resolutions of the General Assembly have affirmed the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. What is missing is Israel’s compliance with its legal obligations. The Council must seriously consider effective measures to secure compliance. Guyana calls for an end to the ongoing hostilities as one of the first and most important steps towards addressing the myriad challenges that have developed in Gaza since 7 October 2023. Dr. Baxter and Mr. Wennesland reminded us about the polio cases that have been confirmed in Gaza. Polio is a disease that was eradicated from the Strip 25 years ago. We call on Israel to allow the World Health Organization to administer the 1.6 million vaccines ready to be deployed. Skin diseases and hepatitis are also growing challenges in the context of a woefully inadequate health-care system. Combined with food insecurity, constant displacement and general destruction across the Strip, the situation is one of utter desperation and devastation. In that context, the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies must be allowed to do their work on behalf of civilians in Gaza. The attacks on United Nations premises and staff must cease, and unimpeded access to the Strip must be granted. Guyana calls on the Israeli authorities to fulfil their obligations in accordance with international law, including international humanitarian law. Guyana continues to stress the urgency of reaching an agreement for a ceasefire, the release of hostages and a surge in humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians. Those are the immediate steps needed to address the most pressing needs, and we look forward to a deal being reached in the coming days. In the long- term, however, questions of governance, reconstruction, the contiguity of Gaza and the occupied West Bank, learning loss and trauma are all to be grappled with, taking full account of the will of the Palestinian people. The biggest question, however, is that of justice. The Palestinians must be redressed, not only for the things they were made to endure in this war, but also over the past seven decades, beginning with their expulsion from most of their homeland in 1948. I conclude by referencing the words of my Caribbean brother Robert Nesta Marley, better known as Bob Marley, who said that, “until the philosophy that holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war”. The Council must make it consequential for any Member State to promulgate such a dangerous philosophy.

I thank Special Coordinator Wennesland and Dr. Baxter for their briefings. It has been more than 10 months since the dreadful terror attack against Israel on 7 October 2023, and in the wake of countless civilians killed in Gaza, the open wound that is this conflict only continues to fester. The hostilities must stop. An immediate and permanent ceasefire must be agreed as soon as possible. It is critical in the face of human-made famine conditions and the threat of polio virus and other diseases. We fully support the Secretary-General’s call for a polio pause to tackle the crisis. We stress, however, that the United Nations cannot work to save lives through vaccines only to have those lives destroyed again by bombs and bullets. We support ongoing efforts by the United States, Egypt and Qatar towards a framework agreement, consistent with resolution 2735 (2024). Malta strongly urges both parties to agree to the terms and implement the ceasefire in order to ensure that the hostages are released and that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is addressed. That is imperative, as the devastating humanitarian situation in Gaza deteriorates daily. When speaking of the living nightmare that Gazan civilians experience day after day, it is truly disturbing that all major threats to the human condition can be used as descriptors: famine, disease, displacement, lawlessness, impunity, psychological trauma and hopelessness. Women and children are among the most exposed to danger in this conflict. The deliberate denial of health care and the decimation of infrastructure severely affect pregnant women and newborn babies. More than 16,000 children have been killed to date. We cannot even begin to comprehend the long-term effects that this conflict will have on surviving parents, children and the future generations of Gaza. Strict adherence to international humanitarian law is urgently needed. Such adherence has been severely lacking, despite it being an obligation of the conflicting parties. Member States also have the responsibility to strive to prevent and stop violations of international humanitarian law. Malta urgently calls for the unhindered provision of humanitarian assistance across Gaza, including through the opening of all crossings, including border crossings. We also call for effective protection and proper operational facilitation for United Nations and humanitarian personnel in order to ensure that they can safely gain access to the population. That also includes support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which is a necessary actor in any humanitarian response in Gaza. We have consistently asked that at every meeting for the past 10 months. The full, immediate and effective implementation of all relevant Council resolutions and the orders of the International Court of Justice remains imperative. Moreover, we are deeply concerned that the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, has also become plagued by numerous human rights violations. The most recent of those violations include the appalling alleged sexual torture of Palestinian detainees in Israeli administrative detention facilities. Thousands of Palestinians, including women and children, are being arbitrarily detained in those facilities. They must be released. We stress that independent, international investigations into those circumstances urgently need to take place. In its advisory opinion delivered on 19 July 2024, the International Court of Justice concluded that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful. It further concluded that Israel has an obligation to bring that occupation to an end, cease all new settlement activities and evacuate all existing settlers. Consequently, Israel’s recently announced plans for a new illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank are unacceptable. Such decisions contravene international law and must be retracted. We also condemn last week’s violent settler rampage in the Palestinian village of Jit, which resulted in the killing of one man and inflammatory visits that violate the historic status quo of Jerusalem’s holy sites. The West Bank is already on the precipice, and those actions only breed further instability. In addition, we condemn the most recent terrorist attack in Tel Aviv. Malta urges all parties in the region to prioritize diplomacy, reduce tensions and avoid any actions that could escalate the situation further, jeopardizing any possibility of a ceasefire agreement. In that context, and fearing an imminent regional escalation, we continue to reiterate our appeal for tensions to be eased swiftly. In conclusion, it is through that path that we can hope to return to a political horizon, which is the only way to make credible progress towards the comprehensive realization of the internationally agreed two-State Solution, while addressing the legitimate aspirations of both sides. Malta remains steadfastly committed to that end.

I thank Special Coordinator Wennesland and Dr. Baxter for their informative and sobering briefings. More than 10 months into the conflict, which was triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel in October of last year, every passing day brings more and more destruction, casualties, suffering and trauma, despite international efforts. The hostages and their loved ones have been living in an unendurable state of fear and uncertainty that increases day by day. The hostages must be freed and returned to their families. Japan is appalled by the relentless hostilities in Gaza, leading to an unimaginable toll of civilian deaths and injuries, most of them women and children. We remain gravely concerned about the catastrophic humanitarian situation. Palestinians face endless evacuation orders by the Israel Defense Forces, on top of suffering from hunger and lack of access to water, medicine and shelter. Gaza’s children have lost one year of education. Humanitarian aid workers must be protected, in accordance with international humanitarian law. The repeated attacks against them that we have seen are totally unacceptable. The spread of disease, particularly the risk of polio, is deeply alarming. Japan welcomes the announcement by the World Health Organization and UNICEF of their plan to launch two rounds of polio vaccinations starting at the end of this month. We expect Israel to ensure the safe and effective delivery of the necessary doses, and we encourage collaborative efforts by the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories in that regard. Tensions are boiling over beyond Gaza. Japan reiterates its deep concern and regret about the continued illegal settlement expansion by Israel in the West Bank and the intensifying settler violence. In that vein, Japan recently introduced sanctions against violent settlers. Their conduct undermines the viability of a two-State solution and cannot be condoned. We also express grave concern about the dangerous escalation caused by Hizbullah, the Houthis and other militant groups. All sides must step back from the brink, avoid bellicose rhetoric and de-escalate the situation. Japan is actively engaging regional stakeholders, such as Iran and Lebanon, through various channels, including direct outreach by our Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, in order to avoid any further deterioration. A ceasefire in Gaza is essential to bring an end to this nightmare and restore much-needed peace and stability in the Middle East. The latest round of negotiations is critical, and we highly appreciate the tireless diplomatic efforts led by the United States, Egypt and Qatar. Now is the time to achieve a long-awaited ceasefire, bring the hostages back and expand aid delivery across Gaza at scale. We therefore urgently appeal to the parties, especially Hamas, to show the will to finally conclude a deal, in accordance with resolution 2735 (2024). The violence must stop immediately. Even at this time of devastation, we must not lose sight of the future. Japan reiterates its unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-State solution, according to which Israel and Palestine live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, consistent with international law and the relevant United Nations resolutions. In that regard, we stress the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority, and we will spare no effort to revitalize the Palestinian Authority to that end. Only in that way can this decades-long tragic dispute finally be resolved.

I thank Special Coordinator Tor Wennesland and Dr. Lisa Baxter of Save the Children for their briefings. In view of the humanitarian disaster caused by the conflict in the Middle East, including the ever- worsening situation in the Gaza Strip, Switzerland has consistently called for the implementation of the resolutions adopted by the Council since 7 October 2023. It is imperative that a ceasefire agreement be reached as soon as possible. To that end, we welcome the mediation efforts of Qatar, Egypt and the United States and call on the parties to engage in those negotiations in good faith. Regardless of the outcome of those negotiations, Switzerland reiterates that the obligations of international law must be respected by all parties. The protection of civilians must be guaranteed, hostages released and humanitarian access authorized and facilitated immediately and unconditionally. Since the adoption of resolution 2712 (2023), last November, the Council has called on the parties to comply strictly with their obligations under international law and to refrain from depriving the civilian population of essential services and humanitarian assistance essential to their survival. Those deprivations have a disproportionate effect on children. According to UNICEF, almost a third of civilians in Gaza are under the age of 10, and 640,000 of them are on the front line in the event of a polio outbreak, in a context where the health system is already devastated. The United Nations and its partners have been advocating for months for safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access and are ready to act to prevent and contain polio. Switzerland supports the urgent implementation of the United Nations two-phase vaccination plan and is prepared to contribute financially. We welcome the speed and efficiency with which the resources needed to implement that plan have been mobilized. We reiterate that humanitarian and medical personnel must be protected to enable them to do their jobs and save lives. The Council reiterated its commitments in that respect in its press elements agreed on Monday. In addition, hostages and all persons detained by parties linked to the conflict must be treated humanely in all circumstances and receive International Committee of the Red Cross visits and the medical assistance they need. Switzerland is very concerned by the recent Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights report on hostages in Gaza and Palestinian detainees, including children, which points to possible serious human rights violations and abuses as well as possible war crimes committed by all parties. In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, inflammatory language, provocations, unilateral measures and acts of violence against civilians are fuelling tensions. Despite the unanimous appeals of the Council, attacks, threats and intimidation by Israeli settlers against the Palestinian population, as recently in the village of Jit, continue with virtual impunity. Switzerland condemns those attacks. Israel has an obligation to protect Palestinian civilians; to prevent violence against them, including by settlers; and to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice. Actions such as the latest visit by Israel’s Minister of National Security to the Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount contribute to rising tensions, and that is true on a regional scale too. The historic status quo over the holy places in Jerusalem and Jordan’s custodial role in that respect must be strictly respected. It is important that the Council remain united in its call for de-escalation. To that end, a ceasefire in Gaza could make a major contribution, including along the Blue Line. We must also support any effort to achieve the solution of two democratic States, with Israel and Palestine, of which Gaza is an integral part, living side by side in peace, within secure and recognized borders. May a ceasefire agreement in Gaza without delay pave the way for such a solution.

I join others in thanking Special Coordinator Wennesland and Dr. Baxter for their briefings. For more than 10 months, we have witnessed heartbreaking stories of Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages. To put an end to those ongoing tragedies, an immediate ceasefire is urgently needed. Any further extension of the conflict will lead to more killings of innocent civilians. Another irrefutable reason for a ceasefire is the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, including shortages of food, water and fuel; the destruction of the health system; and Israel’s repeated evacuation orders. With the never-ending threat to the safety of aid workers, alongside the complete disruption of law and order, it is clear that, without an immediate ceasefire, it will be impossible to dramatically ease the humanitarian suffering in Gaza. We are particularly concerned by a possible outbreak of a widespread polio pandemic, as Dr. Baxter briefed on the situation on the ground, with a sense of urgency. Parties to the conflict should heed the voices of humanitarian actors, including UNICEF and the World Health Organization, calling for a ceasefire, or at the very least a humanitarian pause, to carry out a full-scale vaccination campaign. The current medical capacity in Gaza cannot sustain an epidemic. And we must recall that viruses do not respect borders — polio in Gaza is a regional threat. Ever-more dangerous regional tension is another impetus for an immediate ceasefire. Exacerbating violence in the West Bank, daily strikes by Hizbullah and the Israel Defense Forces across and far beyond the Blue Line and ongoing attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea — all those exemplify the urgent need for de-escalation in the region. We understand that the horrendous terrorist attacks by Hamas on 7 October 2023, which should be condemned by all Council members, was a traumatic experience for all Israeli citizens. Of course, Israel has the right to protect its citizens and its security under international law. But that does not negate Israel’s obligation under international humanitarian law to protect civilians. So-called precise attacks — those that still kill numerous innocent civilians — are simply not enough to fulfil Israel’s legal obligations. We must keep in mind that, without a durable resolution based on the two-State solution, Israel’s long- term security cannot be guaranteed. An immediate ceasefire must be the first step towards that aspiration. Everyone, including Israeli decision-makers and Hamas leaders, needs to prioritize the enormous suffering of Israeli hostages and Palestinian civilians and regional peace. It is time for a deal that has been delayed far too long. We appreciate in that regard the ongoing efforts by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar for mediation. Based on a durable ceasefire, Israel and Palestine, represented by a reformed and strengthened Palestinian Authority, should work together to chart a new path towards coexistence, security and dignity for all. Any acts that hinder the realization of the two-State solution should be firmly rejected. It is deeply troublesome that settlement expansion, violence and impunity in the West Bank have worsened, particularly since 7 October. We condemn violence by Israeli settlers, including last Thursday’s deadly rampage in the village of Jit. We appeal to Israel to respect the human rights of Palestinians and implement measures to prevent crimes committed by settlers. Inflammatory rhetoric and acts by far-right Ministers, including visits to holy sites, must be rejected. Any terrorism, such as last Sunday’s explosion in Tel Aviv, claimed by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, must also be resolutely condemned and rejected. All regional actors must focus on the only question  — how to de-escalate the grave situation in the Middle East. Cycles of vengeance will help no one. Rather, that only leads to more death, suffering and agony for innocent civilians. Regional stakeholders, in particular neighbouring countries, should play responsible roles rather than vowing revenge, as any counter-attack will perpetuate only further violence. Both sides across the Blue Line must also exert maximum restraint, and acts in violation of resolution 1701 (2006), including the provision of military assistance to non-State actors in Lebanon and airspace violations, should not be committed. Other non-State actors in the region, including the Houthis, must also halt all unjustifiable acts that further undermine regional stability.

I thank you, Mr. President, for convening this meeting. I want to extend my appreciation to Mr. Tor Wennesland and especially to Dr. Louisa Baxter from Save the Children for their critical insights. To Dr. Baxter, I want to say that we admire her dedication and courage. Her work shows the real face of humanity. That humanity should guide all of us and guide our debate and our action. As highlighted by the briefers, the situation in Gaza is dire, with no progress nearly 11 months after the Israeli occupying Power launched its brutal punitive operation against defenceless Palestinian civilians. We are still counting the dead — more than 40,000 — and we are still counting the injured — more than 90,000. And those figures may rise rapidly, not only on account of the deteriorating situation in the region but also the imminent risk of disease outbreaks, with a collapsed health system in Gaza due to the Israeli forces’ deliberate targeting of hospitals and medical personnel. In that context, the spread of polio is a looming threat. Today 20 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza are out of service, making an effective response to that threat almost impossible. Despite those challenges, the international humanitarian community stands ready to help with a full-fledged vaccination campaign. However, we cannot envision any vaccination campaign under continuous Israeli bombardment. We are all aware that the so-called deconfliction mechanism is simply a fiction in Gaza. We need a real cessation of hostilities to ensure the success of the campaign, and we echo calls by the World Health Organization and UNICEF for a humanitarian pause to allow for a thorough vaccination campaign. Today the barbaric Israeli occupation continues with total impunity. It continues its policy of killing Palestinians and making Gaza a nightmare, an unliveable place for Palestinians. And the situation is catastrophic; it worsens on a daily basis with no sign of hope. For months, we have been told that we are close to securing a deal and to putting an end to the massacre of Palestinian civilians. Unfortunately, nothing has happened. And while we continue to support the efforts of the mediators  — Qatar, Egypt and the United States — to reach a deal rapidly, the reality is unfortunately clear to everyone. The Israeli occupying Power continues to ignore international calls, including Security Council resolutions and the International Court of Justice’s orders. And with the Middle East facing the risk of a broader conflict, we firmly believe that a permanent ceasefire in Gaza is the only path to avoiding further escalation in the region. Algeria demands the immediate and effective implementation of Council resolutions, including resolution 2735 (2024). That resolution is clear. It guarantees a permanent end to hostilities. It guarantees the full withdrawal of Israeli occupying forces from Gaza. And it guarantees the release and return of all prisoners to their homes. That resolution must be implemented now. The occupying Israeli authorities are determined to crush any hope for an independent Palestinian State with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. They deny the establishment of a Palestinian State. They annex Palestinian lands. They expand settlements. And they frequently storm Al-Aqsa Mosque. They unleash settler terrorists in the West Bank, while they loot and kill Palestinians with total impunity. I want to warn of the risk of Gaza’s tragedy being duplicated in the West Bank. The international community cannot remain silent. In conclusion, it is time to end the carnage in Gaza. It is time to close this dark chapter in the history of the Middle East — a dark chapter also in the history of the international community and of the Security Council.

We would like to thank Mr. Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, for the comprehensive overview of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We are also grateful to Dr. Louisa Baxter for her emotional and sobering account of the situation in the Gaza Strip. It is painful, but we have to acknowledge that the Security Council, as the main United Nations organ tasked with the maintenance of international peace and security, for more than 10 months has essentially remained a passive observer of the ongoing bloodbath in Gaza, which has already claimed more than 40,000 innocent civilian lives. As Secretary-General António Guterres has said, the level of civilian death and destruction in the course of the Israeli operation is unprecedented as compared to any other conflict anywhere in the world during his mandate, and what is happening in Gaza is “total lawlessness”. We are deeply disappointed that the Council has thus far failed to unequivocally demand an immediate ceasefire and ensure that all parties to the conflict comply with that demand. Two and a half months ago, the members of the Security Council adopted resolution 2735 (2024), drafted by Washington. At the time, our American colleagues assured us then that the fate of the deal between Hamas and Israel on a ceasefire and the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip hinged upon that resolution. Now is the time to take stock of how the document has impacted the situation on the ground. We can answer this question unequivocally: it has had no impact at all. Our American colleagues asserted then that Israel consented to the so-called “President Biden plan”, which provided for an immediate ceasefire. Nevertheless, the brutal Israeli operation continues, only pausing when it needs to. Over the course of two and a half months, nearly 3,000 Palestinians have fallen victim to this operation. No one is even considering such issues as a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza or efforts to restore the Strip’s destroyed infrastructure. Moreover, Israel is essentially blocking humanitarian workers through various obstacles. Similarly, other humanitarian resolutions adopted since the beginning of the current escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation remain merely words on paper. We still believe that it is unacceptable that, in June, Council members signed off on the patently false statement in the American resolution that claimed that Israel had allegedly already agreed to the proposed comprehensive deal. Even the official statements by Israel at the very same meeting (see S/PV.9650) clearly hinted that the leadership of West Jerusalem had no intention of stopping its military operation in Gaza. At the time, the delegation of the Russian Federation abstained in the voting on the American text, which we do not regret one bit. It is noteworthy that, having forgotten their June trickery, our American colleagues are now trying to sell us yet another “pig in a poke”, reconfiguring the parameters of the original deal in a way that suits Israel. And today the representative of the United States, in the Chamber, without even bothering to explain the modifications to us, is once again calling upon the members of the Security Council to exert pressure on Hamas. According to the information we have, Israel is now insisting on maintaining the Israel Defense Forces military presence in Gaza, including its control over the border crossing with Egypt and the Philadelphi Corridor. We know that certain countries of the region also vehemently object to such changes to the parameters of the deal. And I would like to put a question to our American colleagues  — on whose behalf are they acting now, as they try to push through this deal, which is fundamentally different from the original one? The Security Council never blessed the deal formulated in this way. And why are they urging us to exert pressure exclusively on the Hamas leadership to make sure that the movement gives in to yet another Israeli whim? Why do they consistently refuse to work with West Jerusalem, which is critically dependent on the weapons they supply? Is this something that well- intentioned and impartial mediators do? Time has shown that all doubts we had regarding the true purpose of the aforementioned American product proved to be correct. And so, yet another Security Council resolution pushed through by Washington became not just a diplomatic cover for Israel’s continued systematic cleansing of Gaza, but also as a spoiler, owing to which the Security Council no longer makes efforts to agree on a document that firmly and unequivocally demands that the parties cease hostilities. Moreover, due to Israel’s provocative actions over the past two and a half months, the Middle East region has come even closer to the brink of global conflict. And the Security Council, thanks to the efforts of the United States of America, is doing nothing to stop the ongoing Israeli massacre in Gaza. Hardly a week ago, the members of the Security Council discussed the tragedy at the Al-Tabaeen school (see S/PV.9704), where an Israeli strike killed more than 100 people and injured dozens more. As we warned at the time, the incident was not an unfortunate episode, but rather a manifestation of a deliberate policy of the Israeli leadership. On 20 August, the Israeli Air Force attacked a school in the Mustafa Hafez neighbourhood of Gaza city, killing at least 12 people. Prime Minister Netanyahu then responded to the joint appeals of the international community to stop the killing of peaceful Palestinian civilians by stating that he would not stop until Hamas was completely destroyed. Were it not for his American allies, the head of the Israeli Government would not have displayed such disregard for the position of the overwhelming majority of the United Nations Member States. In addition, I would like to state that the provocative actions of the Israeli leadership in the occupied Palestinian territory are absolutely unacceptable. I am referring specifically to the 13 August visit of Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israeli Minister of National Security, to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The Israeli authorities should undertake effective measures to stop this fallacious practice, which is a blatant violation of the status quo of the Old City holy sites. How much longer will we remain idle even as failing American mediators continue putting on a show and feeding us empty promises of speedy results from their diplomatic efforts on the ground? The reality is that, for 10 months now, Washington has basically held the entire Council hostage, threatening to use its veto right and preventing us from adopting much-needed, tough and unambiguous decisions on the Palestinian issue or on a ceasefire in Gaza or even on advancing the Middle East peace process as a whole. That is all the more lamentable because it is the maniacal desire of the United States to monopolize the Middle East peace process and to reformat it according to patterns suited to Israel, which has led to the dramatic consequences that we are witnessing today. It also goes without saying that this situation undermines the credibility of the Security Council, which, since October has been unable to adopt any effective decisions, which are needed not only for the just settlement of the Palestinian issue, in line with our resolutions, but also to prevent a regional war in the Middle East. If resolution 2735 (2024) is not being implemented, let us then adopt a new document that would send an unambiguous message to the spoilers that they be held accountable for their actions. And let us endow our resolution with a toolbox to help end violence, regardless of the whims of the parties to the conflict. It is also critical that Washington finally stop its multibillion-dollar military assistance to Israel, which is being used to annihilate Palestinian civilians. How many more victims are needed for the Council to finally act in line with its mandate, instead of blindly following the lead of the United States and Israel? Are 40,000 Palestinians  — mostly women and children  — not enough dead for us to adopt the necessary decisions? We are deliberately formulating the question this way in order to ensure that all our colleagues feel their historical responsibility. For our part, we are ready to work with all who share our position.

I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of Sierra Leone. I thank Special Coordinator Tor Wennesland for his briefing, and I also thank Dr. Louisa Baxter for the valuable and deeply concerning information she provided. The conflict in the Gaza Strip has gone on for too long for the Palestinian civilians, the hostages and the Israeli civilians, causing immense human suffering and devastation. It is also a deeply worrisome situation for civilians in Lebanon, the occupied Golan Heights and the wider Middle East region. Amid the sustained escalation of violence and the dire humanitarian crisis since the adoption of resolution 2735 (2024), there has been collective desperation for meaningful progress to be made towards the cessation of hostilities and to reinvigorate the process to achieve lasting peace. There is no luxury of time to save current and future generations from the long-term consequences of the Gaza conflict, including physical and mental consequences. The Security Council, the United Nations system and the international community have acted on the objectives of achieving a ceasefire, securing the release of hostages and prisoners and facilitating safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance to civilians in the Gaza Strip. During this month of August, as we have observed the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Geneva Conventions and World Humanitarian Day, we reflect on the death toll of more than 40,000 civilians, 289 humanitarian aid workers and 92,743 injured persons in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023. That adds to the 1,200 killed during 7 October attacks. We continue to insist that we cannot normalize the unjustifiable and unacceptable toll and scale of the conflict. It is incumbent on us to put a human face to those killed, with reports of entire Palestinian families having been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza. That brings to light the blatant disregard for international humanitarian law. We therefore recall the statement of the International Committee of the Red Cross noting that, “[t]he seventy-fifth anniversary of the Geneva Conventions — the cornerstone of the international humanitarian law  — reminds us of the world’s agreement that wars must have limits, and that, regardless of the circumstances, respect for human dignity and compassion must always guide our actions”. On that note, Sierra Leone pays tribute to all humanitarian personnel, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and all other partners, working under the most challenging circumstances to provide aid to the vulnerable population in the Gaza Strip, and we certainly pay tribute to Dr. Baxter and her colleagues. We recognize their tireless efforts in preserving human dignity and saving lives. With the worsening humanitarian situation and a collapsed health system, the fear of the spread of the polio virus is a stark reality, with the confirmation of the first active case of poliomyelitis in the Gaza Strip by the Ministry of Health of Palestine. The situation is alarming, and in the words of the Secretary-General, “hundreds of thousands of children in the Gaza Strip [are] at risk, [and] the United Nations is poised to launch vital polio vaccine campaign for more than 640,000 children under the age of 10”. Sierra Leone supports the polio vaccine campaign by the United Nations. To mitigate the evident risk, we echo the call of the Secretary-General and other humanitarian partners for the parties to the conflict to facilitate humanitarian access, which will ensure an effective vaccination campaign for the vulnerable children in the Gaza Strip and beyond. Sierra Leone is gravely concerned about the surge in violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem triggered by settlement expansion, land disputes, provocation, incitements, extensive infrastructure damage, search and arrest operations and the detention of Palestinians. We condemn those violent acts, their incitement and the blatant impunity for their perpetrators. We also condemn all attacks directed at civilians, including the one in Tel Aviv. For 10 months, our assessment of the conflict’s impact on civilians, in particular women and children, has underscored the urgent need for an immediate and permanent ceasefire. As we heard from Special Coordinator Wennesland, we must cease fire now. Our call for a ceasefire is embedded in the fundamental principles of humanity, and it is a call to end impunity and violence, protect civilians, support humanitarian workers and assistance and uphold human rights. Since the Council’s most recent meeting on the region on 13 August (see S/PV.9704), to date, there have been reports of deadly incidents in residential buildings around Gaza, Gaza City, Al-Mawasi and western Khan Younis, among other places, that claimed about 134 lives, with 342 injuries. Those lives could have been saved, if only the parties to the conflict were attentive to our initial and persistent calls. We acknowledge the efforts of the mediators, Egypt, Qatar and United States, and welcome the resumption of negotiations in Doha last week. We encourage the mediators to employ all possible tools to ensure that the talks lead to an agreement speedily. We emphasize the parties’ obligations to implement Security Council resolutions, including resolution 2735 (2024). Furthermore, we call for steps to be taken to ensure that the Palestinians’ right to self-determination is fully respected and implemented. The advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice of 19 July is clear on the unlawful nature of the occupation by Israel. Accordingly, the political horizon of a two- State solution, with Israel and Palestine living side-by- side in peace and security, remains the only legally acceptable outcome. Let me therefore conclude by reiterating our call for full respect for international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and accountability for the reported atrocity crimes committed in both Israel and Gaza. I resume my functions as President of the Council. I now give the floor to the Permanent Observer of the Observer State of Palestine.

Allow me, at the outset, to thank the briefers for their presentations, and in particular Dr. Louisa Baxter for her poignant testimony. Through her, I would like to pay tribute to all humanitarians working in impossible conditions, notably Palestinian humanitarian workers. Instead of being offered the protection to which they are entitled as they carry out their life-saving work, they are being targeted to prevent them from helping the Palestinian civilian population. The genocide has not spared them, and yet they remain true to their sacred mission and deserve our gratitude and support, and we salute them. Gaza had been polio-free for the past 25 years. Now it is under the imminent threat of the spread of that terrible disease, which can cause paralysis and death. Gaza does not need more paralysis or death  — first brought by bombs and bullets, now combined with occupation-sponsored famine and disease. Gaza has witnessed life being destroyed. It needs life to be restored, and it needs it right now. We fully support the Secretary-General’s proposal for an urgent vaccination campaign to stop the spread of the disease. Any obstruction of that effort will serve as further proof of Israel’s genocidal intent and actions against our people. The Secretary-General said that the campaign should begin at the end of this month, alongside humanitarian organizations in the medical field. Are we going to support him in implementing the vaccination campaign and the ceasefire that he is calling for — two periods, each of them lasting seven days  — in order to allow for the inoculation of more than 640,000 Palestinian children under the age of 10, to save them from looming genocide, or are we just going to praise him for what he is doing and continue to sit idly by? Are we going to march with him and with the medical teams in response to that call to save the lives of more than 640,000 children in Gaza? At a minimum  — while Council members are still debating and the mediators are still trying to reach an agreement on the ceasefire  — are we going to allow for action to be taken in fulfilment of that specific, limited call for inoculation? Are we going to be marching with the Secretary-General and the teams in order to make that a reality? I know that there is not a single person with an ounce of humanity in him or her who would stand against such a call. Are we going to allow one country to be able to veto everything, including whether or not to inoculate 640,000 Palestinian children by administering the two doses of vaccine in sequence, maybe one or two weeks apart, or will that effort be thwarted by those who are still continuing to wage the genocide against our people? The last time I spoke (see S/PV.9704), I asked Council members when they were going to act. This is an even smaller task. Are Council members going to act to carry out that smaller humanitarian task in order to save the lives of children, or are they going to fail the test again? We also share the Secretary-General’s assessment that “the ultimate vaccine for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire”. The international community and the Council have long since demanded a ceasefire, and yet the horrors continue. The Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip have witnessed and felt in their flesh the planned collapse of all the requirements of life in Gaza — the collapse of the health system under Israeli assault; the collapse of the education system, brought about by the destruction of schools and universities; the collapse of any remaining sense of security as a result of the destruction of virtually all homes and the bombardments of shelters, tents and every so-called safe zone; and the collapse of social structures due to displacement and death. And Israel still has not had enough. Still, it carries on, threatening and inflicting more death and devastation. This Israeli Government does not care, not even about its own citizens, killing hostages and bragging about retrieving their corpses when it could have secured their release alive. But clearly, it cares more about killing Palestinians than it cares about saving Israelis. Therefore, those who want to place the fate of our people in the hands of this Israeli Government, in the hope that it will act in good faith, are gravely mistaken. That is tragically proven every day. There must be a ceasefire now, in line with the terms of resolution 2735 (2024) and with no further conditions and bad-faith demands that go against the letter and spirit of the resolution and that clearly aim to derail efforts to establish a ceasefire. For more than two and a half months, who has stopped the Council from implementing resolution 2735 (2024), which starts with a ceasefire, guarantees the release of the hostages and the prisoners and calls for humanitarian assistance at scale to meet the needs of our people and, in the words of President Biden, for a minimum of 600 truckloads of humanitarian assistance to enter the Gaza Strip on a daily basis? Who is stopping the Council from implementing that resolution? Who is stopping the Council from acting and saying that, “on such and such a date and at such and such hour, a ceasefire will take place”? That will enable us to see who will allow it to happen and who will not allow it to happen and, therefore, to make those who will not pay the consequences of rejecting the will of the Security Council as expressed through its resolution. Is the Council ready to say, “Next Monday at noon, Jerusalem time, a ceasefire will take place”? Is the Council willing to act? Is the Council willing to do something on the basis of what it has approved? Or does it want to continue giving the Israeli occupying authorities excuses to continue killing the Palestinian people? When is the Council going to act? It has the tools to act. It has the resolutions to act. Please act. Deal or no deal, there is no excuse for the Israelis’ continued killing of innocent Palestinian civilians, of kids and of babies. There is no excuse for the abandonment felt by Palestinian mothers and fathers, by Palestinian children, by Palestinian youth and by each and every Palestinian in Gaza who has survived this epic nightmare thus far, who has been fighting every day for the survival of loved ones and who has not had a chance to mourn or heal or rest or bury loved ones. There is no excuse for permitting the continued assaults by the Israeli occupying forces and settler militias on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank — as many Council members have indicated  — including East Jerusalem, or the targeting of children, executed by Israeli snipers, terrorized by settlers. As we sit here speaking  — week after week and month after month  — they are struggling to survive the occupation’s open attempts to ethnically cleanse and annihilate them, still trying to preserve the last remaining shreds of life in the hope that the world will show up, that humanity will prevail and that the international community will act. They have no reason to hope, but they are refusing to surrender to death or to their occupiers and killers. Not only do they deserve the Council’s respect and admiration; they are entitled to its support and protection. How much longer will we continue to fail them? How many more horrors will our children have to suffer? How long will this occupation and all its horrors continue? Are we going to continue dealing with the Palestinian people and Palestinian children according to standards that differ from those applied to others, or are we going to use the same yardstick of humanitarian principles that should apply to all, including the Palestinian people? When confronted with a genocide, the responsibility of the world is to stop it. When there is genocide, it is the Council’s duty to stop it and stop it immediately and unconditionally. This is a war of atrocities, and the only way to stop those atrocities is to stop the war and to stop it immediately and now. It cannot be justified in any way. It must be stopped, and it must be stopped now. We often say justice is blind. And that expression is universally understood as meaning justice does not discriminate; it is fair to all and equal for all, regardless of race, nationality, ethnicity or religion. But there are those who want justice to be blind to our people’s pain and suffering, to be blind when the crimes are committed by Israelis. We will not accept that, and neither should the Council. Palestinian victims are not less entitled to justice. The Palestinian people is not less entitled to freedom. And Israel does not have a right to genocide, a right to commit atrocities against them. I warn again against any actions or statements that continue to equivocate or appease Israel as it commits such horrific crimes against us or, even worse, that enable the commission of such crimes. While we are waiting for the Council’s action, we are initiating action from our side. President Abbas has declared his intention and the intention of the Palestinian leadership to head to Gaza. He has called for leaders from around the globe to join him and to support that initiative. I have communicated the position of the leadership about that initiative to the Secretary- General and to the President of the Council. I assume that it was shared with the members of the Council. Allow me to call on the Security Council to take part in a visit to the Gaza Strip, to see first-hand the horrors our people are enduring, to support and to push to secure the ability of President Abbas to reach the Gaza Strip, to work with urgency to stop the genocide and stop the crimes being perpetrated against our people. If the Council is not going to decide a ceasefire, let us all together go to the Gaza Strip and try to impose the ceasefire by our presence, as leaders of the globe, led by our President, by the Secretary-General, by the President of the Security Council and by all those who have spines, to go and say we are coming to demand a ceasefire and demand it now in the Gaza Strip and to show empathy, support and solidarity with those who have been suffering immensely for more than 10 and a half months. Also, we are going to initiate another action to put an end to the illegal occupation as soon as possible by adopting next month in the General Assembly an actionable draft resolution on the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice demanding, within a time frame, the end of the illegal occupation and all the other issues contained in that historic advisory opinion. I expect almost all Member States to be with us in trying really to put an end to the illegal occupation and to pave the way for implementing their global consensus on the two-State solution by ending the occupation and making the two-State reality a fact on the ground, not only as is insinuated in the draft resolution and advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice but also in the many resolutions that we have adopted in the Security Council and the General Assembly over years. We are sick and tired of waiting. The time for waiting is over. The time for action is now. The time for the implementation of the two-State solution will begin with a significant step in the month of September, next month, and we invite all members to be with us. At several points in our long journey to freedom, Gaza has the beating heart of Palestine. Jerusalem is the crown on top of our heads. Gaza is the beating heart of Palestine. It is today the bleeding heart of Palestine. Stop the bleeding. This is the Security Council, entrusted with the maintenance of international peace and security. Stop the bleeding in Gaza. Impose an immediate ceasefire. Stop the suffering. Protect our children and all our civilians, as international law and our collective humanity demand. End this genocide. End it now. Impose a ceasefire immediately, now.

I now give the floor to the representative of Israel.

I am quite familiar with the prestigious halls and corridors of this building. This is my second term as Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations. During my first term, I worked towards promoting the integration of Israel into the international community. I experienced the significance of meaningful international cooperation, being elected Vice-President of the General Assembly and Chair of the Sixth Committee. At the same time, I was also exposed to the deep flaws that have infiltrated the Organization  — its double standards, obsession with Israel and even blatant acts of antisemitism, which are not uncommon. However, I have returned to a different United Nations, different faces, different attitudes, a different environment. And truthfully, I am representing a different Israel, an Israel forced to fight a war on seven fronts against those who wish us dead, all connected to their masters, the Ayatollahs of Iran. As I stand here today, my people are under attack. Ten months ago, a terrorist army invaded southern Israel. They murdered over 1,000 of our citizens and committed the most heinous atrocities  — torture, rape, beheading. Hundreds of beautiful young Israelis celebrating life at a music festival, murdered. Hundreds of innocent human beings sleeping in their homes with their families, murdered. Hundreds more were taken hostage into captivity, more brutal than anything we can imagine. To this day, over 100,000 Israelis remain displaced in their own country, unable to return home owing to constant rocket attacks from both Hamas and Hizbullah. Tamar Kedem-Siman Tov was an artist, a mother and a community leader. She wanted to be mayor of the Eshkol region, in the southern part of Israel. Her husband Johny was an operations manager, loved by his family and their kibbutz, Nir Oz. Together they built a small, beautiful family. They had three children — Shahar, Arbel and Omer. At 6.30 a.m. on 7 October 2023, Tamar sent a message to all her friends on the kibbutz WhatsApp group, checking if everyone was safe after rocket sirens echoed through the kibbutz. That is part of the routine for the people who live on the southern border. Just three hours later, a final message came on WhatsApp — she had been wounded — and then silence. The last words from Johny, her husband, to his sister were: “They are here. They are burning us. We are suffocating.” In their final moments, Tamar and Johny held on to each other, trying to shield their children from the evil that had invaded their homes. Wounded, they chose to suffer the smoke and fire together rather than let the terror outside claim them. The Kedem-Siman Tov family, like so many others, was erased in a single day by an act of unspeakable evil. Their home, a place once filled with the laughter of children, is now silent. Any reasonable person would have expected the Council to act immediately and unequivocally to condemn the terror, the bloodshed, the inhumanity and to support Israel in its mission to dismantle the terror organization responsible for those atrocities. To expect anything less would be lunacy. Yet here we are, 320 days since the slaughter, and what have we heard? Silence. No condemnation of Hamas. No recognition of the atrocities committed. The Security Council was created and charged with protecting peace after the horrors of the Holocaust. How could it not condemn the largest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust? Yesterday, 21 August, was the International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism. Here is the Council’s opportunity, the Council’s moment to finally condemn the cold-blooded slaughter of more than 1,000 innocent lives and the abduction of hundreds more in an act of pure terror. I hold no illusions. I have no expectations from the Council today. It has already made it clear that this international day of remembrance and tribute does not apply to Israeli victims of terror. When future generations learn of this terrible period, they will look for the world’s reactions to the evil committed against us. If they were to look only at the United Nations response, they may not even know that Jews were massacred and kidnapped, because the United Nations cannot find the moral clarity to condemn those acts. Today Israel is fighting on the front lines of the battle for civilization against terrorism and medieval barbarism. Our soldiers  — our boys and girls in Gaza — are fighting for their homes, for their families, their State. But it goes even deeper, they are fighting for the values and principles binding the entire liberal Western world. Today it is Israel; tomorrow it can be everywhere. This war was forced upon us, by men who called their parents to brag about having killed Jews, men who placed military command centres and weapons of war underneath schools and hospitals of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), men who have been holding innocent babies within terror tunnels for almost a year. We did not ask for this war. Neither are we intentionally killing civilians nor overseeing a famine. There is no famine in Gaza. Since the start of the war, Israel has facilitated more than 14,000 trucks carrying aid, including more than 700,000 tons of food. We also continue to work with our partners, addressing the medical needs in Gaza. Between 23 December and 24 January, enough polio vaccines for over 2 million Gazans were delivered. In partnership with the World Health Organization and UNICEF, between 95 to 99 per cent of Gazans have already been vaccinated. The campaign is taking place without any UNRWA involvement. As we speak, another comprehensive vaccination campaign is being launched for children under the age of 10. With all due respect to our allies, the Israel Defense Forces have always taken pride in being the most moral army in the world, in impossible conditions. Hamas knows that causing civilian casualties and depriving their own people of food will generate public outcry. So that is what they do. They are very good at that. They put civilians in harm’s way and deprive them of the aid the international community has provided. Rather than condemn Hamas’s outrageous abuse of its own people, international aid organizations, like UNRWA and other organs of the United Nations, have chosen to collaborate with Hamas. How can those bodies be part of the solution when they intensify the problem? How can they help build the future when they destroy the path to it? Israel looks to the future. The Abraham Accords showed that Arabs across the region want a different future  — development and prosperity, not endless wars and terrorism. The Abrahamic peace is paving the way to that future through regional integration and partnership, innovation and entrepreneurship. We stand ready to extend those Accords to Middle Eastern partners. Many Gazans, many people in Gaza, want that future too. But Gaza stands at a crossroads. The defeat of Hamas will enable Gazan civilians to chart their own destiny, in partnership with the most successful countries in the region, with Council members’ support. Let me be clear: there is no future for the people of Gaza with Hamas left in control. There is no rebuilding of Gaza with Hamas in control. There is no future for the border communities in southern Israel with Hamas in control. The day after Hamas is not something in the far-off future; it is a process that is beginning right now as our forces fight for our security, for the return of our hostages and for a better future for everyone in Gaza and Israel. For the sake of Palestinians and Israelis alike, we cannot allow the next generation of Gazans to be raised to hate Jews more than they love their children. So long as Hamas and its hateful ideology rule in Gaza, Gazans will never have a chance for a decent life. So long as terrorists carrying rifles and wearing suicide vests are entrusted with administering aid, terrorists will stay rich and civilians will remain poor. We Israelis need no lessons on how to strive and sacrifice for peace, but we have learned through bitter experience that true peace is not possible so long as entire generations are taught to hate. Israel has no desire to occupy Gaza. Once Hamas’s defeat has been secured and our hostages have been safely returned home, we want Gazans to administer their own affairs — Gazans who are not compromised by terror or incitement and who are committed to peace with their neighbours. But instead of supporting those aspirations for peace and stability, the Council has become a forum for the world’s vilest actors to sound off about their hatred of Jews and Israel. I see that the representative of the Palestinian Authority is still here. He has been sitting in that chair for 20 years. He has spent two decades in this place, proposing resolutions that stir chaos, sow division and avoid any hope. He has accomplished absolutely nothing but the incitement of hatred and violence, while claiming to be an advocate for peace. But I want to clarify an important point, and I demand an answer from Mr. Mansour: Who does he represent here today? Does he represent the Hamas organization? Since 7 October, he has delivered hundreds of speeches. Yet he has never uttered anything even resembling a condemnation of Hamas. I ask for someone to correct me if I am wrong — has anyone heard any condemnation for Hamas’s atrocities? If Mr. Mansour cannot condemn them, then he is one of them. He does not represent the Palestinian people. Mr. Mansour is a terrorist in a suit. I demand that he condemn Hamas. If he cannot condemn them, then he is one of them. We all know the role of Iran in this conflict. It is the supplier and mentor of the terrorist proxies attacking Israel from all sides. It is attempting to trigger a regional war. Just look at Lebanon. The Iranian regime has used its proxy, Hizbullah, to drive the country into economic and political ruin, transforming what was once the Paris of the Middle East into a terrorist haven. While we were still fighting the Hamas savages in our own homes and communities on 8 October, the day after the attack, Hizbullah began its attack. We did not target it, there was no immediate dispute. Yet it launched hundreds of rockets towards our civilians in the north. Has the Council considered the reason behind Hizbullah’s attack against Israel? Let me remind the Council  — Nasrallah himself announced that the group had joined the war on 8 October. It did so to show support and sympathy for Hamas, while they murdered Israeli civilians. That is the reason that Hizbullah started the attacks against Israel. Since that day, thousands of rockets have been launched at our communities, targeting innocent Israelis, destroying their homes and murdering children as they play soccer with their friends. More than 100,000 of our civilians remain displaced. Let me be very direct with the Council — we have our limits. We are not interested in escalation. But Israel will do whatever is necessary to restore security to the northern border, return northern residents to their homes and remove the threat posed by Hizbullah. If the Council truly cares for regional security, do not wait for something to happen. Now is the time to speak up, to demand and ensure that Lebanon and Hizbullah fully implement resolution 701 (1991) so that we do not need to meet here in a month or in a week in order to discuss the escalation in Israel and Lebanon. The Council has a choice —to continue down the path of moral ambiguity or to stand up for what is right. Condemn terrorism in all its forms and uphold the values of peace, justice and human dignity. Let me be clear. The days when Jewish blood was spilled and there was no response are over. The day when the Jewish people were at the mercy of tyrants are over. We are the captains of our own ship, and we will take all necessary steps against those who wish to harm us. The world is watching, and history will judge everyone by their actions.