Statement by Chargé d'Affaires a.i. Dmitry Polyanskiy at a UNSC Briefing on Hostages in the Gaza Strip
Mr. President,
We are grateful to Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča for his detailed briefing on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the situation regarding the hostages who remain in the enclave. We note the presence of Israeli foreign minister Mr. Gideon Saar. We have closely listened to Ilay David and carefully reviewed the letter from the Israeli side. We mourn all innocent victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, regardless of their citizenship or nationality.
As everyone else present here, we were shocked by the images published earlier this month showing two Israeli hostages, Rom Braslavsky and Evyatar David. Judging by the videos, they appear to be frustrated, extremely emaciated, and weakened due to acute lack of food and water, which is something that all inhabitants of Gaza are known to be faced with.
Every day spent by the hostages in the Gaza Strip is a tragedy. It is a tragedy for them and for their families and loved ones, who spend every minute of life waiting for their return. We have also carefully reviewed the latest statements made by the relatives of Roma Braslavski, Evyatar David, and other Israelis held in Gaza. We share their pain, but we can’t but note that these people, who are in an extremely poor emotional condition and worry about the fate of their children, are voicing at the same time a direct criticism vis-à-vis the country's leadership, which, according to some of them, has abandoned its citizens to the whims of fate by dragging out the negotiation process with Hamas, and thereby signed a death sentence for the remaining hostages.
Let me recall here that we immediately condemned the tragic events of October 7, 2023 – there can be no justification for that, nor can there be any justification for the collective punishment of the people of Gaza, and for turning an entire region into a zone of total despair. We have always advocated and will continue to advocate the need for a swift and unconditional release of all detainees and an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Mr. President,
We are sincerely convinced that there is no delegation in this chamber that would dispute the very simple fact that every human life is important and priceless. We should not have to choose whose pain is more worthy of attention. This applies equally to the Israelis in captivity and to the peaceful Palestinians who for almost 670 days have been suffering virtually daily bombardment by Israel. At the time when the whole world was watching with horror the footage about Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, we received equally horrific reports from Gaza stating that over 180 people died there between August 1 and 2. It is almost every day that we hear about such tragedies. In total, since October 2023, more than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed, including over 18,000 children, according to UNICEF.
Against this backdrop, the overall situation in Gaza can only be characterized as a humanitarian disaster, and it has repercussions not only for the Gazans but also for the Israeli hostages. Palestinians themselves are dying in the enclave not only as a result of air strikes and artillery shelling, but also due to widespread hunger and outbreaks of various diseases. According to the UN World Food Program, one in three Palestinians has been starving for several days in a row. The terrible statistics of casualties from hostilities and food shortages are compounded by those killed and wounded as they lined up for food rations at the distribution sites of the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.” The number of victims runs in the thousands: since May 27, nearly 1,500 Palestinians have been killed.
We are also seriously worried by the consequences of air dropping of food supplies, which resumed late July. As recently as yesterday, humanitarian “bombs” crushed to death two medical workers at the Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah. In his latest comments, UNRWA Commissioner-General Lazzarini warned against the continued use of this highly dangerous and costly way of delivering aid, which is 100 times more expensive than using land routes. Meanwhile, around the perimeter of the Gaza Strip, there are over 6,000 trucks with food supplies that would be sufficient to sustain the civilian population for several months.
Mr. President,
We are shocked by the targeted attack by the IDF on the headquarters of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Khan Yunis, as a result of which one staff member was killed and several others were wounded. Unfortunately, this is not the first time when members of the Red Crescent Society have died in Gaza. We all remember how Israeli forces mercilessly shot and killed paramedics of this organization, their bodies were found in March in a mass grave. We call on Israel to stop this lawlessness – humanitarian and medical workers should not be targeted. Nor should the Red Crescent headquarters be targeted; it is clearly marked with their logo and is unambiguously under the protection of international humanitarian law.
Contrary to West Jerusalem's claims, the humanitarian blockade of the enclave, which they imposed in March, remains in place to date. According to the assessments by UN humanitarian agencies, the partial easing and limited supplies announced on July 27 as part of the so-called “tactical pauses” are merely a “drop in the ocean” compared to the acute needs of the people of Gaza, including, as we all understand, the needs of the Israeli hostages. In this context, we fully support the calls by the UNRWA leadership and other specialized UN agencies to immediately remove the impediments to the delivery of all essential supplies to Gaza, including food, water, fuel, and medicines. We are extremely concerned about the aggressive campaign launched by West Jerusalem against OCHA staff and its head, Tom Fletcher, who are providing sober (and sometimes uncomfortable for the Israeli leadership) assessments of the humanitarian situation in the enclave. We see that UN humanitarians are really trying to analyze the situation comprehensively and find ways to alleviate the plight of the Palestinian civilians.
What remains undeniable here is that the main prerequisite for ensuring uninterrupted and unimpeded humanitarian supplies should be the creation of the necessary security conditions. Unfortunately, the regular calls for a ceasefire, which we here both from the UN Secretary-General and the overwhelming majority of the international community, have remained unheeded by the Israeli leadership. West Jerusalem is still minded to continue the war in Gaza by any means and under any pretext, and is trying to prevent the stoppage of the military operation there.
Mr. President,
Equally disturbing is the fact that the Israeli authorities have embraced the policy of cleansing and colonizing the West Bank. It is ordinary Palestinians and even foreigners who every day become victims of relentless raids by security forces and settler violence. July 30, for example, witnessed an attack on an official vehicle of the Russian Mission to the Palestinian Authority, and this was done under the lenient eye of the Israeli military. In addition, there are new grim records being set in terms of the destruction and seizure of local residents' property, the construction of new settlements, and the legalization of outposts with the aim of cutting off major Palestinian cities from each other. The Knesset continues passing new provocative legislation – for instance, following last year's decisions to ban UNRWA, at the end of July, an equally dangerous decision was taken to extend Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.
It is clear that a systematic policy of exiling Palestinians – whether from the Gaza Strip or the West Bank – is fraught with new risks and dangers for stability and security in the Middle East and could once again bring the region to the brink of a major war. It is also clear that Israel would never have a free hand in Gaza and the West Bank but for direct military support and international political cover from the US. At the same time, the absolute majority of countries around the world are rejecting this policy. What is telling in this situation is the US-Israeli boycott of the High-Level International Conference in Support of the Two-State Solution, held on July 28-30, as well as Washington's futile attempts to dissuade its partners from participating in this representative forum. We do have certain optimism given that despite open pressure from the US, most members of the international community did not get scared and showed solidarity with the Palestinian people, and some Western capitals, albeit belatedly, have announced their plans to recognize the State of Palestine as early as next month.
Mr. President,
Despite the fact that the current situation is extremely difficult, we remain convinced that a diplomatic settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is and remains the only viable solution. We urge the parties, with the support of the mediators, to return to the negotiating table so as to work out mutually acceptable solutions to restore the ceasefire regime, release detainees, and unblock humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip.
We are confident that this is what the people of Palestine want as well as the families of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza. We hope that all regional and international stakeholders will work towards this goal. The negotiation process must be brought back to the political track, which would accommodate both Israel's legitimate security interests and the Palestinian people's hard-earned right to have their own state within the 1967 borders.
Thank you.
