Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing on the Humanitarian Situation in the Gaza Strip
Mr. President,
We would like to thank UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher and the Director of the FAO Liaison Office in New York Angélica Jácome. We are grateful for their sincere and tragic briefings on the ever-worsening situation in the Gaza Strip.
Today we are compelled yet again to speak about this situation, which cannot be qualified as anything other than a humanitarian catastrophe. For ten weeks running, Gaza has been under a severe blockade, which was resumed by the Israeli authorities. Millions of residents of the enclave are deprived of vital food supplies, water and medical care. Famine is spreading at a high pace, as was mentioned today in light of the relevant statistics published yesterday.
Each day, we are receiving alarming reports that essential supplies in the Strip are about to run out, medical facilities and humanitarian centers are no longer operational, and remaining bakeries are closing their doors. At the same time, dozens of humanitarian trucks carrying tons of food, medicines and fuel are idling at the border, as the Israeli authorities denied them access to the enclave.
Colleagues,
We all have to realize clearly that each minute of delay, each day of the blockade means new lives lost. It means that children continue suffering and dying from malnutrition, and families need to survive amidst the rubble in the open. It also means that doctors and aid workers are struggling to save lives while having no critical resources to do so.
Instead of showing political will and opening border crossings, West Jerusalem has announced the introduction of a new aid distribution mechanism, which, as we know, was not supported by either the UN Secretariat or its humanitarian partners who acting directly “on the ground”. By advancing this initiative, the Israeli leadership is essentially urging the UN agencies to become complicit in Israel’s military operation, thereby jeopardizing the neutrality and impartiality of UN humanitarian activities. In such circumstances, we can hardly expect that, even if the Israeli plans are implemented, it will be possible to effectively provide assistance to the two million Palestinians who are hostage to such political and military decisions.
Mr. President,
Every day, humanitarian workers in Gaza and the West Bank are risking their lives to discharge their mission. These brave people are constantly facing threats, attacks and systematic impediments to their work. The number of casualties among humanitarians is steadily growing: since October 2023, 418 staff members have been killed, 295 of them were UN staff and 290 were UNRWA personnel. These figures once again demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the deconfliction mechanism, which is being promoted by the UN Secretariat – unfortunately, this mechanism fails to save the lives of humanitarian workers.
We cannot but recall the incident involving the humanitarian convoy of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society – on March 23, its members were shot in cold blood by the IDF in the suburbs of Rafah. Among those killed were eight medics, five civil defense personnel and an UNRWA staff member. Israel has acknowledged its involvement and launched an investigation. However, we have not received to date any evidence that the ambulances were carrying Hamas representatives, as Israeli representatives assert. This is an egregious situation that needs to be very thoroughly investigated.
The situation in which UNRWA and its staff find themselves doesn’t withstand any criticism whatsoever. The Agency, which has provided vital assistance to the Palestinians for more than 75 years, is being systematically squeezed out of the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem. UNRWA medical and educational facilities are being shelled and destroyed, and its staff are being systematically assaulted, interrogated and prosecuted. We are alarmed to hear of fresh acts of violence, attacks on UNRWA schools, seizures of educational facilities and temporary shelters for displaced persons. In that context, we would like to recall that those incidents constitute grave violations of IHL and the principle of the inviolability of the UN property and assets.
The current situation requires immediate and decisive action. Guaranteeing unimpeded and sustained access for humanitarian aid is not a panacea but it is an absolutely essential precondition for alleviating the suffering of Gazan civilians. First and foremost, it is a matter of basic humanity. We call on Israel to ensure the protection of humanitarian personnel and to lift the humanitarian blockade, which is a flagrant violation of articles 55, 56 and 59 of the 4th Geneva Convention on the adequate supply of civilians in the Occupied Territories.
Mr. President,
As we have seen on many occasions, it is impossible to establish full humanitarian access and ensure the safety of humanitarian workers as long as hostilities are ongoing. In that context, we would like to once again call on the parties for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and the resumption of the second phase of negotiations, which is to provide for the release of those forcibly detained and the withdrawal of Israeli units from Gaza.
We welcome the release by Hamas of an American-Israeli hostage, Idan Alexander. We hope that this goodwill gesture will help to swiftly reach agreements between Hamas and Israel through the mediation of Egypt, Qatar and the United States. Such a scenario could become a prelude to relaunching the peace process on a two-state basis, with the ultimate goal of establishing an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, coexisting in peace and security with Israel. An important milestone on that path could become the high-level international conference in support of the two-State solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which is to be held in June in New York with Saudi Arabia and France co-chairing it. We intend to actively participate in it.
Thank you.
