Statement by the Chargé d'Affaires a.i Dmitry Polyanskiy at a UNSC Briefing on the Gaza Strip
Mr. President,
We are grateful to our today’s briefers for the information provided regarding the situation in the Gaza Strip.
Over the past few days, we, like many other our colleagues, have been stunned by new reports regarding record levels of famine in Gaza. Signals and persistent calls for Israel to immediately stop the collective punishment of Palestinians have come from various capitals around the world, including Moscow, as well as from the headquarters of international and regional organizations, as well as from UN offices worldwide. In addition, the world is demanding from Jerusalem to recognize that there is no alternative to a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which would pave the way for genuine peace and security in the Middle East. This is the sole scenario that meets the interests of both the Israelis and their neighbors.
Today, almost two years after the start of the bloody war in Gaza, it is truly difficult to find the right words to describe the scale of destruction and human suffering in the Gaza Strip. The most ample and at the same time the most terrifying comments came from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who described the situation in Gaza in one word – “hell.” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, in turn, characterized the situation in the enclave as “bordering on genocide,” adding that the forced displacement of people is akin to ethnic cleansing.
Such statements by the leadership of the UN and its specialized agencies (who in other cases are quite restrained in their assessments) are backed by daily reports we receive from Gaza about the deaths of dozens of civilians. Just the day before yesterday, more than 70 people fell victim to Israel's indiscriminate strikes on the sector. And two days ago, an attack in the south of the enclave destroyed the Al-Nasser hospital and killed more than 20 people, including five journalists; and all that happened literally live on air. At the same time, judging by the images in the media, Israelis resorted to a cynical tactic of a double-tap strike when rescue teams arrived. Even Benjamin Netanyahu has indirectly acknowledged Israel's responsibility for what occurred, calling it a “tragic mishap” and promising to conduct an investigation.
Mr. President,
On a separate note, we would like to draw your particular attention to the activities of the US-Israeli “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.” Since the Foundation was established this past May, the situation has turned into a tragic and completely unacceptable one. According to various estimates, over 1,800 Palestinians have died trying to get humanitarian assistance. At least 1,000 of them were near the distribution points that were managed by this pseudo-humanitarian structure.
According to reports, civilians have been targeted not just regularly, but also deliberately. People in utter despair spend nights at food distribution points only to get bullets in response.
This is not a humanitarian mission. This is violence camouflaged as good intentions. Under the guise of so-called humanitarian work, there is a policy of intimidation and suppression against defenseless civilians. Such methods are unacceptable. We have no doubt that the work of the Foundation in its current form is dangerous and does not comply with universally recognized humanitarian principles, and there is no point in denying this.
Mr. President,
Against this backdrop, we are seriously concerned about the media reports that the UN Secretariat, allegedly ceding to pressure from the US and Israel, has quietly committed to “toning its rhetoric down” when it comes to the activities of the Foundation. Thus, we would like to note that, starting from August, UN humanitarian reports have de facto stopped mentioning the work of this structure. We hope that these allegations do not reflect reality.
We are convinced that the UN Secretariat cannot and should not compromise its principles, and humanitarian assistance should not be turned into a tool for blackmail.
We trust that the Secretary-General and the UN humanitarian wing will consistently and unconditionally advocate for humanitarian assistance to be provided in strict accordance with international humanitarian law and the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence.
Mr. President,
The horrific statistics regarding the victims of the Israeli military operation in Gaza – more than 63,000 Palestinians have already been killed – is in no way stopping the Netanyahu government, which has set a course to cleanse the densely populated city of Gaza and establish total control over the entire Strip. Nor is West Jerusalem sobered by the opinion of the overwhelming majority of the international community. We would like to remind you that on August 10, during a UNSC emergency meeting, virtually all delegations, including those representing the Arab-Muslim world, condemned Israel's new escalatory steps, emphasizing that there are multiplying security risks not only for the residents of Gaza, but also for the Israeli hostages held there.
It is also striking that the IDF operation to capture Gaza City was launched amid reports that Hamas had agreed to the mediators' latest proposal to release some of the hostages and establish a temporary ceasefire. We are closely following the diplomatic efforts of mediators, including those from Washington. To be honest, we see some discrepancies in the assessments of how the negotiations are progressing. US colleagues keep saying that Hamas has rejected the deal. At least, that is what the US delegation has been trying to convince the Security Council of over the past few months.
At the same time, there are signs that the Hamas movement is willing to have a deal, but Israel is either rejecting the mediators' proposals or simply escalating hostilities “on the ground,” showing no real interest in reaching agreement. The latter was publicly announced yesterday by the Qatari Foreign Ministry, which, along with the US and Egypt, is participating in the negotiation process.
Colleagues,
We have heard about American “aggressive diplomacy on the ground” for many months now, but, regrettably, we are once again getting increasingly convinced that their efforts are not yielding encouraging results. We urge our US colleagues to think not only about the interests of Israel, which they so zealously defend, but also about the fate of peaceful Palestinians, whose lives and future today depend largely on the Council’s action or inaction.
Mr. President,
It is only multilateral diplomacy, which we are urging our American colleagues to engage in, that can and should give a chance for the two-state solution to survive. This principle, enshrined in relevant UNSC and GA resolutions, is now truly under threat. The reason for this – and it is the case also with the man-made humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza – is Israel's policy of establishing “new facts” on the ground, which runs counter to international law. The most high-profile development in this regard is the recent decision by the Israeli Higher Planning Committee to approve the settlement construction in the E1 area in the West Bank, east of Jerusalem. We all understand that the implementation of this large-scale expansionist project will breach the contiguity of the territorial integrity of the future Palestinian state, dividing the West Bank into two isolated enclaves.
What is frightening in this regard is neither the plan itself nor the unambiguous utterances by Israeli officials (for example that by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who clearly stated that the plan for settlement construction in the E1 area would basically “bury the idea of a Palestinian state”) but the fact that such provocative steps enjoy support by some high-ranking US diplomats. For example, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee noted that the settlement construction in the E1 area allegedly does not violate international law. Such opinions directly contradict the founding documents on the Middle East settlement, as well as recent Council decisions, including UNSC Resolution 2334.
Mr. President,
In conclusion, we would like to reiterate our unwavering position that it is only a diplomatic settlement of the Palestinian issue based on the formula of “two States for two peoples” that can satisfy both Israel’s legitimate security concerns and the Palestinian people’s rightful aspirations to have their own State. The alternative to this is further isolation of West Jerusalem in the international arena and a growing number of civilian casualties among Gazans and Palestinians. By acting this way, Israel is not solving any security problems but rather putting them off, cultivating vengeance and hatred among young Palestinians. This is an extremely short-sighted and irresponsible policy.
Thank you.
