Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing on Children in the Gaza Strip
Point of order:
Mr. President,
We have just adopted the list of speakers for this meeting. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that Ms. Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF, is absent from that list, although her participation was requested by our delegation and supported by the Algerian presidency. We are grateful to you, Mr. President, for the efforts that – as we know – your delegation undertook to persuade Ms. Russell to brief us. However, she refused to do that, and, as far as we can tell, she did it under some vain and thought-up pretexts without putting forward any meaningful arguments to explain her refusal. Similarly, other representatives of the UNICEF leadership have also – mystically – become unavailable.
The refusal of the UNICEF head to brief the UN Security Council about the horrific tragedy related to the deaths of tens of thousands of children in Gaza is an egregious step that deserves our most serious reprimand. I would like to remind you that Ms. Russell – literally at the beckoning of a finger from the American presidency of the Security Council – rushed to speak at an ugly politicized briefing on the “children-related” aspects of the situation in Ukraine on December 4 last year. Thus, children in Gaza appear to be less important to UNICEF than children in Ukraine. Otherwise, how can we explain the fact that UNICEF deems it unnecessary to brief the UN Security Council on the situation surrounding Gaza’s children, which, by the way, is part of the Fund’s mandate. It is obvious that the fate of those children is of no concern to neither Catherine Russell herself nor the United States (country of her citizenship). After all, the American presidency, despite our repeated appeals, never convened a UNSC briefing on children in Gaza in December last year. It is clear that our American colleagues are not comfortable commenting on the situation around the deaths of tens of thousands of children in the Gaza Strip, which they themselves basically provoked by casting veto on 6 occasions and by not allowing the Security Council to intervene and stop the Israeli massacre. The UNICEF head simply played along with them on this issue. We regard that as a blatant violation of Article 100 of the UN Charter: Ms. Russell behaved in this situation as a US national, not as an impartial UN official.
We are grateful to Mr. Fletcher, who, despite his busy schedule found the time, unlike Ms. Russell, to attend the meeting despite receiving the invitation at the eleventh hour. We appreciate his availability, but, of course, OCHA's mandate – in contrast to that of UNICEF – doesn’t imply the monitoring children-related issues. Therefore, unfortunately, his briefing cannot be regarded as a fully-fledged substitute for that of Ms. Russell. We will shortly prepare a letter to the UN Secretary-General, urging him to take measures to prevent such outrageous situations in the future.
Thank you.
Main statement:
Mr. President,
We would like to thank you for convening today's UNSC meeting, supported by Algeria in its national capacity, as well as Pakistan and Somalia, to discuss the disastrous situation of children in Gaza. We are grateful to Mr. Fletcher for responding to our calls and participating in today's briefing. We are also grateful to Ms. Bisan Nateel, who told us a very emotionally-charged story about tragedy facing Palestinian children.
Mr. President,
The vile war in Gaza, with the most intensive bombardment of civilians since World War II and, in fact, with no humanitarian access, has steamrolled the lives of children in the enclave.
As early as November 2023, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called Gaza “a graveyard for children.” Some members of the UN Security Council could also see for themselves the horrifying consequences of massive attacks against the civilians during their unofficial visit to Rafah in December, 2023. And back then already we saw maimed children in a hospital in Egypt on the border with Gaza.
The efforts of Egyptian and Qatari mediators, who at the last stage were joined by representatives of the new US administration, have finally made it possible to reach an agreement that provides not only for a cessation of hostilities but also for an increase in the supply of food, fuel and medicine for the people of Gaza.
However, there are few reasons for celebration so far. The humanitarian catastrophe that has been raging in the enclave for over 15 months has not gone away. The agreement does not stipulate the establishment of safe and unfettered supply of necessary quantities of aid using all available routes. The Israeli military presence in the enclave continues. The Israeli military retains control of, for instance, the Rafah border crossing. We understand that European observers will monitor how this border crossing is being used, thus assuming part of responsibility for the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
It is noteworthy that the Europeans, who tend to paint themselves as human rights champions, are not demanding that those who are killing children in Gaza be brought to justice. Moreover, a number of Europeans have not even stopped supplying arms to Israel. The war in Gaza has truly become a litmus test exposing how the West actually treats the protection of human rights.
To date, we do not have definitive data on the number of boys and girls who have perished because organizations working in the field are not quickly enough to accumulate the data on deaths that are not related to injuries but are the result of hunger, dehydration, poor sanitation or disrupted health services. There has not been cleared the rubble of buildings, with – possibly – thousands of bodies thereunder.
However, a recent study by The Lancet informs us that out of the 28,257 deaths documented between October 7, 2023 – June 30, 2024 (for which age and gender data are available), 16,699 (or about 59%) are women, children and the elderly.
According to UNICEF, the total number of Palestinian children killed since the beginning of the conflict make up at least 14,500, about 17,000 have fallen into the category of unaccompanied minors or have been separated from their parents, and about one million have been compelled to leave their homes. In the first seven days of 2025 alone, 74 children were killed in Gaza. In late December and early January, eight infants in tent camps died as the result of hypothermia.
Many children are being maimed. In 2024, explosive devices used in the Gaza Strip left disabled an average of 475 children a month – or 15 children a day. Those children received severe limb injuries and hearing impairment.
According to the UN Mine Action Service, if the war were to end today, the risk of boys and girls being killed and maimed in Gaza will persist for at least another 14 years – which is exactly how long it would take to clear the enclave of unexploded ordnance. Needless to say, children have always been and remain the main victims of mine contamination, inter alia, owing to their natural curiosity.
Tomorrow we will celebrate International Day of Education. The whole world will be talking that education is the key factor of sustainable development, and that everyone has the right to education.
However, the Palestinian enclave experienced five attacks on schools in the first week of 2025 alone – now schools are used by people as shelters. Dozens of children were injured and at least three were killed. Gaza's education system has been paralyzed for a long time. Estimates regarding damaged or destroyed school facilities vary: according to some estimates, up to 96% of school facilities were destroyed or damaged in the entire Gaza Strip as of September 2024, and up to 100% – in Northern Gaza as of last December. And we are not talking about minor damage. Ceilings in schools collapsed, there are gaping holes in the walls. 625,000 students have already missed an entire school year. Now they are compelled to miss a second one, and it will be a miracle if these children will ever be able to return to school.
The health system was also destroyed, which severely affected children's access to health services. On December 31, the OHCHR released a report, which confirmed that attacks on health facilities in Gaza were systematic and structured in nature. By June 2024, 22 out of 38 hospitals had stopped operating. Only 38% of primary health care centers remain operational, according to WHO.
In these conditions, what has proved to be irreplaceable and unique is the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). But UNRWA activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) may soon be banned due to the laws adopted by the Knesset. These decisions not only violate international humanitarian law, but also the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, and it is the UN Secretary-General in fact who is the guarantor of the Convention. Such decisions are also at odds with the relevant resolutions by the UN General Assembly and contradict the conditions for Israel's membership in the UN since 1949, namely the implementation of the two flagship UNGA resolutions: UNGA resolution 181 with the Partition Plan for Palestine, and resolution 194 on Palestinian refugees.
For more than 70 years, UNRWA staff have worked in inhumane conditions sometimes risking their lives to carry out its mandate, which includes providing educational, medical, social, microfinancing and emergency assistance services to Palestinians in need, as well as improving infrastructure and living conditions in refugee camps. Over the 15 months of conflict, 265 UNRWA staff have been killed, which is a record loss of UN staff in the entire history of the Organization. The stoppage of UNRWA’s work would have catastrophic consequences for the most vulnerable groups, first and foremost for children. We must not allow that to happen.
In this context, the ceasefire should be used to urgently scale up humanitarian assistance in the region, with a focus on the special needs of children. In addition to efforts to rebuild infrastructure and deliver food and medical supplies, we also need to ensure an unimpeded evacuation for children who need specialized assistance. These children should be evacuated together with their parents or guardians, and then must be granted an unhindered return home.
Another component of the agreement reached by the warring parties is the exchange of detainees, including children. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
The issue of arbitrary detention of Palestinian children by the Israeli authorities existed long before the events of October 7, 2023. Children were subjected to so-called “administrative detention” (just like adults); as the result they ended up behind bars for unspecified periods of time without being charged for anything. We should not forget about the repeated detention of minors released following a similar deal in November 2023.
The war in Gaza has not only ruined the lives of many children and adults, but it has torn apart the very fabric of society, delaying indefinitely the beginning of a genuine peaceful coexistence between the two peoples. Even those children in Gaza who were lucky enough to survive and not become disabled will also need years to fix their mental health and learn to live like their peers are living in other regions not affected by conflict. Another acute issue we face is the problem of Palestinian orphans, numbering now over 20,000. What will be with them? What can the UN do to ensure that the lives of these children are not ruined?
Sustainable stabilization of the situation in Gaza is the only option that has no alternative when it comes to securing the future of Palestinian children, and that of the Palestinian people as a whole. We also believe that the UNSC is simply duty-bound to keep the focus on children's issues in the context of the situation in Gaza.
Thank you.
