Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question
Madam President,
We support Algeria’s initiative to convene today’s emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the unbearable humanitarian situation in the north of the Gaza Strip. We thank the Acting Head of OCHA, Joyce Msuya, for her overview of the human tragedy unfolding before our very eyes.
The humanitarian situation in the enclave is truly horrific, especially given that the Israeli Air Force has been bombing it for more than a year now. The number of civilians killed, wounded and maimed, including women and children, is staggering. In the past 24 hours alone, 55 Palestinians were killed and over 329 wounded. The scale of starvation is shocking. The entire population of Gaza is in need of urgent food assistance. Mass displacement and evacuation orders have become mundane, while there is, in fact, nowhere left to flee. Schools, hospitals and refugee camps are being shelled in different parts of the Strip. The US media are quoting volunteer doctors working in Gaza hospitals, who almost every day – according to their very testimonies –encounter cases of gunshot wounds to the heads among minors from 2 to 12 years old. It appears that the UN flag is not only failing to protect civilians, humanitarian workers and civilian social infrastructure, but also tends to become a direct target for the IDF. All humanitarian workers, including our today’s briefer, are stating “in unison” that “there are no safe places in Gaza left.” And this is not a figure of speech, it is a bitter reality.
Madam President,
For two weeks now, the international community has watched the Israeli forces carrying out intensive airstrikes and military ground operations in the north of the Gaza Strip. There have been reports of hundreds of Palestinians killed, including children. Just the other day, on October 13, the Israeli Air Force conducted yet another outrageous strike on schools in the Nuseirat refugee camp, as the result at least 22 people were, including 15 children and women, 80 people sustained injuries of varying degrees of severity. Another five minors became victims of an airstrike on the Al-Shati refugee camp in the north of the enclave.
For over a week now, the IDF has been conducting its military operation to besiege the Jabalia camp, where hundreds of thousands of people could die from bombing, malnutrition and thirst. Yet, the only working bakery in the town was destroyed by another Israeli airstrike, and over 400,000 people were cut off by the Israeli military from food and medical aid. And all this is happening at a time when the WFP is not delivering foodstuffs to the north of the Gaza Strip, and food distribution centers are shut down due to the intensified hostilities.
Unfortunately, all this is in line with the media reports about Israel implementing a certain IDF “Generals’ Plan”, which supposedly envisages a humanitarian blockade of the north and the expulsion of the population from these territories. We do hope that this appalling information will not be corroborated. In this context, we echo the words of the UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini who urged Israel to summon courage and display humanity, while emphasizing that the residents of the northern part of the Strip are facing a choice — flee their homes or die of starvation.
Madam President,
The social and economic damage that has been inflicted on the Strip over the past year is colossal. According to UN estimates, the enclave’s GDP has fallen so far that it will take almost 70 years to recover its economy to pre-crisis levels, and at least 80 years to rebuild critical infrastructure. These calculations are based on the data as of early 2024, although mass destruction is continuing day in and day out.
In the current circumstances, the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians is of utmost importance. Nonetheless, there have been serious problems and restrictions created by Israel, meanwhile humanitarian workers themselves are being shelled and detained on a regular basis. In total, over 300 humanitarian workers have been killed, making 2023 the deadliest year on record for aid workers. UN officials are sounding the alarm: 2024 has a chance to “break a new deadly record” in this regard.
Hence, what does not withstand any criticism is the Knesset bills to ban UNRWA's activities on the territory of Israel and to revoke the immunities and privileges of its personnel. Let me remind you that the Agency is the backbone of the UN humanitarian wing in Palestine and has unparalleled capabilities in providing social, educational and medical services.
If these bills were adopted, that would not only threaten the lives of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank but also doom the prospects for assisting Palestinian refugees in neighbouring Arab countries – Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. On top of the precipitously deteriorating situation in the OPT and the financial crisis prompted by the US withdrawing donor support for UNRWA, the above-mentioned bills (if they become laws) may bury the Agency's activities. It seems that this is exactly what Israel is seeking. Despite all this, Washington, without any regard for the opinion of the international community, has been pumping its Middle Eastern ally with arms, while simultaneously providing it with political cover and blocking any attempt by the Security Council to stop Israel’s ruthless war machine that bears responsibility for numerous crimes against the Palestinian people.
Madam President,
Such unilateral and unpunished actions aimed at creating irreversible “facts on the ground” are gross violations of Israel's obligations as an occupying power under the Geneva Conventions, which were adopted 75 years ago. Ironically, these Conventions were largely adopted with the view to protecting the Jewish people who were subjected to inhuman suffering during World War II, and preventing any future persecution on the basis of nationality.
Israel does have the right to ensure its security, but, undoubtedly, the path to that goal lies solely through a comprehensive Middle East settlement process and through redressing historical injustices against Palestine by establishing an independent Palestinian state in line with the decisions of the UN Security Council and the UNGA. As we have seen time and again, any other unilateral formulas to reconcile Israel with its neighbours without a just solution to the Palestinian question, will not help achieve that goal, the only thing they can do is to trigger new outbreaks of violence, like the one the region is currently facing.
Madam President,
We have repeatedly stated that we stand against violence and terrorism in all its manifestations, and we stand against attacks on civilians anywhere and in any country. This also applies to the attack on Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, which we immediately and unequivocally condemned. Nothing can justify such actions. Just as nothing can justify the collective punishment and total annihilation of civilians taking place in Gaza.
We are convinced that the current catastrophic situation can and should be settled exclusively through political and diplomatic ways. To this end, we need to ensure the implementation of the relevant decisions of the Security Council, immediately stop the bloodshed in the region and, most importantly, guarantee the implementation of the Palestinians' legitimate right to have a state of their own within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
We must act without delay. We must compel the parties to the conflict to an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, coupled with exchanging hostages and detainees, and ensuring full and unfettered humanitarian access to the Strip. Not only will that help to relaunch the process of a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian question on the basis of the “two States for two peoples” formula (which we have all unwaveringly supported), but it will also contribute to de-escalating tensions throughout the Middle East. Regrettably, resolution 2735, adopted in June at the insistence of our American colleagues, cannot ensure a ceasefire, as it is hinged on the outcome of very dubious negotiations, which, moreover, are not even under way. We would like to believe that Washington will finally recognize this obvious fact and will not sabotage the relevant new initiatives of the Council in the future. And we do support such initiatives.
I recall that the UN Security Council has the leverage and the necessary and time-tested tools to tackle these tasks. We are all well aware of what I am referring to. The only thing we need to do now is to find the political will to finally abandon narrow geopolitical interests and clearly and unequivocally demand an immediate ceasefire.
We see that all but one members of the Security Council is ready to do that. We do not understand why the rest of the Council should share responsibility for the madness going on in Gaza, as it is only one member that prevents us from stopping it. We would therefore ask all those who will speak after us not to limit themselves to general appeals to the Council, but to personalize their reproaches addressing them to the state that bears the sole responsibility for what is going on.
I thank you for your attention.
