Statement by Chargé d’Affaires of the Russian Federation Dmitry Polyanskiy at UNSC briefing on the Middle East, including the Palestinian questiion
Main statement:
Mr. President,
We welcome the initiative of our British and Swiss Council colleagues to convene today's meeting in order to discuss the rapidly deteriorating security conditions for United Nations personnel working in Gaza. We thank the representatives of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Health Organization (WHO), Joyce Msuya and Michael Ryan, for their frank assessments of the situation on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
We are extremely concerned about the emergence of information that the UN could possibly cease its work in the Gaza Strip. And certain Israeli politicians are interested in such a scenario, although they are trying to conceal this. We are convinced that the Council must spare no effort to preclude this from happening. At the same time, as far as we can see, humanitarian workers themselves are fully resolved to continue to valiantly carry out their duty for the sake of those in need in Gaza. In fact, humanitarian workers have been now single-handedly trying to help people in Gaza to survive the unprecedented hardships caused by Israel's actions.
Colleagues,
Whatever words we may utter today to describe the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave, in almost a year since the escalation began, they have all turned into futile clichés and ritual phrases. While UNSC members are holding this meeting here and uttering these fine words, in the 10 months of the confrontation, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed more than 93,000 have been wounded. Just think about these figures. They are equivalent to the population of a mid-sized city. This statistic becomes particularly tragic when you take into consideration that most of the victims are innocent women and children.
Time has passed, but unfortunately, there has been no glimmer of hope so far. Israel's military operation continues, each day killing more and more civilians. From August 23 to 26 alone, the brutal hostilities claimed lives of 170 Palestinians, 390 were wounded. Israel's evacuation orders (in August, there have been already issued over 16 orders) have affected 89% of Gaza’s territory and about 90% of its population. This in itself could lead to a complete cessation of humanitarian operations in Gaza, even without the expulsion of humanitarian workers.
It is noteworthy that the UN humanitarian hub in Deir al-Balah has also become subject to an evacuation order. And it is specifically there, as we know, that the UN Senior Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, planned to open up her office back in May. This once again confirms that so far the efforts to launch a mechanism for the delivery of humanitarian aid remain words on paper, while the situation “on the ground” in all parts of Gaza is catastrophically deteriorating.
Performing their heroic duty, humanitarians are working at constant risk to their lives. We pay tribute to their courage. Two days ago, a UN vehicle with clear identification marks was shelled by the Israeli military. Fortunately, the UN personnel were unharmed. However, following this incident, the WFP leadership, according to the information circulated, has announced a temporary cessation of its operations. If this is true indeed, the situation appears to be even more bleak, as thousands of people will not receive the assistance they need.
Almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip has been forced to wander the enclave in search of any kind of shelter. But, as representatives of the UN “humanitarian wing” have repeatedly confirmed, there are no safe places in Gaza. Two million people are “trapped” and shelled; they have been enduring unthinkable suffering due to the lack of food, water, medicine and proper sanitation.
Outbreaks of infectious disease under such conditions have become a bitter reality. We are particularly concerned about the reports that for the first time in 25 years there have been detected polio cases among Palestinian children. Due to Israel's military operation, in the first 6 months of the year, only 21,500 Palestinian children were inoculated, which is the lowest vaccination level over the recent years.
Meanwhile, a massive vaccination campaign announced by the UN is imperiled. Despite the difficult situation, humanitarian personnel managed to deliver 1.2 million doses of vaccine to Gaza. However, the intensification of hostilities, multiplying Israeli evacuation orders and restrictions on medical personnel entering the enclave have thwarted efforts to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of children in the Gaza Strip.
We call on the international community to do everything possible to prevent the spread of polio in Gaza and to exert pressure on Israel to that end. At the same time, it is important not to allow the need for polio vaccination to overshadow the more important task of the Security Council members, which is to achieve an open-ended and sustainable cessation of hostilities.
The situation in the West Bank of the Jordan River is also precipitously deteriorating, with the Israeli Air Force intensifying its raids there. At least 17 Palestinians were killed as the result of an IDF military operation in the towns of Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarm, involving 1,000 Israeli soldiers and assets. Since October 7, 2023, 669 people have died on the West Bank, including about 150 minors.
We believe that the international community must continue to demand that Israel cease both forced displacements and evacuations, and attacks on humanitarian workers, and subsequently carry out investigations to identify the perpetrators. Let me remind you that in the course of this conflict, 286 humanitarian workers were reported dead, mostly UN staff (209 people), and the majority of them were UNRWA staff (205 people). However, we have no information so far whether the perpetrators of these crimes have been brought to justice, we do not even know whether there have been any investigations in this regard.
Mr. President,
From the outset, we warned that all “humanitarian” resolutions, including resolution 2720, are doomed to remain dead letter as long as there is no unconditional and comprehensive ceasefire in the enclave. That's exactly what happened. Humanitarians are simply not able to work under the circumstances of active hostilities. They cannot confront military personnel, they cannot even defend themselves, let alone deliver on their mandate to provide humanitarian assistance. The Council has no moral right to demand that they sacrifice their lives, while doing nothing to compel the parties to cease hostilities.
I would like to recall that Russia was the first country to introduce a draft Security Council resolution with such a demand; we did it on October 16 of last year. But one delegation, shielding its main ally in the Middle East, has spent 10 months, as we know, blocking any tangible steps by the Council in this direction. Thus, it essentially compels all SC members to become complicit in the collective punishment of the Palestinians.
Precisely one week ago, we heard in this hall more mendacious assurances of the US Permanent Representative that a ceasefire deal was supposedly about to be concluded, and that we all must exert pressure on Hamas for it to materialize. However, it turned out – and no one is surprised about it any longer – that these calls were as far from reality as was the US-sponsored resolution on Gaza adopted on June 10 to support the so-called “Biden plan”. Russia abstained at that time, while the rest of the Council members signed up to that deliberately misleading text, which asserted that Israel allegedly agreed to the proposed terms of the “deal.” Moreover, during all this time the USA never bothered to brief the Council about the parameters of the deal. It only demanded that the Security Council unconditionally approve this “pig in the poke” and exert pressure on HAMAS. As it turned out, Israel did not agree to this “deal” then, nor has it agreed now to end its operation. Instead, it continues to put forward more and more demands, which, among other things, threaten to undermine the entire system of agreements in the region. Far from putting the Israelis in their place, our American colleagues are unfortunately playing along by reconfiguring the parameters of the ceasefire in Gaza for the benefit of West Jerusalem. I recall that the Security Council did not consent to any reformatting of the parameters of the agreements set forth in resolution 2735.
As a result, even the first phase of de-escalation, as set out in resolution 2735, cannot materialize in any way, not to mention the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the restoration of the infrastructure of the enclave.
Thus, that document, which was initially premised on the misleading assertions and claims about Israeli consent, has become de facto irrelevant. And now we need to think what tangible steps the Council can take so as to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza, irrespective of whether Israel wants it or not, and to ensure its implementation. The Council has all the necessary tools at its disposal to reach this goal; what is needed now is the political will to use these tools. Otherwise, the UN Security Council will play the unenviable role of an extra in the Middle East geopolitical game, orchestrated by Washington, which is trying its hardest to supplant a full-fledged solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by destructive “deals of the century” under its sole cosponsorship. As we all remember, it is precisely the desire of the United States to “monopolize” the Middle East peace process and reshape it according to “templates” suited to Israel that led to the dramatic events that we are witnessing today.
We call upon the Council to act in accordance with its mandate and not to take the lead of the US and Israel. The paramount objective is to bring about a prompt and sustained cessation of the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip, which implies as well monitoring mechanisms under the mandate issued by the UNSC, and (if necessary) enforcement mechanisms to ensure the compliance with the ceasefire. This will help in the future to relaunch the process of peaceful settlement of the Palestinian issue on an internationally recognized basis in the interests of establishing an independent sovereign Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, coexisting in peace and security with Israel.
Distinguished Colleagues,
While we are waiting for any outcomes of the much-hyped bilateral diplomacy on the ground, each day of our inaction costs the lives of dozens and hundreds of Palestinian civilians. There will be no miracles. The situation can only be resolved through the immediate decisive action by the international community, through the UN Security Council. We are ready to cooperate with all parties who share embrace these approaches.
Thank you for your attention.
The right of reply:
We are, of course, already accustomed to the United States trying to shift the blame to someone else in all instances. But I would like my American colleague to provide us with details about the basis for his assertions that the Russian Federation has done nothing to prevent and stop the conflict in Gaza. I would like to recall that as early as October 16, the Russian Federation introduced a draft resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire. On October 18, your delegation vetoed this demand for the first time. All in all, the US delegation cast the veto five times. 40,000 lives for five vetoes. This is the exact cost of what you are doing.
You allege that you have been carrying out effective negotiations to reach a deal between Hamas and Israel. You have indeed been engaged in negotiating a deal, but these negotiations have been completely fruitless. Since then, another 3,000 Palestinians have been killed. That is an exact cost, Mr. U.S. Representative. The cost of your words and your procrastination. Instead, perhaps you would bother to at least explain to us in this Chamber what modifications to the deal with HAMAS the United States has proposed. These modifications would accommodate Israel, but we know nothing about them. We have repeatedly demanded you provide this information, as resolution 2735 contains very specific parameters that we must not step beyond. But you have been misleading the Council all this time. Could you kindly respond to my question?
Thank you.
Second reply:
I would like to tell my distinguished American colleague to keep his recommendations to me and my government for himself, and finally do what the United States has to do – namely, not to interfere with the Security Council's work on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dossier. Everyone in this chamber is perfectly aware of the fact that it is the United States that bears the main responsibility for what is happening now in Gaza. 40,000 dead civilians are not just amorphous numbers, these are concrete human tragedies. If my other colleagues do not have the courage to say this to your face, then I have no problem doing so. So you could continue to live with that.
Thank you.
