Statement by Chargé d'Affaires of the Russian Federation Dmitry Polyanskiy at UNSC Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question
Mr. Minister,
We welcome your presidency of the quarterly open debate of the UN Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. We would like to thank Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari for his detailed briefing.
Today, the Security Council chamber is once again reverberating with extremely alarming assessments of the dramatic developments in the Middle East in both the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the broader regional context. At the same time, the root cause of virtually all crises and contradictions in the Middle East, which are fraught with unprecedented challenges to the security of many States in the region, is the fact that the Palestinian problem remains unresolved, even though the key parameters for a settlement thereof were agreed upon by the international community many decades ago. As a result, a growing number of Middle Eastern countries are beginning to forget what it is like to live in peace without bombings, explosions, and the threat of full-scale hostilities.
Unfortunately, during the time elapsed since our previous debate, the escalation in the region has spiraled further, engulfing new states. In June, we all witnessed another sharpest armed confrontation between Iran and Israel, which was accompanied by strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards delivered by West Jerusalem, with Washington's support. These unjustified attacks not only constitute a gross violation of the principles of the UN Charter, but also significantly undermine the fundamental foundations of the nuclear non-proliferation regime. We strongly and unconditionally condemn the attacks on the Islamic Republic of Iran. Through this act of aggression, Washington and West Jerusalem have pushed the region to the brink of a major war, which could have had dire radiological consequences not only for the people of Iran, but also for all of the states of the Middle East.
Despite the ceasefire between Iran and Israel announced by Donald Trump's administration, the situation remains fragile. As a matter of principle, we do not share the concept of “peace through strength,” which has been embraced by Washington. This is not the way to solve the region's long-standing problems, and new waves of violence only exacerbate the difficulties. What is really needed here is looking for a political and diplomatic solution both in the context of the Middle Eastern settlement and, more broadly, regarding all conflicts in the region. Cowboy-style attempts to “crush” some players and intimidate others have only a short-term effect and cannot lay the groundwork for a long-term balance of interests in the complex Middle East landscape.
West Jerusalem should finally understand that it is impossible to change geography and that Israel will have to coexist with all of its neighbors. What is needed to this end is at least a minimum level of trust between Israel and its neighbors. This cannot be done as long as there is continued radical anti-Palestinian rhetoric and when the Palestinians are denied their right to have a state of their own.
Yet, unfortunately, what we are currently witnessing is exactly the opposite. We are extremely worried by signals coming from the Israeli leadership when they announce their intent to resolve the issue of the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT), primarily in the Gaza Strip, in one fell swoop. This intent is shored up by provocative plans to fully annex Gaza, as well as by other equally provocative public steps. As recently as yesterday, the Knesset held a conference entitled “The Gaza Riviera – from vision to reality,” and during this conference Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reported on discussing with the IDF command the parameters for the gradual absorption of the enclave through reestablishing illegal Israeli settlements in Gaza. In other words, it is the recolonization and reoccupation of Palestinian territory that all this is about.
This is an outrageously cynical approach, which essentially dooms the Palestinians to either death or exile. The moral and political duty of the international community here is to make sure that these plans will never come to be. Even the way the issue is being framed, however hypothetical it may seem, is unconscionable – it implies that Palestinians are “second-class” people and they are not masters of their own fate.
Meanwhile, the IDF continues cleansing the enclave, disregarding both the number of victims of its military operation (nearly 60,000 Palestinians have already been killed) and the scale of destruction to civilian infrastructure. Every day, we receive reports on hundreds of new casualties among the residents of the sector, including at aid distribution centers related to the notorious Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which means nothing but weaponizing humanitarian assistance and using it for blackmail purposes. Thus, over the past 24 hours, 99 Palestinians have been killed, including 26 who died while lining up for rations. There are also indiscriminate strikes against religious sites – July 18 saw an attack targeting the only Catholic church in the sector, the Holy Family Church. According to the information we have, this was a direct strike against the church by an Israeli tank, as a result of which parishioners and clergy were seriously wounded. We strongly condemn such actions.
Our most serious concern is that the people of Gaza have no opportunity to get adequate medical assistance. Essentially, almost all relevant infrastructure in the enclave has been destroyed, and there is still a shortage of all basic necessities – medicines, medical instruments, fuel, and even body bags. Every day, hospitals receive hundreds of patients, including children nearly dying from starvation. According to figures as of yesterday, 33 people, including 12 children, have died of starvation in Gaza over the past 48 hours, and these figures, as we all understand, will unfortunately only grow. Malnutrition is something that also doctors and nurses are suffering from; like other residents of Gaza, they cannot count on adequate food assistance under the de facto blockade of the enclave.
Mr. President,
We are convinced that all those present here are well aware of the assessments issued by international humanitarian organizations and specialized UN agencies – they have long been saying that what is happening in Gaza goes beyond what is acceptable even at war. Back in November 2023, Secretary-General António Guterres stated that Gaza had turned into a “huge children’s cemetery.” And just the other day, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini described the situation in the Strip as nothing less than “hell on earth.” Such assessments are shared by all humanitarians without exception who are working in Gaza or visiting it.
How is Israel reacting to all this? We’ve heard it today, when the Permanent Representative of that country actually announced in this chamber the intention to squeeze OCHA out of the occupied territory and impose personal sanctions against its senior officials. Now it remains to be seen whether Washington will meekly be covering for its ally supporting its new inhumane steps, which run counter to what they declare as essential in other instances, namely the need to protect human rights. How long will this shameful situation continue, which is not only humiliating the human dignity of the Palestinians, but also undermining our faith in humanitarian ideals, humankind, and the triumph of justice?
Against the backdrop of the disaster in Gaza, the situation in the West Bank is somewhat obscured. However, it gives us no less reason for concern given ongoing military operations, economic suffocation, arbitrary arrests of Palestinians, expropriation of their property, and demolition of their homes. All this is compounded by unconstrained violence by settlers, who often act under the lenient eye of the Israeli military, as well as by record rates of settlement construction amid open declarations of intent to fully annex the West Bank. All of this is part of a single strategy aimed at eliminating any preconditions and opportunities for the Palestinians to have their own state and make it impossible for them to survive in the territory occupied by Israel. Can we really allow ourselves to turn a blind eye to that, letting Israel through its fait accompli policy trample on the two-state solution documents adopted by the international community?
Mr. President,
Russia’s approach to the current situation in the OPT and to the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian settlement as a whole has been consistent and based on obvious truths. We have invariably advocated for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, the release of all hostages and forcibly detained persons, as well as for the provision of safe and unimpeded humanitarian access, and the relaunching of the peace process on the basis of the two-State solution, which would ensure the implementation of the legitimate aspirations and rights of the Palestinian people. We should not lose track of our ultimate goal, which is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, coexisting in peace and security with Israel.
Attempts to push the Palestinian question to a back burner (including the issue of redressing historical injustices regarding the legitimate rights of Palestinians to self-determination and return) are one of the factors predetermining recurring violence not only in the OPT but throughout the region, and fueling the spread of extremism and terrorism. The only way to overcome these highly dangerous trends lies through consolidating the efforts of the entire international community on the basis of a universally recognized legal framework for settlement, with the two-state formula being the key element thereof.
Overall, the web of problems in the Middle East and the region as a whole has become so tangled that the international community needs, at the very least, a meaningful and unblinkered discussion on how to overcome them. In this context, the high-level international conference in support of Palestine scheduled for next week seems extremely necessary and timely. We note the efforts made here by the French and Saudi co-chairs to organize this forum. We do hope that this conference will set out specific steps for UN member states and the entire international community to take, including steps on the recognition of Palestine and the protection of specialized humanitarian agencies, first and foremost UNRWA.
Thank you.
