Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC briefing on the humanitarian situation in Gaza
Mr. President,
We thank Sigrid Kaag, UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, and Moreira da Silva, UNOPS Executive Director, for their briefing on the situation in the enclave and efforts to ensure humanitarian access to the territory as part of the implementation of UNSCR 2720.
Unfortunately, as we already warned, without a full-fledged ceasefire in Gaza, this document has essentially remained a dead letter. Today's statement by the Senior Coordinator confirms this, although we understand that Ms.Kaag has been very careful in choosing her words, since if any UN official makes a frank assessment of Israel's actions today, they are immediately put on Israel's “stop list”, denied access to the Gaza Strip, and their efforts are obstructed.
However, the Security Council has been working in a different paradigm, it simply has an obligation to call a spade a spade. The humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave is dire, and the reason for that is the ongoing Israeli military operation, which Israel has been carrying out without any regard for international humanitarian law or the resolutions and decisions of the UN Security Council. Such arrogance emanates from the unconditional support for any of its actions by the United States, which for nearly a year now has been blocking any hint of a meaningful response of the Council. Meanwhile, the number of dead Palestinian civilians as a result of Israeli bombardments, armed raids and ground operations has exceeded 42,000, with nearly 100,000 wounded. Tens of thousands are missing. In the past week alone, the shelling of the Israeli Armed Forces has claimed lives of nearly 100 civilians. There is no justification and there can be no justification for this. Nor is there any justification for the September 11 attack targeting an UNRWA school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, which killed 18 people, including women and children. Among the dead, there were six UNRWA personnel. Today saw another strike on the camp and the school; more than 10 people have died.
Apart from the immediate danger of hostilities, UN personnel are enduring regular “pressure” from the authorities of West Jerusalem, and in a various formats. Regular detentions, interrogations, restrictions on movement and, in general, the information campaign unleashed against UN personnel – not only does this all imperil their lives but also jeopardize the safety of the people they are helping. Humanitarian workers has been increasingly subjected to violence by the Israeli military. Last month, the Israeli soldiers shelled a UN World Food Program (WFP) vehicle that was clearly marked as such. The Program had to suspend its operation in the enclave for several days. In early September, another incident took place – IDF heavy vehicles rammed into a UN food convoy, the Israeli soldiers threatened UN staff with weapons and took them for interrogation. This happened regardless of the fact that these humanitarian missions had been coordinated with Israel in advance, which once again shows that neither “deconfliction” nor the notorious system of notifications are actually working.
We regret that our colleagues on the Security Council, with rare exceptions, are not able to summon the courage to talk about that. Western countries are particularly hypocritical – when it comes to giving an honest assessment of what is happening to the Palestinians, they just clam up. After all, if it were any other state, they would vociferously condemn such actions. And today, on the eve of the October 7 commemoration, instead of discussing the situation in the enclave during the high-level week, our Western colleagues are zealously engaged in the PR for the “expired” Ukrainian president. I hope you understand how hypocritical your words will sound today under such circumstances.
Mr. President,
In the conditions of active military operations and constant “pressure” from West Jerusalem, it is extremely difficult for humanitarian workers to provide humanitarian assistance (by the way, the delivery of humanitarian aid remains a separate pressing problem). All data provided by the humanitarian structures indicate that there has been no meaningful progress on this track. The most important artery for the delivery of supplies – the Rafah border crossing – has been closed. The initiative to establish a maritime corridor from Cyprus to the Gaza floating pier has failed miserably. Humanitarian workers are increasingly voicing their concern not only about the paltry deliveries of food, fuel and medical supplies, but also about obstacles created by Israel and its frequent denials for the conduct of humanitarian operations. For example, in August, according to the UN, the number of denials doubled as compared to July.
It is clear that the routes open today from Jordan, Egypt and Israel do not allow for the necessary volumes of humanitarian aid to be delivered. In fact, their average daily capacity is now only 70 trucks, while prior to the crisis 500 trucks entered Gaza each day. The figures speak for themselves.
If it carries on like this, the UN may have to cease its operation in the Gaza Strip. In this case, more than 2 million Palestinians will face death. This is not a figure of speech, but a real prospect. And we cannot allow it to happen. The Council has an obligation to do everything possible to prevent such a scenario from happening; and it is precisely in such a scenario that part of the Israeli establishment openly demonstrate their interest. The UN Security Council has all the necessary tools for this, what is lacking is the political will of the US and its satellites.
Basically, the only thing that the UN can today take credit for is the ongoing campaign to vaccinate children against polio. We hope that humanitarian pauses for vaccination will bring positive results in this regard.
However, there is no point in emphasizing these efforts today, since the polio situation is only one of the multiple problems facing the enclave's residents. Indeed, with the complete disruption of sanitation and health care in the enclave, other infectious diseases could easily break out at any time. Gaza is almost out of stock of routine vaccines for tuberculosis or for immunization against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. Patients with grave chronic diseases suffer from shortage of such medicines as insulin, and they are doomed. The supply of basic medicines to Gaza is the problem that needs to be urgently addressed. And Israel, as far as we can see, is not amenable to such problems.
Mr. President,
Let us not mislead anyone. In the context of the military operation in Gaza, which is sponsored and supervised by the USA and has been ongoing for over 11 months already, it is simply impossible to provide adequate assistance to the residents of the Strip. Humanitarian workers are powerless, they are defenseless in the face of Israeli strikes. Thus, it is simply inhumane to demand that they die under these strikes, while Council members have been going round in circles for almost a year and have been unable to compel the Israeli authorities to stop their punitive “war machine”. Let us recall that if the UN Security Council decision on a ceasefire (formally, we have already adopted a respective resolution), has not been enforced, then Council members can consider measures to ensure its implementation. The Security Council has the experience and all the necessary leverage and means, including in the context of the peacekeeping presence in the Middle East.
Colleagues, we are all perfectly cognizant of the fact that as long as the intense fighting is underway, it is unrealistic to bank on any meaningful progress in stabilizing the humanitarian situation on the ground and stepping up humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. We need to recognize one simple fact – the problem lies not in the presence or absence of any mechanism for the delivery of humanitarian aid, but it lies in the absence of conditions for this due to the ongoing hostilities, with the Israelis making exceptions neither for schools and hospitals nor for UN humanitarian convoys.
Thus, whatever has been said in this Chamber today on humanitarian issues, the priority remains the same – we need to ensure an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza. And this time we should not make do with a hollow resolution (like resolution 2735, which has never been viable, and we have talked about it on numerous occasions), but we need to focus on a real, explicit demand from the Council. Only then will it be possible to launch meaningful discussions to address the challenges related to delivering humanitarian assistance to peaceful Gazans.
As for the calls we are hearing to focus on the sector's recovery, it is, of course, extremely important. However, it is our long-term objective, and before we talk about the day after tomorrow, we should at least understand what tomorrow will look like. And this implies as well giving our assessment to what is happening today, rather than shamefully glossing over the facts we have at our disposal. What will remain of Gaza if Israel's military operation continues at its current pace? And what will happen to the surviving Israeli hostages? Is their fate of no concern to Israel?? Have the Israeli authorities already taken the decision to sacrifice most of the hostages? And that is, unfortunately, where things are heading. We do hope that all members of the Security Council will ultimately have a sense of collective responsibility for what is happening in the enclave, and that we will be able to work together to urgently develop the necessary de-escalation measures and ensure the implementation of these measures. So far, unfortunately, we have not seen that this is happening. And we continue listening to empty and hypocritical appeals in this Chamber.
I thank you for your attention.
