Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East
Mr. President,
We thank Under-Secretary General Rosemary DiCarlo for her briefing on the situation in the Middle East. We have closely listened to the assessments shared by the representative of civil society regarding the situation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. We welcome the participation in today's briefing of a number of delegations at the ministerial level. We congratulate all Muslims on the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.
Mr. President,
The Security Council's latest meeting on the situation in the Middle East is taking place against the extremely dangerous backdrop, which is due to the illegal decisions of the Israeli leadership vis-à-vis the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Over the past ten days, a number of members of Israel's military-political cabinet have announced the adoption of a package of measures that imply revising the legal status and the control modalities in Areas A and B of the West Bank, and launching a land registration process in Area C, designating this territory as “state property” open to development by the Israelis.
All of this is nothing but a blatant attempt to legalize the decisions to expand settlements in the OPT, confiscate land, demolish Palestinian property, usurp water resources, and establish control over certain religious holy sites in Hebron and Bethlehem. In other words, we see an obvious intention on the part of West Jerusalem to give themselves carte blanche to irreversibly change the status quo in the West Bank, including through entrenching creeping expansion and expelling the local population.
The texts of the aforementioned decisions are yet to be published, but media outlets have been citing unnamed sources in the Israeli leadership about the alleged intent to resolve land ownership disputes in the West Bank and develop infrastructure there. However, the true intention, camouflaged behind these slogans, is precisely to irrevocably nullify the well-known international legal foundation for the Middle East settlement and the two-State solution as the cornerstone thereof. In this context, the egregiously provocative statements by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speak volumes, namely his desire to continue the “settlement revolution” and “kill the very idea of a Palestinian State.”
We assume that the above-mentioned arbitrary package of administrative measures, if implemented, would constitute a direct violation of the 1995 Oslo II Accords, including the 1997 Hebron Protocol and the 1998 Wye River Memorandum. All these documents were signed by the then Israeli prime ministers – including the current head of government, Benjamin Netanyahu – ratified by the Knesset, and distributed by the Israelis and Palestinians as official UN documents.
Mr. President,
It is with regret and with alarm that we note that, under various pretexts – be it security or counter-terrorism efforts – Israel continues to breach its treaty-based obligations as the occupying Power, and violate the provisions of specific Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, including Security Council resolution 2334 and the New York Declaration in support of the two-State solution approved by the General Assembly. Such utter disregard for international law and a policy of creating irreversible facts on the ground are being rejected with bewilderment by the overwhelming majority of the international community.
The Russian Federation, like many of those present in the Security Council chamber, unreservedly condemns attempts by West Jerusalem to expand Israeli jurisdiction and control mechanisms to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. We align ourselves with the calls made by the UN Secretary-General for the Israeli leadership to reconsider this course and refrain from further measures derailing prospects for implementing the two-State solution. It is lamentable, however, that he was unable to summon the courage to condemn these decisions.
We stand ready to support any proposals that are likely to be put forward by our Middle East and regional partners, including on developing a unified position by the Security Council and the General Assembly on this matter. We are convinced that it is high time for the Israeli authorities to acknowledge that there is no alternative to a peaceful settlement of the conflict, and to listen to the voices of those who genuinely seek to establish a real peace and prosperity in the Middle East.
Mr. President,
We view dangerous trends in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as being connected to the equally alarming situation in another integral part of the future Palestinian state, namely in the Gaza Strip. In particular, we have to note the absence of any meaningful progress in the implementation of Security Council resolution 2803 supporting President Trump's peace plan for Gaza. It goes without saying that the ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all Israeli hostages and some Palestinian detainees was an important and long-anticipated event. One cannot underestimate the significance of stopping the bloodcurdling massacre in the enclave. However, judging by incoming reports, the mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza is going on: since October 10, more than 600 people have been killed as a result of Israeli strikes. According to regular UN reports, there are persistent problems with the delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave, including due to Israeli access denials or access delays for humanitarian convoys. Thousands of Palestinians continue to languish in Israeli prisons – besides existing restrictions on humanitarian access to these people, there are plans to hand down death sentences for them.
We trust that unequivocal calls for de-escalation in both Gaza and the West Bank will be somehow voiced during the series of events to be held tomorrow in Washington within the Peace Board, which Israel itself recently joined. We are still waiting for information from our US colleagues on the parameters for the future presence of International Stabilization Force (ISF) in Gaza. Three months after the adoption of Security Council resolution 2803, we, like our other colleagues on the Council, have no specific details on this matter.
We, in turn, wish to reaffirm that Russia, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, will continue to resolutely uphold the principles of a fair settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in accordance with Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, on the basis of the “two-state” formula approved by international decisions. We believe there is a need to step up international efforts to restore the political horizon in order to resolve the Palestinian issue. The fruit of such collective steps would be the establishment of a sovereign State of Palestine within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, coexisting in peace and security with Israel.
Thank you.
