Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East
Mr. President,
We would like to thank Sigrid Kaag, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process ad interim, for her comprehensive briefing on the situation in Gaza. We are also grateful to Dr. Feroze Sidhwa for his testimony. We wish to take this opportunity to extend our solidarity with the humanitarian coordinator Tom Fletcher in connection with the attacks he faced after his latest briefing at the Security Council.
Mr. President,
Each new day brings tragic news from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict zone. Headlines are grabbed by reports of new grim records in terms of the number of children and women, journalists and humanitarian workers killed. Strikes targeting schools and hospitals surprise no one – they have long ago become a living nightmare of the enclave's inhabitants. One can only guess how such conditions can be endured buy those who stand ready to selflessly discharge their humanitarian duty to help the Palestinians.
Despite this, we had some glimmers of hope for a peaceful resolution of the conflict and the restoration of the January deal, with reports of intensive efforts by the mediators fostering this hope. However, this hope was not fated to come to pass. On May 16, Israel launched Gideon's Chariots Operation which has further exacerbated the suffering of peaceful Palestinian civilians. Behind the biblical name lies the brutal goal of this operation, which is gaining control over all of Gaza, cleansing the north of the enclave from its inhabitants and forcibly displacing them to the south. Already today, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) control 77% of the enclave's territories. Since the resumption of hostilities in March, nearly four thousand Palestinians have been killed; and in total, since October 2023, nearly 54,000 have been killed and 123,000 have been wounded.
So far, the military operation has in no way facilitated the resolution of the hostage problem. As of now, the only hostage released is an American-Israeli citizen, Edan Alexander, but he was handed over by Hamas as a goodwill gesture. Another 33 hostages were able to return home and reunite with their families as a result of a deal struck in January. The fate of the remaining hostages remains uncertain given the active hostilities in the Strip.
Mr. President,
What is also causing untold suffering to the Palestinians and the remaining hostages is the humanitarian blockade of Gaza imposed by Israel on March 2. We are witnessing some sporadic easing of the blockade by the Israeli side, which resulted, for instance, in the authorization for 400 trucks of aid to enter the Strip last week; despite this, the blockade is in fact ongoing – the aid that was permitted for entry is merely a drop in the bucket given the immense needs. Let us recall that even before the blockade, there had been a need to bring at least 600 trucks a day to the enclave to redress the humanitarian situation there. Now the situation is far more catastrophic – food supplies are about to run out, most medical supplies have been depleted, there is scarce fuel to ensure the operation of basic infrastructure. People are desperate – we saw what happened at the distribution point of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
The humanitarian agencies working on the ground have been unanimously proclaiming their willingness and, most importantly, their ability to provide the Gazans with all basic goods and services as soon as Israel lifts the blockade and gives up imposing new obstacles to the delivery and distribution of aid, which is something that the UN Secretariat has categorically condemned, as have most members of the Council, including Russia. The plan proposed by Israel flies in the face of humanitarian principles – it disregards the needs of certain categories of citizens, including those residing in remote regions, and, in general, it jeopardizes the lives of both Palestinians and humanitarian workers.
We are equally concerned by the ongoing IDF operation Iron Wall in the West Bank, as well as by recent clashes between the Israeli troops, settlers and locals. The military action is engulfing Burqin, Jenin, Tulkarm, Husan, as well as the Nablus and Hebron environs. In parallel, the Israelis are destroying Palestinian property and carrying out mass arrests of Palestinian civilians. Just recently, at least 40 Palestinians have been detained.
Interreligious hatred is being fomented by the provocative actions of the Israeli leadership, including the visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque by some 1,500 radical right-wing Israelis who were accompanied by the Israeli Minister of National Security, Mr. Itamir Ben-Gvir. Attempts by West Jerusalem to violate the legal and historical status quo of the sacred sites of the Old City are unlawful and unacceptable.
Mr. President,
Today we are witnessing the clash of two realities, and the disagreement between them is ever growing. In one reality, we hear loud calls from the international community to respect international humanitarian law, establish a ceasefire, release detainees and implement a two-State solution. In the other one, we are observing Israel’s singular determination to pursue all political goals exclusively through military means, they have no scruples about selecting their means and no qualms about civilian casualties, and they will go on like this until Gaza is raised to the ground. In this reality, there is only room for “forever war” and Old Testament-style brutality.
So what can we do to bridge the reality “on the ground” and the reality envisaged in the UN bully pulpit? For that, the international community needs to undertake meaningful efforts to facilitate addressing the root cause of this protracted conflict, which is the failure to uphold the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to establish their own independent state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, coexisting in peace and security with Israel. This will become possible only following immediate return to a peace process on a universally recognized international legal basis, at the heart of which lies (and has always lied) the cornerstone formula of “two States for two peoples”.
As the most urgent step on this path, the UN Security Council should send a clear message to the parties about the need for an unconditional cessation of hostilities and for the lifting by Israel of the humanitarian blockade, which in turn would create favorable conditions for the release of the remaining hostages and prisoners and facilitate the resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement.
The tragedy unfolding before our eyes in Gaza is, among other things, a consequence of the insufficient resolve on the part of the international community to ensure the enforcement of its own resolutions on the establishment of two States, which are Israel and Palestine. Despite the exceedingly complex context, reciprocal recriminations and emotions running high, we must ensure that the two peoples surmount decades of enmity and achieve a peace that will pave the way to stability, security and prosperity for the entire Middle East region. Any other scenarios are fraught with serious risks not just for the region, but for humanity as a whole.
Thank you.
