April 30, 2025
Thank you, Mr. President, and I welcome you, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot. Thank you to Secretary-General Guterres, for your briefing.
Colleagues, as we have consistently said, the future of the Middle East must look different. Fresh thinking is needed to bring about a durable peace and prosperity that provides opportunities for all the region’s people.
Mr. President, with respect to the humanitarian needs in Gaza, no one wants to see Palestinian civilians in Gaza go hungry or thirsty. A ceasefire agreement would create the condition for the flow of humanitarian aid, but Hamas is preventing this agreement from being concluded.
Just two weeks ago, Hamas rejected yet another proposal put forward by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt that would release hostages who have been held for 570 days and bring calm to Gaza.
Instead, Hamas, a brutal terrorist organization, continues to violently suppress organic protests against its barbaric rule and demonstrate its lack of regard for the Palestinian civilians it purports to represent.
Hamas bears sole responsibility for the war it unleashed on October 7, 2023, when it committed the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and abducted more than 250 hostages, as well as for the resumption of hostilities in March following Hamas’ rejection of multiple proposals.
The United States supports Israel and its fight to defend itself from groups that wish to destroy it. Fighting could end tomorrow if Hamas released hostages and laid down its arms. Their reckless decisions have caused enough bloodshed. Hamas must leave Gaza forever.
The Council should apply pressure on Hamas to – for the first time – free Palestinians in Gaza from Hamas’ tyranny. Shielding Hamas from accountability only undermines Israel’s security and does nothing to improve the lives of Palestinians.
Mr. President, this Council has heard first-hand testimony from Noa Argamani and Eli Sharabi, who bravely detailed the depravity they experienced at the hands of their Hamas captors.
We cannot remain silent about the horrors of their plight or the urgent need to press for the release of the 59 hostages who remain in Hamas’ grip, including those brutally murdered in Hamas captivity.
Mr. President, President Trump has been clear: Hamas must release all the hostages immediately. Five Americans still need to come home. Edan Alexander can still return to his parents’ arms, but Hamas continues to hold the bodies of Itay Chen, Gaddi Hagai, Judi Weinstein Haggai, and Omer Neutra.
We will not rest until every hostage has been returned from Gaza. They will not be left behind. They will never be forgotten.
We recognize the IDF’s ongoing efforts to prevent civilian harm in Gaza, including its review of the tragic March 23 incident that claimed the lives of humanitarian workers. We take note that the IDF claims six members of Hamas were among those killed in this incident and call on the UN and Member States to demand Hamas stop its abhorrent practice of putting civilians in harm’s way.
Hamas continues to cynically use civilian infrastructure to shield their personnel and weaponry. We expect all parties to comply with international humanitarian law.
President, turning to the wider region, we must also recognize the insidious violence, suffering, and instability throughout the Middle East that Iran promotes through its malign actions, including its sponsorship of terrorism.
Through Hamas, Hizballah, the Houthis, and countless other terrorist proxies it backs, Iran poses a threat to the millions of people who call this region home.
Iran’s nuclear program, another cornerstone of its global campaign for destabilization, also threatens not only the safety of the international community but its own citizens.
President Trump has been clear: There are two paths for Iran to end its nuclear program. The United States prefers a negotiated resolution.
Time, however, is limited. If Iran refuses to abandon its nuclear weapons program, we must hold it accountable. But real, meaningful diplomacy remains within reach.
The United States will do its part to help forge a new reality alongside Israel and our Arab partners. The future must start in a Gaza without Hamas. Meetings or international conferences will not change this reality. Hamas must disarm and be removed from Gaza, and the hostages must be returned home.
I thank you.
Right of Reply at a UN Security Council Open Debate on the Situation in the Middle East
Thank you, Mr. President.
The United States would like to respond to comments by the Permanent Representative of Libya during the Open Debate yesterday on the Middle East.
Since Hamas’ egregious terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, this Council has been subjected to constant lies and slanders targeting Israel.
Yesterday, however, the Council saw a new low. The United States condemns the statement by the Permanent Representative of Libya, who called the unfortunate and tragic civilian deaths in Gaza a, quote, “Holocaust.”
Mr. President, let us be perfectly clear: there is no event in modern history comparable to the Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism is clear that any such comparison is antisemitic because it trivializes the Holocaust and desecrates the deaths of the over six million Jews and millions of others who were systematically murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators.
Those who deploy such comparisons are perpetuating such antisemitism and should not be allowed the dignity of speaking in this Council.
Unfortunately, grotesque antisemitism is a common feature in this Council’s proceedings. We all sit and watch each week as representatives of certain Member States purposefully avoid sitting next to representatives of the Member State of Israel. We hear constant lies targeting Israel, such as blaming Israel for Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket attacks, for example, the one that that killed and injured hundreds at Al-Ahli Hospital and constant demonization of the Jewish state. Too many representatives of Member States refuse to acknowledge Hamas’ misuse of civilian infrastructure under the nose of the UN, or they also refuse to condemn them for the very terrorist group that they are.
Mr. President, in conclusion, this antisemitism and anti-Israel bias is beneath the dignity of this Council and should be unacceptable anywhere.
I thank you.