April 5, 2024
Thank you, Madam President. And thank you for your briefings, Director Rajasingham and CEO Soeripto.
The Security Council and General Assembly have affirmed the imperative of protecting humanitarian personnel, including in Resolutions 2712, 2720, and 2728. As we have heard today, tragically, this has not been heeded by the parties in Gaza.
One of the most recent pieces of evidence of this was the tragic strike on a World Central Kitchen convoy, which killed several humanitarian workers on April 1. As President Biden said on Tuesday, the United States is “outraged and heartbroken” at the deaths of these individuals, who were providing food to starving civilians in the middle of a war. These workers were brave and selfless. They show the best of what humanity has to offer when the going really gets tough. An incident such as this should never have happened and must never happen again.
We all know, moreover, this was not a stand-alone incident. This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of the number of aid workers who have been killed. More than 220 humanitarian workers have perished since October 7 in Gaza, some while on duty. Many more have been injured.
These incidents are unacceptable. Humanitarian personnel must be protected. Full stop.
We are deeply concerned Israel has not done enough to protect humanitarian aid workers or civilians. For that reason, the resolution the United States introduced last month in this Council demanded “all parties to the conflict fully respect humanitarian notification and deconfliction mechanisms and remediate any deficiencies.”
Although Russia and China vetoed that resolution, we repeat that call today. As President Biden conveyed to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on April 4, Israel must “announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.” U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by Israel’s immediate action on these steps.
Given the serious allegations regarding UNRWA personnel tied to Hamas, we fully support the ongoing investigations into the organization and look forward to the independent review conducted by former French Foreign Minister Colonna.
At the same time, however, we note UNRWA’s indispensable role in distributing humanitarian assistance in Gaza, especially given a looming famine. Onerous restrictions on UNRWA’s work are unacceptable, especially given grave concerns about a looming famine.
Of course, even as we press Israel to do much more to protect humanitarian workers and facilitate the life-saving work of the UN, including UNRWA, we must not ignore how Hamas’ actions have put humanitarian personnel at risk. Tunneling under and storing weapons in hospitals is a violation of the laws of war and we condemn it.
We also continue to do all we can to help deliver humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza through all available means. But these actions are not enough to meet the needs of the Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Humanitarian assistance is desperately needed now, and it must be facilitated to mitigate the impact of an impending famine. Gaza’s entire population knows acute levels of food insecurity. Gaza’s entire population is in need of humanitarian assistance.
That is why we continue to underscore an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent lives, and we have urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home. We urge Hamas, as well, to accept the deal on the table.
We continue to support these negotiations and will continue to work to protect humanitarian staff and facilitate increased provision of humanitarian assistance into and throughout Gaza.
With that I thank you Madam President.