December 18, 2024
Thank you, Assistant Secretary-General Khiari for your briefing. I also wish to thank Dr. Efron for your briefing, and also for your recommendations.
And Michael, Michael Levy, I want to especially thank you for sharing your anguish, your frustration with this Council. We will continue our efforts to do everything possible to bring your brother Or home to his loving family.
Colleagues, the United States is committed to finalizing a ceasefire in Gaza with the release of hostages that allows for a surge in humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians.
That is our north star. And despite progress coming in fits and starts, despite progress feeling at times frustratingly slow, there is still a reason for hope.
Thanks to the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, Hamas is isolated. As we sit here, negotiators are in the region, working hard to close the remaining gaps between the parties.
Now let me be clear: I’m not starry-eyed here, but there are still difficult issues to resolve.
We cannot give up on this diplomacy. We cannot give up on the 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, [who] for over a year, have lived through hell.
A hell that was ignited by Hamas, when it attacked Israel on October 7. This was not an effort at peace. This was a declaration of war.
And, as we heard from Michael, we cannot give up on the 100 plus remaining hostages, including seven Americans, or their families, who have also endured the unimaginable these past 14 months.
Colleagues, granting Hamas, a terrorist organization, their demand for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire offers no path to durable peace. It will not end the suffering or cycles of violence for Israelis and Palestinians.
Instead, we must speak with one voice and demand that Hamas agree to release the hostages they are holding, so that we can implement the deal on the table. To end the suffering of hostages from more than a dozen Member States and millions of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. And to put the parties back on a path toward a two-state solution.
It also is time for Israel and the United Nations to stop working against each other and instead take pragmatic steps to ensure there is no interruption of humanitarian aid delivery to Palestinians in desperate need.
We reiterate our concern that Israel must not in any way restrict the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Gaza, imposing obstacles that must be removed.
Going forward, Israel must also ensure that the implementation of recent legislation does not further impede the delivery of humanitarian assistance and critical services, including by UNRWA, which remains a vital lifeline for Palestinians.
Equally vital: as the aid delivery architecture in Gaza evolves, the UN must work with all relevant parties and have a viable plan in place to facilitate aid deliveries.
The Secretary-General’s recent letter regarding UNRWA and the future of aid delivery in Gaza suggests that the UN has not yet begun an earnest conversation with Israel regarding implementation of the legislation.
Nor does it appear that relevant UN agencies have had detailed conversations regarding steps they could take to help ensure continuity of UN aid deliveries to Gaza.
With lives in the balance, this must change. The UN must demonstrate that it will continue to work to find a path to support the people of Gaza.
Colleagues, cynicism will not end this horrific conflict, but bold leadership can offer the prospects of a durable peace. One in which Palestinians and Israelis live side by side with equal levels of dignity, security, and opportunity.
To put a finer point on it: a durable peace between Israelis and Palestinians will only be achieved through a negotiated two-state solution consistent with this Council’s resolutions.
There is no other path that guarantees Palestinians can live with the freedom and dignity they deserve. And there is no other path that guarantees an enduring peace between Israel and its neighbors.
This is a peace worth striving for. And it’s one the United States has worked tirelessly to advance even in the darkest hours since October 7.
And so, even as we work to surge relief into Gaza right now, we must also think about a day after – one in which Gaza is reunited with the West Bank under the control and governance of a revitalized and reformed Palestinian Authority.
Economic security in the West Bank offers a foundation on which the parties can build.
In this regard, we welcome the Israeli government’s recent decision to extend correspondent bank relationships between Israeli banks and their Palestinian counterparts for another year.
It’s a step in the right direction to help build trust and deepen economic links. But it’s just a start. We need to see a resumption of the economic activities, including worker permits, that ground to a halt following October 7.
We also remain deeply concerned that other Israeli actions in the West Bank undercut the Palestinian Authority’s ability to meet the needs of the Palestinian people, and, more broadly, dampen the prospects of a two-state solution.
Colleagues, we reiterate our position that advancing Israeli settlements in the West Bank is an obstacle to the achievement of a two-state solution, the end state we all want to see, as we seek to bring the fighting in Gaza to a close.
Yet more settlement units were approved this past year than in any other 12-month period this decade.
We reiterate our belief that Israel’s program of support for the expansion of settlements is inconsistent with international law, and only serves to weaken Israeli security.
We also remain deeply concerned about violence committed by extremist settlers in the West Bank.
A disproportionate amount of this violence emanates from illegal outposts, several dozen of which have been established over the past year. To be clear, these outposts are illegal under Israeli law.
The hundreds of violent attacks over the past year have forced Palestinians to abandon their homes and vacate more than a dozen of their villages.
Even more alarming, last year saw the highest number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since the UN began collecting data in 2005.
We condemn the attacks by extremist settlers in the strongest possible terms and reiterate that Israel must intervene and stop them or, better yet, prevent them in the first place.
To that end, we urge Israel to halt efforts to legalize outposts in the West Bank, and to do everything possible to de-escalate tensions and hold all perpetrators of violence accountable – no matter the background of the perpetrator or the victim.
Colleagues, I first addressed this Council on this topic in March of 2021 during my first presidency. I had just arrived at the United States Mission to the United Nations just a few weeks prior. And I outlined three pillars of U.S. policy with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The first was to sustain our ironclad commitment to Israel’s security.
The second was to help both Israelis and Palestinians take steps towards a two-state solution, ensuring Israel’s future as a democratic and Jewish state, while upholding the Palestinian people’s legitimate aspirations for a state of their own.
And the third was to deliver aid to the Palestinian people.
I said then: “Let us strive to achieve peace and prosperity for all.”
So much has changed since that meeting nearly four years ago. So many lives have been shattered, before, on, and in the months that have followed October 7, as a result of the catastrophic conflict that Hamas instigated.
But now, like in 2021, the United States remains committed to bringing that cycle to an end.
And so, we will continue to work tirelessly to advance diplomacy on the ground.
For a ceasefire with the release of hostages. For a surge of aid today and days after in Gaza that reaffirms the dignity, the security, and opportunity of Palestinians and Israelis alike.
For a two-state solution and a new day for the next generation. Let us strive to achieve that peace and prosperity for all.
Thank you.