13 August 2024
Mr. President, Members of the Security Council,
Once again, the Council is coming together to discuss alarming developments and increasing tensions in the Middle East. The devastating Israeli attack on the al-Tabeen school in Gaza City, which prompted this meeting, points once again to the desperate need to reach a ceasefire, free the hostages and scale up humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) airstrike in the al-Tabeen school compound took place early on 10 August. It killed dozens of Palestinians and wounded many others, including women and children, according to local Palestinian sources.
The Secretary-General condemned the continued loss of life in Gaza following another attack on a school sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinian families.
According to Israel, the IDF targeted a Hamas command centre in a mosque inside the school compound and killed at least 31 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters.
As the Secretary-General underlined yesterday, international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack, must be upheld at all times.
Also yesterday, Hamas announced the killing of a hostage and serious injury of two others by Hamas militants while in captivity in Gaza. Both sides have stated they are looking into the incidents.
Mr. President,
With hostilities continuing across the Strip, including in the north around Gaza City, in the middle area in Khan Younis, and in and around Rafah, the situation remains catastrophic for civilians.
No place is safe in Gaza, yet civilians continue to be ordered to evacuate to ever shrinking areas. My colleague, Director Doughten from OCHA, will brief you shortly in more detail regarding the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
Ten months since the start of the war, the threat of further regional escalation is more palpable, and chilling, than ever. Exchanges of fire across the Blue Line have continued nearly daily.
Since I last briefed on 31 July, numerous projectiles have been fired from Lebanon across the Blue Line, causing damage to buildings and bushfires in open areas. The IDF has responded with strikes across the Blue Line into southern Lebanon.
Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) crossing the Blue Line from southern Lebanon have also continued. An IDF base was hit across the Blue Line, while another base was hit near Nahariya in northern Israel. An open area in Nahariya City was also struck.
Mr. President,
I urge continued attention to the worsening situation and ongoing violence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. On 3 August, the IDF said it conducted two airstrikes on a Hamas cell in Tulkarem, killing nine Palestinians who the IDF said were planning to conduct an attack inside Israel.
Separate IDF operations in Jenin and Tubas early last week also killed another 16 Palestinians. On 11 August, a shooting attack claimed by Hamas killed one Israeli civilian and wounded another in the northern Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank.
Another Palestinian shooting attack near Qalqilia reportedly injured one Israeli and two Palestinians. The assailant, who was claimed by Hamas as an al-Qassam Brigades commander, was subsequently killed by ISF.
Mr. President,
If the slide towards an even greater catastrophe is to be halted, the parties must end all escalatory rhetoric and actions. I reiterate the Secretary General’s call for all to work vigorously towards regional de-escalation in the interest of long-term peace and stability.
I welcome efforts by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States to bring both sides to conclude a deal to bring about a ceasefire, the release of hostages, and desperately needed humanitarian relief.
As the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and the United States emphasized in their joint statement on 8 August, and I quote, “there is no further time to waste, nor excuses from any party for further delay” (end quote).
Their call for immediate relief to the people of Gaza and the hostages and their families must be heeded. I urge all parties to prioritize the protection of civilians and promptly conclude this deal as endorsed by the Security Council in resolution 2735 (2024).
The United Nations is committed to supporting all efforts towards this goal and remains in close contact with the relevant parties.
Mr. President,
The killing, destruction and suffering in Gaza must end. The hostages must be reunited with their families.
But even as efforts to achieve these goals continue, we cannot lose sight of what we consider indisputable: in the absence of a clear path towards a future in which Israelis see their legitimate needs for security materialize and Palestinians see their legitimate aspirations for a fully independent, viable and sovereign State realized, lasting peace in the Middle East will remain elusive.
Thank you, Mr. President.