28 May 2025
Mr. President, I begin by thanking Special Coordinator Sigrid Kaag for her comprehensive briefing, and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa for his sobering remarks. Those were harrowing details – unimaginable and so difficult to listen to and grasp. One would shudder to think how all those on ground – women and children, doctors, humanitarian workers, would be coping with that on a daily basis. My delegation would also, at the outset, recall and reaffirm its compete support to the briefings – objective, truthful and responsible statements – by senior UN officials including USG Tom Fletcher before this Council. Any undue criticism of their work must be unacceptable.
Mr. President,
- We meet yet again under the shadow of a deepening yet preventable tragedy in Gaza — one that tests not only our conscience, but the very credibility of this Council.
- This is not a natural disaster. It is a man-made catastrophe, as we heard from both briefers today — driven by Israel, the occupying power’s unrelenting illegal blockade of Gaza, and all-out bombardment and deliberate killing, carried out with full impunity.
- The numbers are staggering. More than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed, majority of them women and children. Over 122,000 have been injured. Gaza’s people face continuous, indiscriminate assault from land, air, and sea. The psychological and societal trauma is beyond measure, beyond imagination. This is, without question, one of the gravest humanitarian crises of our time.
Mr. President,
- How many more atrocities must be committed before this Council does what is right — morally, legally, and under the UN Charter? Words of concern are no longer enough. The time to act, time to prevent genocide, is now. As Dr. Sidhwa said, we must now allow their atrocities to be normalized – for that would be an affront to international law and human dignity.
- To grasp the scale of this catastrophe, let me highlight four urgent dimensions of the suffering in Gaza: First, the health and medical system has collapsed. It has in fact been systemically destroyed and dismantled. Hospitals are overwhelmed, operating without fuel, without sanitation, without essential supplies. More than 800 health facilities and assets have been attacked. Medical workers have been killed. Ambulances destroyed. This is the systematic erasure of the right to health — and to life.
Second, famine is no longer a threat. It is here. At least 57 children have already died of hunger. One in five Gazans could face starvation. Humanitarian convoys are being blocked or attacked. Relief workers are being targeted. Starvation is being weaponized — flagrantly, and illegally.
Third, Gaza’s civilian infrastructure lies in ruins. Water systems are destroyed. Electricity is cut. Communications are blacked out. More than 80 percent of homes have been destroyed. Most of Gaza now lies within a militarized zone. This is not collateral damage. It is deliberate, orchestrated designed to break the will to survive. Fourth, the toll on women and children is unspeakable. According to UN Women, over 28,000 women and girls have been killed — one every hour since October. Fifty thousand women are pregnant. Next month, more than 5,000 will give birth—many in tents, on the street, without electricity, clean water, or medical care.
- And while Gaza is being decimated, the West Bank is also under siege. Displacement is rising. Movement is restricted. Violence by settlers continues unchecked. In just the past four months, Israeli occupying forces have killed more than 130 Palestinians. Homes are being demolished. Arbitrary arrests continue.
- We also strongly condemn the provocative visits by Israeli officials to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound —violations of the legal and historical status quo. These inflammatory actions threaten to ignite wider regional tensions. The sanctity of Al-Aqsa must be upheld in line with international law and UN resolutions.
Mr. President,
- Against this grim backdrop, we call for four urgent steps: First, an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire. Resolution 2735 must be implemented in full. All attacks on civilians must end. We support all efforts to restore the ceasefire. Second, the full and immediate lifting of the Gaza blockade. Humanitarian teams must operate safely and without obstruction. The current trickle of aid is wholly inadequate — and unjustifiable. This Council must demand immediate and unconditional removal of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and its safe ad unhindered distribution at scale, including by the UN and humanitarian patterns throughout the Gaza Strip in full compliance with international humanitarian law. Third, any forced displacement of the Palestinians from the Palestinian land must be strongly rejected. Fourth, we must address the root cause: the prolonged occupation and denial of the Palestinian right to self-determination and statehood. A just peace demands a two-state solution based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as the capital of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state. The Conference next month co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia offers a unique opportunity to move concretely and irreversibly in that direction, an objective that is clearly supported by the overwhelming majority of the international community.
Mr. President,
- While that action will take place in the General Assembly, this Council cannot remain a bystander. It must act in accordance with its mandate — to protect civilians under siege, to uphold international law, and to speak and be on the side of the oppressed.
- The time for equivocation is over. There is no justification whatsoever for the human suffering of the Palestinian people. Yes, enough is enough.
- The cries from Gaza cannot continue to be met with silence. The world cannot afford another day of inaction. History will not absolve us of our responsibility.
President,
- The sense around the table is clear. The urgent asks are so evident. Ceasefire, release of hostages, humanitarian action and protection of innocent civilians. This is doable. We call on all Council members to come together, to act, through a resolution, to promote the objective – in the immediate term, and to help create an environment conducive for the June Conference, and towards a just and lasting settlement for the Palestinian question. Thank you.