21 March 2025
Madam President,
We thank the Acting UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Sigrid Kaag, for her detailed briefing on the implementation of UNSC resolution 2334. Unfortunately, as is clear from your statement, there is still no progress on this issue.
It is the third time this week, we’ve had the opportunity to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip amid the resumed military operation by Israel there. Today, our discussion is focused on the ongoing operations by the Israeli forces and clashes between locals and settlers also in the West Bank, which risks repeating the Gaza scenario.
The scope of “Iron Wall” Operation is broadening with heavy weaponry, including tanks, being used there for the first time in two decades. As a result of an IDF raid on the Al Ain refugee camp in Nablus province, one person was killed and several more were injured. One of the prisoners, who had been released under the latest deal between Hamas and Israel, succumbed to his wounds and died in Beit Jala. From November, 2023, to October 21, 2024, a total of 612 Palestinians and 24 Israelis were killed in the West Bank.
Palestinian dwellings have been systematically destroyed. In the Jenin refugee camp alone, 66 houses were demolished by the Israeli authorities in one day, which Fatah has already called an “ethnic cleansing”. Since the beginning of the operation, forty thousand refugees had to leave their temporary homes. There are greater restrictions introduced at checkpoints in the West Bank, and it became much more difficult for people to get to markets, offices, medical and educational facilities.
In parallel, senior Israeli officials are voicing their plans to fully annex the territory of what they call “historic Judea and Samaria”. Twelve hectares of land has been annexed in the southern part of Jablun in the Jenin governorate, and the Israeli authorities have notified Ramallah about that. In total, about 700,000 Israeli settlers live among the 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which was captured in 1967 by Israel. And over the past year, there have been approved projects to build tens of thousands of new residential units there.
All these steps are ultimately geraed towards undermining the two-State solution that is openly opposed by the Knesset. We call on Israel to immediately cease all settlement activity, to bring all settlers back to their homeland, to stop the displacement of Palestinians and prevent attacks against them by settlers and law enforcement officials.
Madam President,
What is happening in the West Bank perfectly proves the fact that there is no alternative to finding political solutions to conflicts. We have a paradoxical situation here, wherein Israel, wishing to ensure security for its citizens, continues colonizing the Palestinian land, thus provoking hatred on the part of the Arab people that have been living here for centuries. And the violence caused by their actions is met by the Israelis with ever increasing violence and accelerated colonization, which perpetuates the vicious circle.
Given that Israel is using exclusively brute force to ensure its security, we shouldn’t be surprised that radical movements are so popular among ordinary Palestinians and that militarized groups in the OPT have no problems whatsoever with recruitment. The only sensible alternative to this is for Israel to stop its discriminatory practices and settlement activity and return to the path of negotiations, which should ensure the peaceful coexistence of two peoples in two States.
That will require the full and unconditional compliance with Security Council resolution 2334 and the abandonment of plans to annex Palestinian territories and forcibly displace Palestinians. What is also needed is providing proper political and financial support to the Palestinian National Authority. Strengthening the Palestinian Authority is something that can safeguard Israel’s security best of all.
Unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that given the resumed Israeli military operation in Gaza, we see no tangible prospects for a normalization in the West Bank. It is therefore imperative to swiftly return to a ceasefire, to ensure unfettered humanitarian access and continue the exchange of detainees. It is of utmost importance that any agreements are sustainable in nature; otherwise, as practice shows, they can collapse in half a shake.
We are convinced that the Security Council can and must play its role in the negotiation process and in ensuring that its outcomes are respected by all parties. We call on the mediators to prioritize this very scenario. And we do hope that common sense will prevail and that the parties will be able to return to the negotiating table.
Madam President,
In conclusion, we would like to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian State within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, coexisting in peace and security with Israel, in line with the endorsed international legal decisions.
Our position is consistent and is not subject to any situational changes. We are also firmly committed to supporting UNRWA, which is meant to help the Palestinians until they have a State of their own.
Thank you.