October 9, 2024
Madam President,
We thank Algeria and Slovenia for convening today’s meeting to discuss the grave humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
We are grateful to Mr. Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and Ms. Lisa Doughten, OCHA Director, for their objective and honest assessments of the unprecedented disaster, occurring in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been conducting a military operation for over a year now.
The Russian Federation unequivocally condemned Hamas’s actions against the inhabitants of Israel’s border regions on October 7, the killing of civilians and the taking of women, the elderly and children hostage. We are extremely disappointed by the fact that, one year on, nearly 100 people remain in captivity and that the necessary diplomatic efforts, as per Security Council resolutions, are not being undertaken to secure their release. There are also Russian citizens among them. We remain convinced that there is and can be no justification for terrorist methods, and that violence against both Israeli and Palestinian civilians is unacceptable.
However, all those who are still capable of compassion are outraged by the fact that this tragedy has been used for over a year now to justify a ruthless and inhumane mass collective punishment of Palestinians, who are confronting an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, which is something that has not been the case since the times of World War II. Nearly 42,000 people have died, most of them women and children, the number of wounded and missing is approaching 100,000. There are two million internally displaced persons. That is the result of the stubbornness of the Israeli leadership, and West Jerusalem’s American patrons, who persist in preventing the Security Council from stopping this vicious cycle of violence. The enclave’s territory has become the largest open-air prison in the world, subjected to mass bombing and shelling on a daily basis, and there are no safe places left in Gaza for civilians. Civilian infrastructure is being deliberately destroyed and the provision of emergency aid to the civilians is being blocked. Humanitarian convoys are being shelled right before the eyes of the international community. Over 300 humanitarian workers have died, including 226 UNRWA personnel.
In parallel, bloody operations by the Israeli military and clashes between local residents and settlers continue rock the West Bank. Just yesterday, during a raid by security forces on the Kalandia refugee camp, a 12-year-old Palestinian boy was killed, at least eight people were wounded, and at least 45 were arrested. In total, since October 7, more than 11,000 Palestinians have been put behind bars in Israel, where they are enduring harsh and degrading treatment.
What can be deemed as a relative success of the UN humanitarian wing in such circumstances is the polio vaccination campaign, which has covered 500,000 Palestinian children under the age of 10. Even though, according to the information we are getting, the United Nations humanitarian bodies haven’t yet managed to get the consent from West Jerusalem even for a short humanitarian pause for the second stage of the vaccination campaign and the distribution of aid.
Madam President,
Against this backdrop, we are particularly concerned and perplexed by the fact that the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Knesset is considering two bills, one banning UNRWA activities on Israeli territory and the other revoking immunities and privileges of its staff. If these bills are adopted, it will threaten not only the ongoing work of UNRWA in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, but the prospects for providing assistance to Palestinian refugees in neighboring Arab countries – such as Syria, Lebanon and Jordan – whose capacities are already severely weakened due to a catastrophic shortage of funds as a result of the US decision to suspend funding to UNWRA until March 2025.
Such Israeli plans with regard to UNRWA are in violation of the UN Charter, the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations and relevant UNGA resolutions. They would have the most negative repercussions, both for the Middle East region and for the entire UN system. In essence, Israel is claiming that it has the right to impose arbitrary bans on the work of UN specialized agencies that are not to its liking.
Colleagues,
We are duty-bound to prevent this. The precipitous degradation of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the ongoing “dismantlement” of UNRWA in the OPT require our urgent intervention, and this is precisely what the entire international community expects from the UN. We need to defend the Agency, which has unique capabilities in terms of providing social, educational and medical services, which are of critical importance not only during this extremely difficult period but also for the post-conflict reconstruction of the enclave and for the prevention of radicalization of Palestinian society. Let me underscore that undermining UNRWA’s mandate may result in Palestinian refugees’ losing their status, which could eventually thwart all efforts to ensure a just solution to the Palestinian question that is a cornerstone of the Middle East settlement.
Madam President,
Almost one year ago, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres rightly stated that the events of October 7 did not occur “in a vacuum”. What prompted the tragedy was, firstly, the systematic disregard for the Security Council’s decisions that are binding as per the UN Charter, and, secondly, the 80-year-long procrastination with the implementation of the consensus-based resolutions on establishing an independent Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security with Israel.
Colleagues,
In this context, I would like to remind you that in 1949, the State of Israel was granted membership in the UN on the condition that it would abide by two cornerstone UNGA resolutions. Namely, GA Resolution 181 that contained a plan for the partition of Palestine into two states (Arab and Jewish), and UNGA Resolution 194 on refugees, which is the very basis of UNRWA’s mandate. In addition, the ICJ’s second advisory opinion, endorsed by the UNGA resolution, also clearly stipulates that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip is unlawful. Thus, we have a paradox – by sabotaging the implementation of the aforementioned resolutions, Israel is, in fact, knowingly and purposefully undermining the decisions and arrangements that paved the way for Israel to join the UN. At the same time, the Palestinians have been persistently denied full-fledged membership in the World Organization. And this denial has been occurring with the active connivance of Israel’s allies from the USA, who I have already mentioned. The USA unilaterally vetoed the relevant draft resolution drafted by Algeria.
All in all, we regret to conclude that the US has blocked already on five occasions the Council’s substantive decisions to facilitate the cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip, and this was done only to give Israel an opportunity to act at its own discretion. Meanwhile, the Security Council resolution 2735, introduced by Washington in June and eventually adopted by the Council, appeared to be nothing (as we warned) but a spoiler that only thwarted any new initiatives to ensure a ceasefire in Gaza. At the same time, it was obvious to us from the very outset that the Israeli leadership was not willing to act in accordance with the so-called “Biden plan” approved by this document. This American-Israeli “maneuver” resulted in a series of political assassinations in the region, which only attests to the fact that West Jerusalem is not interested in solving problems peacefully, and opts for the use of force. And that’s the outcome we have: the dialog on the Gaza ceasefire is deeply deadlocked, the release of the remaining hostages is no longer discussed either in Washington or in Jerusalem, the region is facing a large-scale escalation in Lebanon, and a direct war between Israel and Iran is looming. However, our American colleagues on the Council continue to hide behind the UNSC resolution 2735, which I mentioned, as if nothing had happened, asserting that “new steps by the Security Council will supposedly only harm the cause”.
We have been told today that the Council’s decisions will not help the cause, but that the United Nations can and must take action to improve the humanitarian situation “on the ground” in Gaza. I do apologize, but such assertions can be viewed as a sheer blasphemy.
How can we call on the UN to discharge its humanitarian mission when bombings are incessant, humanitarian assistance is being hindered, UN and other humanitarian workers are being killed, and UNRWA risks to be shut down? We can demand that the UN discharge its mandate only on one condition, which is a ceasefire. That’s what we have been talking about since day one. That’s what other Council members have also talked about, except for one member that put forward the resolution 2735, which was doomed to failure. That’s what the Secretary-General has stated clearly. That’s what other representatives of various UN agencies have been crying out for. But it’s all in vain. West Jerusalem remains deaf to these appeals, and those who cover for it, as we have mentioned, are dodging behind the wicked appeals of resolution 2735.
Madam President,
We all realize that the current catastrophic situation can and must be resolved exclusively through political and diplomatic means with the active participation of all countries of the Middle East and extra-regional powers. Our common objective is to ensure the implementation of the decisions by the UN Security Council and UNGA, to stop the bloodshed that may spill over to the entire Middle East. And, most importantly, we need to guarantee that Palestinians can exercise their legitimate right to self-determination, and allow them to establish – not in words, but in deed, “on the ground” – a territorially contiguous and viable state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The UNSC can and must act to fulfil its mandate to maintain international peace and security. Only our collective determination and principled stance will allow us to compel the USA and Israel to respect international law and comply with the decisions adopted by the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly. We do count on solidarity and active involvement of all our colleagues on the Security Council.
Thank you very much.