Meeting shortly after the third anniversary of the attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups on Israel, followed by devastating — and ongoing — Israeli military operations in Gaza, the Security Council today heard about the perilous state of life on the Strip, unchecked violence in the West Bank and a two-State solution on the brink, at the organ’s quarterly open debate on the Palestinian question.
A tenuous ceasefire has been in place since 8 October 2025, as part of the first phase of the United States-brokered “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict”, which the Council endorsed through resolution 2803 (2025). That measure also welcomed the establishment of the Board of Peace, chaired by United States President Donald J. Trump, as a “transitional governance” arrangement in the Strip. However, efforts to advance the plan have run aground, while levels of settler expansion and displacement reach unprecedented levels.
A Ceasefire in Name Only
Ramiz Alakbarov, Acting Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, said that, on his visit to Gaza on 11 and 12 October, he witnessed Palestinians living along the Yellow Line for whom “the ceasefire exists in name only”. Since it took effect, Israeli military operations have caused some 1,500 Palestinian fatalities, including more than 320 children and 140 women, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. He recounted being moved to tears at the sight of children in Gaza carrying blue United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) backpacks amidst the devastation, stating that these children “still hold on to the hope of a future. We must not let them lose that too.”
“In Shuja’iyya, I met families from a community of some 950 households, including women, children and elderly, living in constant fear”, he said, adding that women told him they had not experienced 40 consecutive minutes without shooting over their land in a year. “Their most basic request was for safety, yet many have nowhere else to go,” he said, depicting families living in squalid conditions in worn out tents, cramped displacement sites and damaged buildings, with no water or sanitation. “Most of Gaza still lives in darkness”, he said, voicing concern over the protection risks faced by women and girls.
“Today, I feel obliged to sound the alarm”, he stressed, lamenting “continued paralysis” on implementing Council resolution 2803 (2025). “In Gaza, desperation is palpable”, he said, warning that a return to war must be avoided at all costs, while also cautioning that the West Bank is “at boiling point”, with Palestinians facing constant threats to their safety and livelihood and communities driven into increasingly fragmented areas, eroding the territorial basis of a future Palestinian State. “The choice before us is clear”, he said. “The ceasefire in Gaza must become the foundation for genuine recovery and a durable political settlement.”
Palestine: Palestinian Pacifism Demanded in Face of Israel’s Brutality
Majed Bamya, Deputy Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, recalling assertions that Israel had the right to defend itself in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks, asked: “Had anyone ever told us, following a massacre of Palestinians, that we had the right to do whatever was necessary? That Israeli civilian deaths would be an inevitable consequence? Never.”
Questioning how Israeli militarism and brutal violence can be justified while Palestinian pacifism is demanded, he pointed to the mass indiscriminate killing of Palestinians in Gaza, including 22,000 Palestinian children; the wiping out of multi-generational families off the face of the earth; and settlers and soldiers wreaking havoc in the West Bank, leading to the deaths of 1,000 Palestinians in three years. He also pointed to Palestinians caught in a military justice system where they are presumed guilty. “Israel can kill anyone it accuses without need for evidence and kill their families and their neighbours,” he said.
Even following the ceasefire, one Palestinian child is killed every day. “Would anyone consider a ceasefire respected if 1,400 Israelis had been killed? Or 140? Or 14?” he asked. Israel has obstructed the Board of Peace at every turn, while pursuing “the liquidation of Palestine”, he said.
Israel: Ideology behind 7 October Remains Alive
Extremism is nothing new for Israel, said its representative, pointing out that the Council still has not designated Hamas as a terrorist organization three years after the 7 October attacks. Hamas is still actively terrorizing the people of Gaza. “The ideology behind October 7 remains alive”, he said. If the Council continues to ignore the main issue […] we will keep coming back here talking in circles”, he said, adding Hamas must disarm and is not implementing the 20-Point Plan.
The Palestinian Authority must confront the radical elements and “not let them fester”, he said, adding that his country was not surprised by the postponement of elections by the Palestinian Authority, which he said fears that Hamas would win again.
Ahead of his country’s elections in 12 days, he said the alarming reality is that Iran, Hizbullah and other extremists are conspiring to take advantage of the election period. “Anyone who attempts to pose a threat or attack Israel will face devastating consequences”, he stressed.
Speakers Condemn E1 Settlement Plans, Urge Diplomatic Solution
“Only a diplomatic solution will provide a lasting resolution to the conflict in the Middle East”, said France’s representative, voicing support for the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution and Council resolution 2803 (2025). However, he warned that Israel’s “openly pursued path of annexation” and its financial strangulation of the Palestinian Authority are sources of instability.
Israeli settlement expansion and settler violence “decimate any opportunity for peace”, echoed Jordan’s representative, condemning the E1 settlement plan as a threat to Palestinian territorial contiguity and statehood. The Council “must act seriously” to end such violations, he said, also stressing that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) “must be protected from attempts at its political assassination” through sustained financial and political support.
“This is not merely settlement expansion”, chimed in Pendapala Naanda, Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, citing the Secretary-General’s warning that the E1 settlement plans could deal “a devastating blow” to the prospect of a viable contiguous Palestinian State. “It is part of Israel’s deliberate and unlawful policy of terror to consolidate a system of discrimination and domination and to perpetuate the Nakba of the Palestinian people”, he said, calling for words to be “matched by action” and for an end to settler violence.
United States Says ‘Align behind One Plan’, Hamas Must Decommission Its Weapons
“Gaza cannot afford to return to scattered efforts that have failed in the past”, said the United States’ delegate, recalling the Council’s endorsement of the Comprehensive Plan on 29 September 2025. “This is the only blueprint for a stable, safe and prosperous Middle East”, she said, urging all non-governmental organizations and UN agencies to “align behind one plan”. However, the success of this plan hinges on Hamas decommissioning its weapons, as it committed to do in October 2025, she said, calling for every weapon to be accounted for and every tunnel and weapons depot to be decommissioned or destroyed. “Nothing will be taken on trust”, she underscored, calling for verification by impartial observers at every step.
Speakers Urge Access for Unrestricted Aid at Scale into Gaza
The United Kingdom’s delegate, also calling on Hamas to decommission its weapons and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, recalled the launch of a Call to Action on humanitarian access and healthcare in Gaza by her country’s Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, along with the foreign ministers of Jordan and Qatar, during the Assembly’s High-Level Week. The Call to Action set out what Israel needs to do: enable aid at scale and remove unnecessary restrictions, including on items designated as dual use.
Bahrain’s speaker, warning that political stagnation is deteriorating the humanitarian situation, called for the provisioning of humanitarian assistance in Gaza at scale, with the complete withdrawal of Israel in agreed phases.
Stavros Lambrinidis, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the UN, called on Israel to allow immediate humanitarian access into and throughout Gaza, including the Cyprus Maritime Corridor, to enable UN agencies including UNRWA to do their work, and to reopen Gaza border crossings and the medical corridor between Gaza and the West Bank.
Concerns over Conflict’s Regional Spillover, Call for Stronger Action, Sanctions
Egypt’s delegate, condemning “Israeli practices aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause”, pointed out that a “policy of procrastination, evading commitments and raising the ceiling of negotiating demands” will only keep the region trapped in a cycle of open-ended conflicts.
Qatar’s speaker called for the implementation of resolution 2817 (2026) on freedom of navigation, noting that her region has been at a “critical juncture” since 28 February — when attacks were launched by Israel and the United States on Iran — which had repercussions on peace and stability.
Strongly condemning repeated Israeli attacks against Lebanon, civilians and civilian infrastructure, Türkiye’s representative, speaking for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, called for deterrent sanctions against the Israeli occupation authorities, enveloping all necessary political, diplomatic, legal and economic measures to halt and dismantle the Israeli colonial settlement system in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Syria’s representative condemned repeated Israeli incursions into Syrian territory, warning that such violations threaten “the entire region” of the Middle East. Highlighting his country’s efforts to become “a pillar of stability” in the region, including reintegrating displaced populations, he said it “is tired of wars and crises and will not pose a threat to anyone”.