<\/p>\n
27 September 2024<\/p>\n
9734th Meeting (PM)<\/p>\n
Watch Security Council’s proceedings on UN Web TV<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Convening two days after its emergency meeting on Lebanon, the Security Council deliberated on the situation in the Middle East, particularly Gaza, and heard from over 25\u00a0speakers, including the Secretary-General, who again urged the sharply divided Council to unite and support an immediate ceasefire leading to the creation of a Palestinian State. \u00a0(For background, see Press Release\u00a0SC\/15834<\/a><\/em>.)<\/p>\n \u201cWe need this ceasefire now \u2026 and avoid a regional war at all costs,\u201d urged United Nations Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres. \u00a0Pointing to Israel\u2019s ongoing strikes, including today on civilian buildings in Beirut believed to be Hizbullah\u2019s headquarters, he warned: \u201cShockwaves radiating from the unprecedented death and destruction in Gaza now threaten to push the entire region into the abyss: \u00a0a full-scale conflagration with unimaginable consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n Noting that the 700\u00a0Palestinians and 14\u00a0Israelis killed since 7\u00a0October\u00a02023 was the highest number on both sides in more than two decades, he reported that Gaza was now the most dangerous place in the world for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and described how, on\u00a09 September, soldiers pointed their weapons directly at UN convoy personnel on its way to support the polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, construction of new settlements, landgrabs, demolitions and settler violence continued, he said.\u00a0 Israeli authorities were still limiting and preventing the international media from reporting from the Occupied Palestinian Territory.<\/p>\n \u201cGaza remains the epicentre of violence.\u00a0 And Gaza is the key to ending it,\u201d he underscored, reiterating his appeals for the immediate release of hostages, mobilization of the international community for an immediate ceasefire and the beginning of an irreversible process toward end of the occupation and the creation of a Palestinian State.\u00a0 \u201cI urge the Council to unite in support of an immediate ceasefire leading to a viable two-State solution.\u00a0 This is the only way to end the cycle of tragedy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mohammad Mustafa, Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Observer State of Palestine, rebuking the 15-nation organ tasked to maintain international peace and security, said its double standards have left Palestinian children, women, elderly, doctors, journalists and teachers, as well as humanitarian workers without protection or support \u201cas if they were not even human beings\u201d.<\/p>\n Israeli massacres have not ended and the Council to this day has not put an end to that country\u2019s aggression, he continued. \u00a0It did not put pressure on the Israeli Government to put an end to the war, or stop its invasion of cities in the West Bank, its attacks against unarmed Palestinian citizens and the Lebanese people.<\/p>\n \u201cOur call is clear,\u201d he said, enumerating, among other things, the need to recognize the State of Palestine and support its membership to the UN, join the global alliance to end the occupation and implement the two-State solution. \u00a0\u201cA free Palestine is the sole key that can unlock a peaceful future for our region\u2026 It starts with the decision that each State will make today,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n However, the representative of Israel said Hizbullah, since 8\u00a0October, has launched over 9,000\u00a0rockets and more than 1,000\u00a0anti-tank missiles and hundreds of explosives and unmanned aerial vehicles at Israeli civilians. \u00a0\u201cIt is time to hold Iran and its proxy accountable and take decisive action,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n Recalling the 7\u00a0October\u00a02023 massacre, he reported that more than 100\u00a0hostages remain in Hamas\u2019 grasp and the bodies of six hostages were found brutally murdered.\u00a0 Yet, the Palestinian Authority refused to condemn Hamas and instead continues to protect them.\u00a0 \u201cHow can you expect to govern Gaza when you have allowed strong terrorist thresholds to flourish in your backyard?\u201d he asked, underscoring that Israel was left with no choice but to act.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will not stop until our citizens are safe,\u201d he said, insisting that Israel has made every effort to protect Gaza\u2019s civilian population and ensure the continued flow of humanitarian aid.\u00a0 While Israel will continue to go above and beyond its international obligations, the Palestinian Authority must be forced to condemn terrorism, renounce Hamas and change their radical positions that fuel this cycle of violence, he said.<\/p>\n In the ensuing debate, Member States called for an immediate ceasefire and for the international community and for the Council in particular to continue pursuing diplomatic solutions \u2014 especially as regional spillover becomes a dangerous reality in the Middle East.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no winner in a competition of pain,\u201d Japan\u2019s<\/strong> delegate observed. \u00a0The parties, in particular Hamas, must swiftly move towards the conclusion of a deal in accordance with this Council\u2019s resolution 2735 (2024). \u00a0The representative of the Republic<\/strong> of<\/strong> Korea<\/strong> concurred, echoing that there was still time to turn back \u201cand extinguish these fires through reinvigorated diplomacy\u201d.<\/p>\n Joining that call for diplomacy, the United<\/strong> States<\/strong> representative emphasized that an \u201call-out war is not inevitable\u201d.\u00a0 She urged Member States to support the proposal that her country, France and others put forward, outlining a 21-day ceasefire between Hizbullah and Israel that would provide space for a diplomatic solution, pull Hizbullah\u2019s forces back from the border and allow people to safely return to their homes in both countries.\u00a0 This framework would also set the stage for the reunification of Gaza and the West Bank under a revitalized Palestinian Authority.<\/p>\n However, Sergey Lavrov, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation<\/strong>, describing the Gaza Strip as the largest open-air prison from which people cannot flee, addressed the United States\u2019 representative, noting: \u201cThe choice is yours. Either you continue to block the work of the Security Council or stand on the side of the world and demand an end of the war.\u201d<\/p>\n Ray Collins of Highbury, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the United Kingdom<\/strong>, voiced support for the proposal, urging Israel and Hizbullah to immediately agree to a ceasefire. \u00a0Further, ahead of winter, Israel must ensure that supplies and equipment can enter Gaza, he said, echoing concerns about humanitarian provisions expressed by the representatives of Sierra Leone and Switzerland.<\/p>\n In a different vein, Hugh Hilton Todd, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Guyana<\/strong>, condemned the false and misleading information being put out about what is happening in Gaza.\u00a0Citing claims about the UN\u2019s inability to handle the flood of aid and misinformation about the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East\u00a0(UNRWA), as well as the killing of journalists wearing clearly marked press vests \u00a0he stated:\u00a0 \u201cThere is power in information, and it is clear that this is among the cache of weapons that the occupying Power is using in this war.\u201d<\/p>\n Malta\u2019s<\/strong> representative expressed grave concern that the situation in the West Bank was quickly edging towards catastrophe, which \u201cwould extinguish any remaining hope for peace\u201d.\u00a0 Similarly, Manuel Gon\u00e7alves, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique<\/strong>, urged Israel to hold accountable any individuals and entities responsible for violence against civilians in the West Bank.<\/p>\n Ministers and other representatives of Arab and Middle Eastern States, including Badr Ahmed Mohamed Abdelatty, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates of Egypt<\/strong> and Bassam Sabbagh, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Syria<\/strong>, who spoke for the Arab Group<\/strong>, were united in their support for the State of Palestine and repeated calls on Israel to end its aggression and on the Council to carry out its responsibilities.<\/p>\n Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iran<\/strong>, underscored that American weapons constitute a major part of Israel\u2019s weapons and, therefore, the United States is implicated in every aspect of Israeli atrocities. \u00a0Ahmed Attaf, Minister for Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad of Algeria<\/strong>, reminded the Council that it has \u201cmoved heaven and earth in previous situations\u201d.<\/p>\n Signalling a sign of hope for a Palestinian State, Wang Yi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of China<\/strong>, recalled the recent and historic adoption of the first resolution introduced by the State of Palestine demanding implementation of the International Court of Justice advisory opinion, and ending the Israel\u2019s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n Similarly, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia<\/strong>, noted that the Palestinian question remains the most important crisis that requires the Council\u2019s attention.\u00a0 His country, together with Norway, launched the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two State Solution<\/strong> on 27\u00a0September.<\/p>\n Joining Ecuador\u2019s<\/strong> representative, who urged Member States to remember the spirit of the Oslo Accords, was Espen Barth Eide, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Norway<\/strong>, whose country facilitated the agreements in 1993.\u00a0Realizing that negotiations could not go on eternally, he announced that Norway, together with Slovenia, Spain and Ireland, had joined a list of countries \u2014 currently 149 \u2014 that have recognized the State of Palestine.<\/p>\n He also called on Member States to join the Global Alliance. \u201cWe have to change gear and accelerate this work now, and see how we can come out of this deadlock and try to use this deep crisis also as an opportunity,\u201d he told the Council.\u00a0 Adding to that, he declared: \u201cWe want one Palestine, not different \u2018Palestines\u2019. \u00a0We want that Palestine that came out of the Oslo Accords.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 27 September 2024 9734th Meeting (PM) Watch Security Council’s proceedings on UN Web TV Norway\u2019s Minister for Foreign Affairs Urges Universal Recognition for State of Palestine in UN, Two-State Solution Based on 1993 Oslo Accords Convening two days after its emergency meeting on Lebanon, the Security Council deliberated on the situation in the Middle 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Minister for Foreign Affairs Urges Universal Recognition for State of Palestine in UN, Two-State Solution Based on 1993 Oslo Accords<\/strong><\/h3>\n