New York (UNA/WAFA) – The UN Security Council held a meeting last night on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
The meeting was chaired by Greece's representative to the United Nations, Evangelos Sekeris, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Council this month.
The Council heard briefings from Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher and Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office in New York, Angelica Jacom.
In his briefing, Fletcher told the Council members: “Before we begin, I ask you to consider for a moment the work we will tell future generations that each of us has done to stop the 21st-century horrors we witness daily in Gaza.”
Fletcher added that Israel is "deliberately and shamelessly imposing inhumane conditions" on civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory, stressing that "every one of the 2.1 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip faces the risk of starvation."
He added that the United Nations and its partners are striving to resume the provision of humanitarian assistance on a large scale throughout the Strip.
“We have strict mechanisms to ensure our aid reaches civilians, but Israel is denying us access and putting its goal of depopulating Gaza before civilian lives,” he said.
He stressed that Israel, as the occupying power, must agree to and facilitate the provision of aid, emphasizing that "for those who still feign doubt, the distribution mechanism designed by Israel is not the solution."
He said the Israeli plan "conditions aid on political and military objectives, and makes starvation a bargaining chip. It's a cynical sideshow. It's a deliberate distraction. It's a cover for more violence and displacement."
Fletcher noted that the United Nations had met repeatedly with Israeli authorities to discuss the proposed mechanism, but had not found it to meet the minimum conditions necessary for its participation.
The Under-Secretary-General said the United Nations had briefed the Council on the deaths, injuries, destruction, hunger, disease, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and repeated, widespread displacement, as well as the deliberate obstruction of relief operations and “the systematic destruction of Palestinian life and its support in Gaza.”
He added that the International Court of Justice is examining whether genocide is taking place in Gaza and will evaluate the testimony provided by humanitarian agencies, "but it will be too late."
He continued, addressing the Council members: "For the sake of the dead and those whose voices were silenced: What additional evidence do you need? Will you act now—firmly—to prevent genocide and ensure respect for international humanitarian law? Or will you instead say, 'We have done everything we can.'"
He called on the occupying authorities to stop killing and wounding civilians, lift this "brutal siege," and allow humanitarian workers to save lives.
He added: "Today, the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Yunis was bombed again, with more civilian casualties reported."
“I can tell you from my own visit to what remains of Gaza’s medical system,” Fletcher continued, “that death on this scale has a sound and a smell that never leaves you.”
Fletcher told the Security Council that the horrific violence in the West Bank had reached its worst levels in decades.
He said that in its war in the West Bank, Israel is "using heavy weapons, military methods of warfare, excessive force, forced displacement, demolitions, restrictions on movement, and continuing illegal settlement expansion."
He added, "Entire communities have been destroyed, refugee camps have been evacuated, settlements are expanding, and settler violence continues at alarming levels, sometimes with the support of Israeli forces." He noted that settlers kidnapped a 13-year-old girl and her 3-year-old brother, who were found tied to a tree.
For her part, Angelica Jacom, Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), stressed that the situation in Gaza is extremely difficult, with millions of people facing severe food insecurity and "the threat of famine is imminent." She pointed to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report, which confirmed that all Gaza residents remain at risk of famine.
“We are witnessing a systematic collapse of the basic conditions for survival,” she said in her briefing to the Council. “The people of Gaza are not only suffering from food shortages, but also from a profound collapse of their health, livelihoods, and social fabric, leaving entire communities in despair, devastation, and death.”
She warned that agricultural food systems in the Gaza Strip have collapsed, food prices have risen sharply, and local food production has been devastated.
Jacques added that nearly 75 percent of agricultural land, which contributed about a third of daily consumption, has been damaged or destroyed since the escalation of hostilities.
She explained that livestock production has been devastated, with nearly 95 percent of livestock and more than half of sheep and goat herds dead, and the price of wheat flour having increased by 3000 percent since February 2025.
“By the time famine was declared, people were already starving to death, with irreversible consequences that will last for generations,” said Jacom. “The opportunity to help is now.”
For her part, the UK's Permanent Representative to the United Nations called on Israel to lift its blockade on aid entry, stating that the World Food Programme had warned a week ago that its supplies in Gaza were running out.
She pointed to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report, which stated that all residents of Gaza are at risk of famine.
The UK stressed that it will not support any aid mechanism that pursues political or military objectives or places vulnerable civilians at risk, calling on Israel to urgently engage with the United Nations to ensure the resumption of aid deliveries in accordance with humanitarian principles.
She reiterated her outrage over the killing of members of the Palestine Red Crescent Society and the bombing of the UN Office for Project Services headquarters last March.
The French ambassador to the United Nations said his country opposes the mechanism for distributing and managing humanitarian aid proposed by Israel, noting that it contravenes international law and does not meet needs.
He called on Israel to immediately lift obstacles to humanitarian supplies and aid worker activity in Gaza, stressing that Israel's violations of international law will not contribute to its security and will endanger the stability of the region.
"The only thing allowed into Gaza is death," said Tawfik Koudri, Algeria's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations. "Bombs and bullets enter the Strip, while milk is denied to babies. Water and medicine are banned. The crossings are closed to life."
He added, "We are witnessing, live and in full view of everyone, a systematic starvation crime being perpetrated by the Israeli occupation against more than two million Palestinians. A clear and complete crime."
“Families are being bombed, children are being burned, and people are not only starving, but are being left to die slowly while the world records the tragedy and then turns the page,” he said.
He stressed his rejection of the Israeli plan for distributing aid, saying it "does not meet the urgent and basic needs of more than two million people."
He stressed that it is no longer possible for the world to "stand by and watch a people being silently exterminated, besieged by betrayal, and stripped of their most basic rights to life."
He called for a permanent and comprehensive halt to "this aggression, lifting the siege on Gaza, opening the crossings to humanitarian aid, and halting all forms of forced displacement."
(is over)
