New York (UNA/WAFA) – The UN Security Council held its monthly meeting yesterday evening on the Palestinian issue, particularly the catastrophic conditions in the Gaza Strip. During the meeting, the Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire and the flow of aid into the Strip.
The Council heard a briefing from the Acting Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Sigrid Kaag.
Kaag said that the people of the region are demanding justice and peace, and that there can be no peace without a resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The future of the region will remain bound by its past unless bold decisions are taken to break this cycle.
She added that the two-state solution is at stake and must be saved. Peace cannot be a partial or temporary arrangement, and must be based on international consensus and international legitimacy, moving from conflict management to conflict resolution.
She said the peace conference scheduled for June, to be co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, must be supported. It must launch a process to end the occupation and achieve a two-state solution, a process that unifies the West Bank and Gaza Strip and leads to a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital of both states. We must focus on decisions and implementation, not drafting new texts.
She added that the aggressive operations in the Gaza Strip have resulted in targeting civilians, and we must not get used to the number of people killed or slaughtered, including children and mothers whose lives have been destroyed. They all had names, dreams and aspirations. Civilians have been shot and are in increasingly shrinking “safe” areas, deprived of relief, and families are starving and deprived of the basics of life. A small number of goods have entered the Gaza Strip and were distributed by the United Nations. This is similar to a rescue boat after a sinking ship. It is not enough. Humanitarian aid must be in accordance with the principles of neutrality. We have a plan that we are seeking to implement, and we will not participate in any mechanism that violates human dignity. Aid cannot be subject to any negotiation or impose displacement.
She said that civilians in the Gaza Strip need a viable future, and any solution for the Gaza Strip must be a political solution that includes support for an active Palestinian government and governance that includes both Gaza and the West Bank.
“I am here not as a politician, but as a physician who witnessed the deliberate targeting of the medical system in Gaza and the erasure of an entire population in the Strip by the Israeli occupation,” said American trauma surgeon Ferrus Sedba, who has twice volunteered to treat civilians in the Gaza Strip at the European Hospital and the Nasser Medical Complex.
“The WHO constitution states that the health of all peoples is essential to security and peace,” he said. “I volunteered in several conflict zones, but in Gaza, we were working without sterilization, electricity, or anesthesia. Surgeries were performed on unclean and dirty floors, and we lacked the blood units and antibiotics available anywhere in the world. Everyone I treated were children, with shrapnel lodged in their hearts and brains. I treated pregnant women and women sheltering in hospitals, cooking in emergency rooms during the war against them.”
He said, "The foundations of life in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed by a sustained military campaign that deliberately violates international humanitarian law. Civilians are dying not only from war, but also from malnutrition, infections, the cessation of healthcare, and despair. The health of patients has deteriorated sharply, not only from wounds but also from worsening hunger and malnutrition."
He added that what is happening in the Gaza Strip is a catastrophe, depriving people of life, water, food, and medicine, and continuing the genocide. He called for an end to these atrocities.
“An entire population is on the brink of survival. I witnessed massive mass casualties, the largest in my career. At Nasser Medical Complex, half of the wounded die on arrival, as no health system in the world is capable of handling the number of casualties in Gaza. Most of the patients are children, and entire families have disappeared. Last year, the New York Times reported that 83% of participants in medical missions to the Gaza Strip indicated that they treated children shot in the chest and head. I treated 13 children shot in the head and chest.”
He said that doctors in Gaza remember their children's clothes and preserve them to identify their remains after they were bombed. I urge this Council to work on measures for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, halt arms transfers, demand the opening of Gaza's crossings, punish Israel, ensure the transfer of patients from Gaza to the West Bank for treatment, and ensure sustainable humanitarian access throughout the Gaza Strip.
Guyana's representative said that no human being should have to live through the difficult conditions experienced by Palestinians in Gaza, and that our Council must take decisive and urgent decisions based on the principle of responding to the dangerous situation prevailing in the Strip, calling for an immediate return to the ceasefire.
She added that Palestinians should not give up their rights or be forced to leave their homeland. Forced displacement is a false choice, and any peace deal must be subject to international law. The aggression on Gaza has set a precedent for violations of international law. Israel's continued blockade of aid must end, and civilians must be protected.
She said that the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip has paralyzed humanitarian efforts and prevented the delivery of aid. She called on Israel to fulfill its obligations and ensure that aid reaches civilians. The state of food insecurity in Gaza is alarming, and the scenes are being broadcast around the world, and we have done nothing.
She stressed that her country calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the lifting of the blockade on the Gaza Strip, allowing everyone to work to save lives, and reviving the two-state solution as the only just solution.
The UK representative strongly condemned the escalating Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip, adding that "a ceasefire and no bloodshed is the way to end the cycle of violence."
He said that the United Nations had warned of the danger of not delivering aid, which would exacerbate the tragedy. He noted, "We and the United Nations are ready to work and enter the Gaza Strip, and here is our message to Israel: Allow us to operate immediately."
He considered that "forced displacement is a violation of international law," noting "the danger of the provocations carried out by the colonists in the places
The Holy City, which increases tension and violence, and we will continue to work towards a two-state solution.”
The Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said that the images of the hungry and desperate people trying to obtain aid are “heartbreaking” and “deeply disturbing.”
He added, "These are people, human beings, who have been deprived of water, food, and medicine for a long time, and are fighting death by a thread," adding that this "angers the Palestinian people."
“It is shameful to see this situation, and yet we do nothing: How much more do you want?” he said, referring to the Security Council members.
He added that the UN aid plan, with its proven capabilities on the ground, remains the only viable plan for delivering relief aid, and it includes all the necessary guarantees -
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