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8244th Security Council Meeting: Situation in Middle East
Amid escalating tensions, outside interference and growing risks of potentially explosive miscalculations, from Gaza to Syria to Yemen, everyone in the region must “step away from the brink”, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today.
“What happens in the Middle East today has immediate implications for the rest of the world,” said Nickolay Mladenov, cautioning that a general lack of progress should worry everyone. “The fires of the Middle East continue to expand and shift, and the Israeli‑Palestinian conflict remains a perpetual source of oxygen for militants and radicals across the Middle East.”
With such rapidly shifting dynamics, he said, the United Nations was tirelessly working to prevent further deterioration while supporting national processes across the region and particularly in Gaza. “I firmly believe there is a way out,” he said. “These challenges are political, man‑made and, thus, resolvable if all sides firmly commit to supporting practical solutions in Gaza that can be implemented quickly, effectively and sustainably. But, Gaza is only part of the story. We must also step up our efforts to support parties in advancing a sustainable Israeli‑Palestinian peace on the basis of the two‑State solution.”
Following the briefing, both sides delivered statements reflecting their delegations’ perspectives on the stalled peace process at a time when tensions were flaring over demonstrations for Palestinians’ right to self‑determination and deadly violence along the security fence separating Israel from Gaza.
“There is nothing peaceful about terrorists firing over the fence at our positions,” said Israel’s representative, stressing that the protests were not nonviolent nor the product of grass‑roots efforts. Instead, Hamas’ goal was to infiltrate Israel’s territory and harm as many innocent people as possible, he said, underlining his country’s right to protect its citizens.
“The truth, however, is that Israel does not want peace,” said the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, recounting recent deaths of innocent protesters at the border fence in an ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing against non‑Jews. The protesters had only been demanding their rights, including to return to their land, he said, stressing that Palestinians were living through the longest military occupation and the most protracted refugee crisis in modern history.
During the day‑long debate, delegates overwhelmingly urged both parties to stop the violence, return to peace talks, hammer out an agreement and move the two‑State solution from paper to reality. Peru’s delegate echoed a common call for an independent investigation of deadly incidents at the Gaza‑Israel border fence to hold perpetrators accountable.
Many representatives urged Israel to end construction on occupied lands, with Bolivia’s delegate asking that the Council be provided with up‑to‑date maps of settlement activities. Others asked Israel to employ calibrated responses and the Palestinian Authority to assert control over Gaza.
Deploring the growing humanitarian crisis, delegates pledged support for continued assistance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), including Japan’s representative, who announced a $10 million contribution. Many voiced approval of the Secretary‑General’s Personal Representative and his going efforts to calm tensions.
But, new developments threatened to add fuel to the fire, some said. Several representatives, including those from Kuwait, Russian Federation and South Africa, pointed at the decision of Guatemala and the United States to move their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Agreeing, María Rubiales de Chamorro, Vice‑Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, said such unilateral decisions contravened relevant United Nations resolutions, irreversibly setting back prospects for peace and derailing the viability of the two‑State solution. Current peace process issues included the joint establishment of Jerusalem‑Al‑Quds (East Jerusalem) as the respective capitals of Israel and the State of Palestine. Against that backdrop, she welcomed and supported President Mahmoud Abbas’ peace initiative, as presented to the Council on 20 February, noting the international consensus regarding a peaceful and just solution to the question of Palestine.
Delegates also voiced other concerns about pressing issues in the region. Syria’s delegate said the Special Coordinator had failed to mention Israel’s violations in the Golan. Meanwhile, the United States’ representative expressed alarm at the widespread use of human shields in conflicts across the region, including by Hamas, Hizbullah, Houthi militants and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh).
Spotlighting concerns about air strikes in war‑torn Yemen that had recently targeted and killed 50 guests at a wedding party, Côte d’Ivoire’s representative said that despite the international community’s concerted efforts, the humanitarian situation across the country would continue to deteriorate in the absence of an inter‑Yemeni political dialogue. He also, like other delegates, expressed strong support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran’s nuclear programme.
On the situation in Syria, the representative of the European Union condemned the repeated use of chemical weapons, with a recent attack in Douma breaching international law. He also highlighted the pledging conference in Brussels on earlier in the week that had mobilized $4.4 billion to address humanitarian needs in Syria. Qatar’s representative noted her Government had committed $100 million to that effort.
Also delivering statements were representatives of the United Kingdom, China, France, Poland, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Sweden, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia (for the Arab Group), Brazil, South Africa, Iran, Norway, Liechtenstein, Venezuela (for the Non‑Aligned Movement), Turkey, Namibia, Pakistan, Morocco, Botswana, Indonesia, Cuba, Maldives, Malta, Nigeria, Malaysia, Viet Nam, Egypt, Iceland, Iraq (for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation), Jordan, Bahrain and Bangladesh, as well as the Holy See and the League of Arab States.
The meeting began at 10:14 a.m. and ended at 4:48 p.m.