Security Council

8316th Security Council Meeting: Situation in Middle East Part 1

Outbreak of new Israel-Hamas conflict ‘Almost a certainty’, Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace Process warns Security Council at 8316th meeting.
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The outbreak of a new conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip is “almost a certainty” unless the international community gets to work immediately to ease tensions on the ground, without losing sight of the broader aim of a sustainable peace, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today.

In a comprehensive briefing that opened the Council’s quarterly open debate on the Middle East, including the question of Palestine, Nickolay Mladenov — speaking via videoconference from Jerusalem just hours after returning from Gaza — credited intensive preventative diplomacy by the United Nations and Egypt over the weekend with averting a fresh military confrontation between Israel and Hamas.

But he warned: “Unless we begin in earnest the crucial work required to change the current deteriorating dynamics, another explosion is almost a certainty.” Progress, he added, will require de‑escalation and calm in Gaza; strengthened coordination with the Palestinian Authority, Israel, Egypt and the United Nations; and financial support — with the human dimension at the forefront of all efforts.

He went on to report that the United Nations is closely monitoring the situation after the Israel Defense Force said it fired two missiles earlier today to shoot down a Syrian fighter jet which it claimed had infiltrated Israeli airspace. “These hostilities demonstrate a disturbing trajectory of increasingly frequent and dangerous confrontations,” he said, calling on all parties to abide by the 1974 separation of forces agreement.

In the ensuing debate, the Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine said Israel is continuing its oppression of Palestinians. “It is imperative that the international community act urgently to prevent further assaults against Palestinian civilians” and ensure the lifting of Israel’s blockade, he emphasized, calling also for sustainable funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) after the United States announced that it would cut back its contribution to that entity.

Israel’s delegate said it is time for the Council to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization on a par with Al‑Qaida and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh). Twelve years since Hamas seized Gaza, peace in the region is a “figment of the imagination” because Hamas values death over life, he said. He also noted his country’s weekend rescue of “White Helmets” volunteers from Syria and the downing of the Syrian aircraft.

The representative of the United States asked where Arab countries were in terms of encouraging Palestinian reconciliation, denouncing Hamas terrorism or supporting the compromises needed for peace. If they really do care, those countries would condemn Arab extremism and tell the Palestinian leadership that it looked foolish condemning a peace proposal it has yet to see. Arab leaders are afraid to tell them the truth, she stated, adding that it is time for regional States in particular to help Palestinians — rather than making speeches at United Nations Headquarters, thousands of miles away.

Kuwait’s representative, the sole Arab member of the Council, said his delegation holds Israel responsible for the escalation of violence and for systematic policies that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Noting that the Gaza blockade has been in place for more than a decade, he reiterated the importance of ending the economic and humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinian people.

Other speakers today reiterated the support of their respective Governments for a political resolution of the Israel‑Palestinian conflict based on the two‑State formula, while at the same time condemning terrorism and appealing for restraint. Many touched upon other Middle East issues, from the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Yemen to the formation of a new Government in Lebanon and the future of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Venezuela’s representative, speaking for the Non‑Aligned Movement, faulted the United States for using its veto to block a draft resolution on Gaza in June. “The Security Council has been unable to fulfil its mandate on this important question due to the prevalence of particular interests of a permanent member,” he said, also reiterating the bloc’s grave concern over the lack of accountability for violations committed by Israel.

Iran’s representative said the Israeli regime’s brutalities have only intensified since the Council’s last open debate on the Middle East, “confident in the unequivocal support of the United States and emboldened by the Council’s inaction”. Focusing on Israel’s new “Jewish Nation‑State Law”, he said it should be revoked for contravening the United Nations Charter, international law and the basic principles of international human rights law.

Egypt’s representative said the Israel‑Palestinian conflict persisted not for a lack of ideas or resolutions, but rather, of desire for serious negotiations. Stressing that Gazans faced an UNRWA crisis, confrontations with Israel’s security forces and obstructed movement, he said Egypt, in solidarity, is working to lessen the humanitarian crisis, while it has no legal responsibility to open the Rafah border crossing. He went on to call for resumed negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis based on clear, defined guidelines and principles taken from Council resolutions, notably resolution 2334 (2016). “These principles will not leave,” he said, adding that they reflected inalienable rights.

Pakistan’s representative, however, noted that some have called for both sides to exercise restraint, whereas the issue is a struggle between an occupied people and an occupying Power. “Glossing over this incontrovertible reality would be tantamount to drawing moral equivalence between the acts of the aggressor and the aggrieved,” she pointed out. Furthermore, recent Security Council inaction on the question of Palestine has led the General Assembly to take a more proactive role in order to fill the void, she said.

Also speaking today were representatives of the Russian Federation, China, Kazakhstan, France, Peru, Netherlands, Equatorial Guinea, Poland, Côte d’Ivoire, United Kingdom, Ethiopia, Bolivia, Sweden, Lebanon, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Norway, Japan, Nigeria, Turkey, South Africa, Maldives, Cuba, Qatar, Jordan, Ecuador, Bangladesh (on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation), Indonesia, Egypt, Malaysia, Morocco, Viet Nam and Brazil.

Also delivering statements were representatives of the European Union, League of Arab States, and the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

The meeting began at 10:08 a.m. and ended at 3:32 p.m.

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