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STORY: UN / PALESTINE
TRT: 4:27
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 23 SEPTEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
22 SEPTEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Various shots, United Nations Headquarters
23 SEPTEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
3. Wide shot, Security Council
4. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We must seize this momentum. The so-called “day after” in Gaza must be anchored in international law, reject any form of ethnic cleansing, and have a clear political horizon toward a viable two-State solution.”
5. Wide shot, Security Council
6. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The calls of the International Court of Justice must be heeded – including for Israel to immediately cease settlement activities and end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The illegal occupation must end. And we must support Palestinian institutions — politically and financially — to carry out essential reforms and ensure fiscal stability.”
7. Wide shot, Security Council
8. SOUNDBITE (French) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“A just and lasting peace will never be built through more violence. It demands a collective commitment – to diplomacy, to international law, to the dignity of all people. There are actions that the Security Council must take. There are responsibilities each member of this Council must uphold. We cannot let this fragile moment slip away.”
9. Wide shot, Security Council
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Yvette Cooper, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, United Kingdom:
“The UK's historic recognition of the State of Palestine this week is part of our commitment to peace. Part of acting to protect the viability of the two-state solution as the only path to a just and lasting peace, and to security for Palestinians and Israelis alike. Part of rejecting extremist ideas on all sides, which involved too often fantasies of the destruction of the State of Israel or expulsion of the Palestinian population. We reject both of those and part of our wider effort to work with partners on a long-term peace, not just to halt the immediate crisis, but advance and a pragmatic plan for what comes next.”
11. SOUNDBITE (French) Jay Dharmadhikari, Deputy Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations:
“Yesterday, the president of the French Republic announced France's recognition of the State of Palestine. This gesture reflects a profound conviction. The security of Israel and justice for the Palestinians are inseparable. They can only be guaranteed through the coexistence of two sovereign and democratic states living side by side in peace and security, with Jerusalem as their capital. This decision, shared by many other countries, opens a political path that we must consolidate.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Waltz, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“We again, we, the United States, again demand Hamas immediately release all 48 remaining hostages and their remains, cease putting civilians in harm's way, cease sacrificing their own people for propaganda aims that they disarm and that they surrender. This war could end today if that happened.”
14. Wide shot, Security Council
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Waltz, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“Unilateral recognition statements do not alter the reality on the ground. It does not alter the fact that there is not a Palestinian State to recognize. And at this point, there is no credible Palestinian partner for peace.”
16. Wide shot, Security Council
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer to the United Nations, Palestine:
“Recognition of the State of Palestine is an affirmation that the world rejects such denial, rejects the attempts at our destruction, and supports our right to existence, our right to self-determination.”
18. Wide shot, Security Council
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer to the United Nations, Palestine:
“The slaughter must stop. The destruction must stop the occupation made famine must be brought to an end without delay. Israel must fully withdraw its forces, and the Palestinian people should have freedom and dignity.”
20. Wide shot, Security Council
Secretary-General António Guterres said that a just and lasting peace in Gaza “will never be built through more violence,” stressing “it demands a collective commitment – to diplomacy, to international law, to the dignity of all people.”
Guterres today (23 Sep) spoke at a Security Council meeting on Gaza, describing the current situation one of the darkest chapters of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Guterres once again appealed for an immediate permanent ceasefire; the immediate, unconditional release of all hostages; and immediate, unconditional and unhindered humanitarian access.
The Secretary-General welcomed the recognition of Palestinian statehood by many more countries, including permanent members of the Council, France and the United Kingdom, noting that this is the clearest path to a two-State solution – Israel and an independent, sovereign, democratic, viable and contiguous State of Palestine – living side by side in peace and security, on the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the capital of both States, based on international law and UN resolutions.
“We must seize this momentum,” Guterres highlighted, adding “The so-called ‘day after’ in Gaza must be anchored in international law, reject any form of ethnic cleansing, and have a clear political horizon toward a viable two-State solution.”
The UN chief also said, “The calls of the International Court of Justice must be heeded – including for Israel to immediately cease settlement activities and end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
“The illegal occupation must end. And we must support Palestinian institutions — politically and financially — to carry out essential reforms and ensure fiscal stability,” he added.
The Secretary-General concluded by calling for a collective commitment, “there are actions that the Security Council must take. There are responsibilities each member of this Council must uphold. We cannot let this fragile moment slip away,” he said.
The UK Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Yvette Cooper told the Council that her country’s “historic recognition of the State of Palestine this week is part of our commitment to peace.”
She went on saying it is also a part of “acting to protect the viability of the two-state solution as the only path to a just and lasting peace, and to security for Palestinians and Israelis alike. Part of rejecting extremist ideas on all sides, which involved too often fantasies of the destruction of the State of Israel or expulsion of the Palestinian population. We reject both of those and part of our wider effort to work with partners on a long-term peace, not just to halt the immediate crisis, but advance and a pragmatic plan for what comes next.”
French Ambassador Jay Dharmadhikari reiterated that the announcement of France's recognition of the State of Palestine is a gesture “reflects a profound conviction.”
He continued, “The security of Israel and justice for the Palestinians are inseparable. They can only be guaranteed through the coexistence of two sovereign and democratic states living side by side in peace and security, with Jerusalem as their capital.”
“This decision, shared by many other countries, opens a political path that we must consolidate,” Ambassador Dharmadhikari concluded.
US Ambassador Mike Waltz criticized the Council’s decision to hold a meeting on Rosh Hashanah with Israel’s absence in the Council.
Ambassador Waltz said, “we, the United States, again demand Hamas immediately release all 48 remaining hostages and their remains, cease putting civilians in harm's way, cease sacrificing their own people for propaganda aims that they disarm and that they surrender.”
“This war could end today if that happened,” the US diplomat stressed.
Ambassador Waltz also highlighted, “Unilateral recognition statements do not alter the reality on the ground. It does not alter the fact that there is not a Palestinian State to recognize.”
“And at this point, there is no credible Palestinian partner for peace,” he emphasized.
For his part, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said, “Recognition of the State of Palestine is an affirmation that the world rejects such denial, rejects the attempts at our destruction, and supports our right to existence, our right to self-determination.”
Ambassador Mansour reiterated, “The slaughter must stop. The destruction must stop the occupation made famine must be brought to an end without delay. Israel must fully withdraw its forces, and the Palestinian people should have freedom and dignity.”
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