Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question

Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN:

“To our great regret, all efforts by the UN Security Council to establish a ceasefire and release the hostages have to date been blocked by the US, who since October 7 last year has exercised the veto right six times only to make it possible that the Israeli military operation in Gaza continues, endangering the lives of the hostages.

Since the beginning of the escalation, more than 45,000 Palestinians – mostly women and children – have been killed in Gaza, and that’s just the ones we know about.

We do not dispute the fact that Israel is a sovereign State and do not question their right to defense. However, we are concerned that Israel invokes this right not only to justify counterterrorism action on its territory, but also to disguise collective punishment of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank, attacks on Lebanon and Syria and occupation of the Syrian land.

It seems that Israeli authorities believe that in order to fully ensure defense they need to create a barren wasteland around Israel. And negotiating with the Palestinians, Lebanese and Syrians is something that West Jerusalem is planning to do exclusively from the position of force and intimidation, expecting that Washington will always cover for them and provide them with the necessary diplomatic and military support.

But it is not the way to resolve conflicts, it is the way to aggravate them.

-The continued illegal construction and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem does nothing but undermine the negotiated solution to one of the issues regarding the final status (territory and borders).

-The entry into force early next year of the Knesset bills banning United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) will mean the termination of its functions and dismantling of the key UN Agency (to which there is no alternative) that provides assistance to the Palestinians.

Not only does such a step directly violate the UN Charter, UNGA resolutions on the Agency’s mandate, and international law but it also paves the way to removing the refugee issue as a one of the final status issues (along with borders, water resources, and Jerusalem).

– Israeli actions in Gaza over the past months do not make us hopeful that Israel, as the occupying power, will take over all the UNRWA functions.

Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question

Madam President,

We thank UN Assistant Secretary General Khaled Khiari for his comprehensive report on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We have closely listened to Shira Efron and Michael Levy.

We express our sincere condolences to Mr. Levy and his family, as well as to all families held hostage by Hamas and other Palestinian groups. We do hope that their release will come as quickly as possible. To our great regret, all efforts by the UN Security Council to establish a ceasefire and release the hostages have to date been blocked by the US, who since October 7 last year has exercised the veto right six times only to make it possible that the Israeli military operation in Gaza continues, endangering the lives of the hostages. As far as we understand, only one third of the Israelis captured are now on the exchange lists being discussed by negotiators. We do wish that you ultimately be reunited with your brother. As for the Council’s silence and its alleged unwillingness to condemn the Hamas act of violence, the Security Council was ready to do that as early as October 18, 2023, but our American colleagues vetoed the relevant draft resolution, which they do not like to recall today.

Distinguished colleagues,

As can be clearly seen from the statement made by Mr. Khiari, Security Council resolution 2334 is not being implemented.

The Israelis continue with their plans to build new settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. They systematically destroy Palestinian homes under trumped-up pretexts that these houses have supposedly no construction permits. And the pinnacle of cynicism is that Palestinians are compelled to demolish their homes with their own hands if they cannot afford to pay high duties to the Israelis. It makes a mockery of human dignity.

The continued illegal construction and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem does nothing but undermine the negotiated solution to one of the issues regarding the final status – namely, territory and borders. All this flouts UNSC and UNGA decisions, including the September resolution adopted at the 10th emergency special session of the UNGA in support of the second advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the OPT.

What is particularly alarming in this context is statements by the Israeli officials regarding the forcible change in the demographic composition of Gaza to “recolonize” the enclave. We are deeply outraged at the passage by the Knesset of a law that entitles the Israeli Interior Ministry to send to Gaza those Palestinians who didn’t inform the Israeli security forces of the criminal intents of their relatives. Thus, any Palestinian who the Israeli authorities deem unreliable can end up in Gaza, where they will be destined to die either from starvation or bombing. And these are the laws that are passed by the country which claims to be the only democracy in the Middle East!

We think that such steps are unacceptable, as are the public appeals by certain members of the Netanyahu Government to annex the West Bank. We categorically object to the policy of creating “facts on the ground”. Anyway, the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful in terms of international law and there can be no justification for it. We call on West Jerusalem to immediately start implementing resolution 2334 and cease all settlement activity.

Madam President,

Many have spoken today about the ongoing violence in the OPT and cited horrifying statistics. Since the beginning of the escalation, more than 45,000 Palestinians – mostly women and children – have been killed in Gaza, and that’s just the ones we know about. Against the background of such a monstrous death toll, the statistics on the West Bank remain somewhat off-radar. But there, from October 2023 to October 31, 2024, 736 Palestinians died, even though formally there is no ongoing military operation in the West Bank! The life of Palestinians in the West Bank is already almost unbearable. The Secretary General’s report vividly illustrates how senseless and ruthless the Israeli settlers are in their violence. On October 5, 40 Israelis armed with guns, clubs, crowbars and pepper sprays went on a “hunt” for olive pickers. They beat up 25 Palestinians, broke their limbs and smashed their heads. Among the victims were one child, one disabled person, several women, and one elderly person. After that the settlers threw away the entire harvest and stole the equipment. Then came the Israeli policemen, who are supposed to maintain law and order in the country, where allegedly the rule of law is observed. But what did they do? – They dispersed the Palestinians using stun grenades.

Such a treatment of Palestinians as second-class people is totally unacceptable, and the international community is duty bound to put an end to this heinous policy by West Jerusalem.

The situation in the West Bank cannot be considered outside of the broader context of the escalation in Gaza. For over a year now, efforts to stop it have consistently failed. UNSC members have many times tabled draft resolutions demanding an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza as the first step towards stabilizing the situation in the OPT. Unfortunately, the United States, as we have already said, has repeatedly vetoed these documents, stating that no one should impose a peaceful solution on Israel.

We do not dispute the fact that Israel is a sovereign State and do not question their right to defense. However, we are concerned that Israel invokes this right not only to justify counterterrorism action on its territory, but also to disguise collective punishment of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank, attacks on Lebanon and Syria and occupation of the Syrian land. It seems that Israeli authorities believe that in order to fully ensure defense they need to create a barren wasteland around Israel, and that wasteland should be targeted by Israeli tanks, drones and fighter jets. And negotiating with the Palestinians, Lebanese and Syrians is something that West Jerusalem is planning to do exclusively from the position of force and intimidation, expecting that Washington will always cover for them and provide them with the necessary diplomatic and military support.

But it is not the way to resolve conflicts, it is the way to aggravate them. If you push people to the situation when they have nothing to lose, then don’t be surprised that radical ideas have become so popular. Nor should we be surprised at the fact that the process of normalizing relations between the regional players and Israel is actually frozen amid the bloodshed in Gaza.

Instead of looking for solutions to existing problems, West Jerusalem is creating new ones. The entry into force early next year of the Knesset bills banning UNRWA will mean the termination of its functions and dismantling of the key UN Agency (to which there is no alternative) that provides assistance to the Palestinians. Not only does such a step directly violate the UN Charter, UNGA resolutions on the Agency’s mandate, and international law but it also paves the way to removing the refugee issue as a one of the final status issues (along with borders, water resources, and Jerusalem). Israeli actions in Gaza over the past months do not make us hopeful that Israel, as the occupying power, will take over all the UNRWA functions.

Madam President,

We believe that there is an alternative to what is happening in the OPT. This alternative is in the will of the international community. This will has manifested itself when at the UNGA 10th Emergency Special Session, the overwhelming majority of the UN member states adopted the draft resolution that supported the UNRWA mandate and demanded a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Russian position of principle on the Middle East settlement concurs with the will of the international community. We advocate an unconditional ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian access, release of all hostages and forcibly detained persons and relaunch of the peace process on an internationally-agreed legal basis. Only thus will it be possible to achieve lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis and remove the source of destabilization for the entire region.

Thank you.

Video of the statement

Statement by PR Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East

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Resources:
https://t.me/LauraAbolichannel/65847
https://russiaun.ru/en/news/middleeast_181224
https://rutube.ru/video/private/e53a89945c2578c1fe63674cde9aaecd/