Last November this Council adopted UN Security Council Resolution 2803, endorsing President Trump\u2019s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It continues to offer a historic opportunity to achieve lasting peace. But eight months on, implementation risks stalling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now is the time for all parties to fulfil their commitments under the plan, in full.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In that context, I will highlight three priorities to reinvigorate implementation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
First,\u00a0we need further action to improve\u00a0the humanitarian situation in Gaza.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Civilians continue to endure horrendous conditions surrounded by sewage and rubble.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We welcome the progress that has pulled Gaza back from the levels of famine seen last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, according to the IPC\u2019s latest snapshot, 1.2 million people still face significant food shortages, with projections indicating 90% of the population will remain dependent on humanitarian aid to survive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While food may be available in some private markets, it remains unaffordable or inaccessible for many Palestinians, particularly the most vulnerable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Averting famine cannot be a benchmark for success. Nor can improving the humanitarian situation be conditional on progress on other tracks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Israel must fulfil its commitments under the Comprehensive Plan by ensuring unimpeded humanitarian access.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This includes opening more crossings into Gaza, streamlining the dual-use approvals process, and allowing life-saving and essential recovery items to enter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We are also deeply concerned by reports of Hamas obstructing humanitarian operations, as Deputy Special Coordinator Alakbarov set out today.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That includes the recent incident at a World Food Programme distribution centre.<\/p>\n
Actions that disrupt the lifesaving assistance are unacceptable.<\/p>\n
The UN, including UNRWA, and NGOs must be able to operate safely and at scale so that they can help alleviate the suffering.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Second,\u00a0we need renewed momentum on security, governance, and recovery in Gaza.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We reiterate that Hamas must fulfil its commitments to decommission its weapons and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
This should be phased and verified alongside a strengthened Palestinian security presence, deployment of an International Stabilisation Force, and a sequenced Israeli withdrawal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the recent Palestinian Donor Group, the UK joined the Team Gaza Initiative and announced over 13 million dollars for the UN Horizon Fund.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
These commitments should support Palestinian-led delivery across all of Gaza.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There can be no permanent arrangements that entrench Gaza\u2019s division or leave millions of people living under Hamas control.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thirdly,\u00a0the trajectory in the West Bank and East Jerusalem remains deeply alarming.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
We are appalled by the violence in the West Bank on 24 July, in which four Palestinians and two Israelis were killed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We condemn violence on all sides and call for de-escalation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We urge the Israeli government to exercise restraint, to uphold stability and international law, and to ensure accountability for crimes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We are also alarmed by the mass incursion at the Haram al Sharif Temple Mount on 23 July by thousands of Jewish worshippers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Status Quo on Jerusalem\u2019s holy sites is clear and should be respected.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We are further concerned by reports of an incursion by Israeli forces on an UNRWA training centre near Kalandia refugee camp yesterday morning.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
These incidents form part of a broader deterioration in the stability and security of the West Bank, fuelled by settler violence and Israeli government policies.<\/p>\n
104 Israeli settlements have been approved in four years, and billions of dollars allocated to speed up construction. Together, these represent a deliberate attempt to erode the possibility of a two-state solution.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madam President, the path to peace requires the parties to demonstrate the political will needed to realise the promise of the comprehensive peace plan.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
We must now renew momentum across all tracks and deliver positive change on the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That is the only route to a future based on a two-state solution that delivers peace, security, and dignity for Palestinians and Israelis alike.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last November this Council adopted UN Security Council Resolution 2803, endorsing President Trump\u2019s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza.\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-715779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}