Statement by UK Permanent Representative to the UN,
Ambassador , at the UN Security
Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East.
The death toll in Gaza has reached over forty thousand. Water,
sanitation and health infrastructure has been almost completely
destroyed. Disease and the risk of famine pose further deadly
threats.
And Israel continues to reckon with the appalling toll of October
7th with 101 hostages still held captive in Gaza, subject to
unimaginable horror.
Elsewhere in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and across the
region, tensions are escalating.
We need to see three things:
First, an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, and
ramping up of aid in Gaza. A deal is the best way to get the
hostages home. Force will not provide a sustainable solution to
the conflict. The ceasefire and hostage deal, driven by the
commendable efforts of the US, Qatar and Egypt, has to be
finalised as a matter of urgency.
We call upon Hamas and Israel to agree the deal, and in the
meantime for Hamas to grant the ICRC humanitarian access to the
hostages whose ordeal continues. Our message to Hamas: let them
go.
With winter fast approaching, we call on Israel to take swift
action to allow the UN and humanitarian actors to do their job.
By making de-confliction work, re-opening land routes for aid,
and supporting preparations for winter by allowing a rapid
increase in the volume of items for shelter and infrastructure
repair.
Second, we must address the deteriorating situation in the West
Bank. Expansion of settlements, in clear violation of
international law, undermines prospects for peace and must cease
immediately.
We have witnessed, with grave concern, how an increasing number
of Israeli settlers have systemically used harassment,
intimidation and violence to pressure Palestinian communities to
leave their land. We call on Israel to hold those responsible to
account.
We reiterate our clear position that any attempt to alter the
geographic or demographic make-up of the Occupied Palestinian
Territories through the use of force and outside of a negotiated
solution is wholly unacceptable and illegal.
We also call for an end to the divisive and inflammatory rhetoric
we have seen from some Israeli Ministers, which serve to fuel
aggression towards Palestinians and humanitarian workers.
Finally, we need to galvanise a political process towards a
two-state solution. As the ICJ has advised, Israel should bring
an end to its presence in the Occupied Territories as rapidly as
possible.
The UK is clear: this must be done through a negotiated solution,
with reunification of Gaza and the West Bank, including East
Jerusalem, in line with 1967 borders and under the effective
control of the Palestinian Authority. Peace must be premised upon
a safe and secure Israel alongside a safe and secure Palestinian
state.
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