UN Security Council briefing by Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. --- "Since the submission of the Secretary-General's written report on Security Council resolution 2334 (2016), hostilities and violence have continued throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In the Gaza Strip, hostilities between Israel Defense Forces and Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, including heavy Israeli bombardment throughout the Strip, have resulted in heavy casualties. In the occupied West Bank, high levels of violence persist amid ongoing Israeli operations, exchanges with armed Palestinians, settler violence and Palestinian attacks against Israelis. Among other deadly strikes in Gaza, from 14 to 15 December, at least 69 Palestinians, including women and children, were reportedly killed in four Israeli strikes on schools sheltering IDPs in Gaza City, Beit Hanoun and Khan Younis, including 20 killed in an airstrike hitting an UNRWA school in Al-Mawasi, Khan Younis. The Israel Defense Forces said they were targeting Hamas militants. More than 250 Palestinians have been killed in such strikes in Gaza over the past week, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The death toll of this war continues to mount. Since October 7th 2023, more than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza according to the Ministry of Health and over 1700 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in attacks in or originating from Gaza according to Israeli sources. In the occupied West Bank, on 12 December, an Israeli boy was killed in a shooting attack on a bus near the Al Khader junction in the occupied West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Israeli authorities said that the Palestinian perpetrator later turned himself in. The same day, Israeli forces reportedly killed a Palestinian man in an exchange of fire in Balata refugee camp near Nablus. Serious clashes have also taken place between Palestinian armed groups in the occupied West Bank and Palestinian security forces since the written report, particularly in Jenin camp following a Palestinian arrest operation and the seizure of Palestinian Authority vehicles by militants. Over several days, PSF have killed an unarmed 19-year-old and detained numerous Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants, while the clashes have caused significant damage to the camp". --- "I remain deeply alarmed by the relentless Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, that is fueling tensions, impeding access by Palestinians to their land and threatening the viability of a future independent, democratic, contiguous and sovereign Palestinian State. I reiterate that all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have no legal validity and are in flagrant violation of international law and United Nations resolutions. I am deeply concerned that, over the past year, the Government of Israel has continued to systematically promote policies that have strengthened the involvement of civilian officials in control over the occupied West Bank, including transferring some security functions to civilian control, while some Government officials called for the annexation of areas in the occupied West Bank. I urge the Government of Israel to cease all settlement activity immediately". --- "The devastation and misery of the past year have reinforced once again a simple truth: Palestinians and Israelis can no longer wait to establish a viable political horizon. Now is the time to lay the foundations for a better future for Palestinians, Israelis and the broader region. Israelis, Palestinians, the States of the region and the broader international community must urgently take steps that will enable the parties to re-engage on the long-delayed political path to achieving a two- State solution. The United Nations remains committed to supporting Palestinians and Israelis in ending the occupation and resolving the conflict in line with international law, relevant United Nations resolutions and bilateral agreements in pursuit of the vision of two States – Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous, viable and sovereign Palestinian State of which Gaza is an integral part, – living side by side in peace and security within secure and recognized borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the capital of both States".

• published: 19 Dec 2024
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