{"id":309343,"date":"2025-07-23T07:46:55","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T11:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=309343"},"modified":"2025-08-25T14:59:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T18:59:13","slug":"security-council-convenes-to-debate-recent-developments-in-middle-east-press-release","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/security-council-convenes-to-debate-recent-developments-in-middle-east-press-release\/","title":{"rendered":"Security Council Convenes to Debate Recent Developments in Middle East – Press Release"},"content":{"rendered":"
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9963rd Meeting (AM & PM)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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SC\/16126<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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23 July 2025<\/div>\n
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Israel Is Doing UN\u2019s Job, Says Delegate, Citing Fight against Terror<\/h3>\n

Following a new evacuation order in Gaza\u2019s\u00a0Deir al Balah amid intensified hostilities, speakers at the Security Council emphasized the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire and for scaling up life-saving humanitarian aid to assuage the needs of a starving population.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis nightmare of historic proportions must end immediately,\u201d said Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific<\/a>, Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, as he updated the 15-member organ on the recent developments in the Middle East, including the Occupied Palestinian Territory.<\/p>\n

Pointing out that today\u2019s meeting takes place as intensive talks continue over a potential Gaza ceasefire agreement and release of hostages, he said: \u00a0\u201cIt is crucial that this leads to a permanent end to the war and the release of all hostages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Human Toll Increasing \u2018By the Hour\u2019<\/strong><\/h4>\n

However, the horrific situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, with Israeli military operations and hostilities expanding throughout the Strip and the human toll mounting by the hour, he said, adding: \u00a0\u201cThe intensive Israeli military operations in Deir al Balah that has resulted in still further Palestinian displacement and direct strikes on two UN guesthouses has further exacerbated the dire situation and impeded humanitarian operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Citing figures from Gaza\u2019s Ministry of Health that point to the killing of 1,891 Palestinians in Gaza since his last briefing on 30\u00a0June, he said that some 294 of them were reportedly killed while attempting to collect aid, including in the vicinity of militarized aid distribution sites.<\/p>\n

Against that backdrop, he echoed the Secretary-General\u2019s calls for the repeated displacement of the population in Gaza to cease, for the hostages to be immediately and unconditionally released, as well as his condemnation of the 17\u00a0July Israeli strike on the Catholic Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City, which killed three and injured several others.<\/p>\n

He also voiced concern over the high levels of violence driven by ongoing Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank, pointing to several lethal incidents, including the 1\u00a0July killing of a 17-year-old Palestinian boy during an operation in Ramallah.<\/p>\n

\u201cI implore the parties first and foremost to end this war,\u201d he said, underscoring the urgent need for a ceasefire and for steps to be taken to reverse the trajectory across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, alongside fiscal relief for the Palestinian Authority.<\/p>\n

Deaths by Design<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine, spotlighting the deaths by starvation of two toddlers, among fifteen people dying of hunger within the past 24 hours in Gaza, called for the saving of the 2\u00a0million people who remain in the war-ravaged enclave, 1\u00a0million of whom are children. \u00a0Israel is targeting surviving Palestinians in a scheme to take over the land, he said, deploring the deaths of hunger and thirst \u201cby design\u201d of those desperately trying to get food and water. \u00a0\u201cWhat is being done now that could actually stop this horror?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

Citing measures, including the International Court of Justice\u2019s landmark opinion adopted a year ago, he underscored the need for a coalition of the willing to end the occupation and the conflict. \u00a0\u201cRed lines are useless if they can be crossed over and over again without consequences. \u00a0[\u2026] Words are meaningless if they are not followed by action,\u201d he stressed. \u00a0The international conference to be convened at the end of the month by Saudi Arabia and France provides an opportunity to transform international law into an achievable plan to end the occupation and the conflict once and for all, he added.<\/p>\n

Israel Making Middle East Safer<\/strong><\/h4>\n

For his part, the representative of Israel said that while his country is working tirelessly to bring the 50 innocent hostages home from Gaza, Hamas has rejected every offer. \u00a0\u201cThe suffering of its own people is its greatest weapon,\u201d he stressed. \u00a0While chaos reigns in the Middle East, with Hizbullah rearming in Lebanon, Iran\u2019s \u201cgenocidal regime\u201d attempting to restart its nuclear programme; and unimaginable atrocities perpetrated against Syria\u2019s Druze minority, Israel is \u201cmaking the region safer for everyone who values peace and calm\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn other words, we are doing the work of the United Nations,\u201d he said, taking issue with the Organization for clinging to its political agenda and defending its agencies which have abandoned neutrality. \u00a0Critiquing \u201cbaseless\u201d statements made by officials at the\u00a0Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, he said that\u00a0hundreds of the agency\u2019s employees are undergoing security vetting, with key personnel to be denied renewal of their permits, \u201cfollowing clear evidence of strong affiliation with Hamas\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIsrael will continue to do what is necessary to protect its people, defend its borders, help neighbours in need and bring its hostages home; we invite the UN, finally, to do the same,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

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More documents related to this meeting:<\/em><\/p>\n