<\/p>\n
10 August 2025<\/p>\n
9975th Meeting (AM)<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s latest decision to take over Gaza City risks \u201cigniting another horrific chapter\u201d in the conflict, a senior United Nations official said during an emergency Security Council session today, as delegates warned that this escalation will uproot a million people and exacerbate an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.<\/p>\n
Miroslav Jen\u010da, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas, Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations<\/a>, said Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s plan for \u201cdefeating Hamas\u201d includes the disarmament of Hamas, the release of all hostages; the Gaza Strip\u2019s demilitarization; Israeli security control over the Strip; and the establishment of an alternative civilian administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority. The Israel Defense Forces will also prepare to take control of Gaza City, while providing humanitarian assistance outside combat zones.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is yet another dangerous escalation of the conflict,\u201d he warned, adding that Israel foresees the displacement of all civilians from Gaza City by 7 October 2025, affecting some 800,000 people, many of them previously displaced. Reports indicate that the Israel Defense Forces would then surround the city for three months. This would then reportedly be followed by an additional two months to seize control of central Gaza\u2019s camps and clear the entire area of Palestinian armed groups.<\/p>\n \u201cIf these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings, and destruction \u2014 compounding the unbearable suffering of the population,\u201d he said. Last night, thousands of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv and cities across Israel to call for a ceasefire and a hostage release deal.<\/p>\n Emphasizing that the only way to stop the immense human suffering in Gaza is through a full, immediate and permanent ceasefire, he urged the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as rapid, safe, unimpeded and large-scale delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave. There will be no sustainable solution without an end to Israel\u2019s unlawful occupation and the achievement of a viable two-State solution, he stressed, stating: \u201cGaza is, and must remain, an integral part of a Palestinian State.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe suffering endured by Palestinians and Israelis over the past 22 months has been nothing short of soul-searing,\u201d said Ramesh Rajasingham, Director of the Coordination Division, Head and Representative of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva<\/a>. He called Israel\u2019s decision to expand military operations in Gaza a \u201cgrave escalation in a conflict that has already inflicted unimaginable suffering\u201d. More than 61,000 people have been killed, including over 18,000 children, and 151,000 have been injured, according to Gaza\u2019s Ministry of Health, while 50 hostages are believed to remain in Gaza \u2014 \u201cwith those still alive held in unthinkably inhumane and appalling conditions\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have frankly run out of words to describe\u201d humanitarian conditions, which \u201care beyond horrific\u201d, he stated, stressing: \u201cThis is no longer a looming hunger crisis \u2014 this is starvation pure and simple.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the UN has \u201cthe plan and systems in place to respond\u201d, he stated, while it is equally critical that humanitarian partners on the ground are allowed to deliver life-saving services.<\/p>\n Condemnation of Israel\u2019s Plan to Expand Military Operation:<\/strong><\/p>\n In the ensuing discussion, many speakers condemned Israel\u2019s plan to take control of Gaza City and urged that country to reverse its decision. \u201cGaza is facing hell,\u201d said Algeria\u2019s delegate, denouncing Israel\u2019s decision to displace the entire population of Gaza City and Northern Gaza, and impose full military control over the Strip. \u201cAfter twenty-two months of forced displacement, starvation and ethnic cleansing, such an operation would not merely ruin Gaza, it would annihilate what remains of it,\u201d he stated. Israel\u2019s objective is clear: \u201cTo push an entire people outside their homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n The expansion of Israel\u2019s military operation is \u201cnot a path to resolution but a path to more bloodshed,\u201d concurred the United Kingdom\u2019s delegate. The Russian Federation\u2019s delegate condemned Israel\u2019s intentions to seize Gaza as \u201cdangerous steps which undermine the already fragile prospects for the peaceful settlement of the Middle East conflict\u201d.<\/p>\n Urging Israel to retract the plan, the speaker for the Republic of Korea said that its primary target, Gaza City, is one of the few remaining areas where a large civilian population has sought tenuous refuge, and a renewed full-scale operation against it will inevitably cause another round of forced displacement and killings.<\/p>\n Also urging Israel to reverse its decision, Denmark\u2019s delegate said that the entire Strip faces famine-like conditions. Deploring the killing of starving civilians trying to get food, she stressed that \u201cthe alarming frequency and scale of these incidents are simply unacceptable\u201d and called for transparent investigations into these incidents.<\/p>\n Citing the \u201cunbearable\u201d images of children dying of hunger or civilians targeted while searching for food, France\u2019s delegate urged Israel to allow the UN and all humanitarian actors to operate freely and safely.<\/p>\n Opposing any attempts to forcibly displace the Palestinian population, Greece\u2019s delegate reiterated that any potential annexation of Gaza or any other part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory would contravene international law.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat will happen to those surviving Palestinians once Israel launches its takeover?\u201d asked Slovenia\u2019s delegate. The 1 million people living in Gaza City will be displaced once more, chased from corner to corner, to tiny camps, or even beyond. \u201cAll civilians in Gaza \u2014 Israelis and Palestinians \u2014 are hostages,\u201d he stressed, adding that the responsibility to protect them against the upcoming military onslaught \u201cweighs heavy on our shoulders\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWould any Member State of this Council allow its citizens to be subject to this type of inhumane treatment by any actor, including a fellow member State of the United Nations,\u201d asked Guyana\u2019s delegate, condemning the latest instalment in Israel\u2019s contemptible actions against the Palestinian people. \u201cWhen appeals to morality, humanity and legality fail,\u201d the Council must delve into its toolbox to save lives, she stressed, reiterating her country\u2019s preparedness to act with fellow Council members to take the relevant decisions.<\/p>\n Calls for Deployment of International Protection Force:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOnce again, we meet here in this Council as Gaza bleeds,\u201d said Pakistan\u2019s delegate, adding that Israel\u2019s plan aims to erase Palestinian presence and extinguish prospects for peace. \u201cLet us be clear: it is the culmination of a campaign of ethnic cleansing\u201d, he stressed. Those shielding Israel from accountability are complicit and must share responsibility. Further, the Council must be ready to impose a cost on Israel \u2014 including the deployment of an international protection force to save the besieged population.<\/p>\n As scenes of genocide are repeated \u201cwithout any action being taken\u201d, Kuwait\u2019s delegate, speaking for the Gulf Cooperation Council, called for urgent and binding measures to be taken under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter \u201cto stop this brutal aggression\u201d.<\/p>\n Calling for a break with \u201cwarlike logic\u201d, the representative of Panama, Council President for August, spoke in his national capacity to affirm that the Gazans \u201cdo not need more fire\u201d, they need water, medicines, food and protection.<\/p>\n An immediate ceasefire and the return of hostages are also \u201cthe very wishes of the Israeli people and the families of the hostages\u201d, observed China\u2019s representative.<\/p>\n \u201cAgainst the Israeli army stand unarmed civilians,\u201d said Senegal\u2019s delegate, underlining the need to oppose Israel\u2019s destructive force with a credible and unwavering force of law. He added: \u201cHumanity is watching us, and history will judge us.\u201d<\/p>\n The representative of Sierra Leone underscored that genuine normalization, endorsed in the Arab Peace Initiative, offers Israel the prospect of lasting peace, security and regional acceptance \u2014 but only if it is accompanied by an end to occupation and the realization of Palestinian statehood.<\/p>\n In the same vein, Iraq\u2019s delegate, speaking for the Arab Group, called for the rights of the Palestinian people to be restored \u2014 including the right to self-determination, the right to return and compensation for Palestinian refugees.<\/p>\n Somalia\u2019s representative affirmed that Israel\u2019s announcement of its intention to impose military control over the entire Gaza Strip \u201cis not an abstraction [but] a chilling blueprint for the next chapter of devastation\u201d. \u201cTrue security cannot be built on top of the ruins of justice,\u201d he asserted. Urging for a permanent ceasefire, he called the moment \u201ca test for all of humanity\u201d, as silence \u201cis not neutrality. For all the victims, it is a verdict\u201d.<\/p>\n Palestine, Israel Clash over Form of Future Gaza Administration:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine stated that the plan adopted by the recent International High-Level Conference on Palestine foresees the Palestinian Authority resuming its sole governmental and security duties in the Gaza Strip with regional and international support and Hamas handing over its weapons. If Israel\u2019s concern was the end of Hamas rule, it would have rallied behind this plan, he stressed. Israel\u2019s goal is the destruction of the Palestinian people through forced transfer and massacres to facilitate its annexation of their land. Addressing the international community, he said: \u201cYour actions today will determine the fate [\u2026] of our region for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the United States\u2019 delegate called for placing responsibility where it lies \u2014 with Hamas \u2014 which has consistently rejected ceasefire proposals, and \u201cwe know this because we are in the room,\u201d she stated. Israel has the right to decide what is necessary for its security, she affirmed, while accusations of genocide are politically motivated and categorically false, part of a cynical propaganda campaign.<\/p>\n For his part, Israel\u2019s delegate said that one of the five clear principles that the Israeli security cabinet adopted for concluding the war is the establishment of a non-Israeli, peaceful civil administration governed neither by Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority. His country\u2019s defence forces are preparing to take control of Gaza City. \u201cThis is not conquest,\u201d he stressed, as Israel has no plans to permanently occupy Gaza. \u201cThis is liberation\u201d from a terror regime. The Council had urgently convened to \u201cchastise the one democracy in the Middle East\u201d \u2014 while its urgency should be directed towards dismantling Hamas, freeing the hostages and ensuring that such atrocities never happen again, he asserted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 10 August 2025 9975th Meeting (AM) \u2018This Is Liberation\u2019 from Terror Regime, Says Israel\u2019s Delegate, Denying Intention to Permanently Occupy Gaza Israel\u2019s latest decision to take over Gaza City risks \u201cigniting another horrific chapter\u201d in the conflict, a senior United Nations official said during an emergency Security Council session today, as delegates warned that […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1329],"document-source":[1362],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1769,2265,2005,6848,1741,1805],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-310065","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-press-release","document-source-security-council","document-subject-armed-conflict","document-subject-ceasefire","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-hostages","document-subject-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law","document-subject-occupation","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/310065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/310065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":310146,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/310065\/revisions\/310146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=310065"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=310065"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=310065"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=310065"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=310065"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=310065"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=310065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}