Children eat high-energy biscuits at a nutrition screening clinic in Gaza.
This article is published in association with United Nations.
Nearly two years of war in Gaza along with continued violence and settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank – and talk of an imminent takeover by Israel of the whole Strip – formed the backdrop to a Security Council meeting on Wednesday, as UN officials underscored the need to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
“Today the world looks on in horror as the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory continues to deteriorate to levels not seen in recent history,” said Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, speaking from Jerusalem.
He began by focusing on Gaza, which is “sinking deeper into disaster, marked by rapidly mounting civilian casualties, mass displacement, and, now, famine”, with no end in sight to the conflict.
Worst fears becoming reality
“For a population already struggling to survive, Palestinians in Gaza are seeing their worst fears become reality in front of their eyes,” he said, referring to Israel’s announcement of its decision to take over Gaza City, which is ongoing.
“Expanded military operations in Gaza City will have catastrophic consequences, including displacing hundreds of thousands.”
Air strikes intensify
Mr. Alakbarov briefed the Council alongside Joyce Msuya, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, and two guests: Inger Ashing, Chief Executive Officer at Save the Children International, and Ilana Gritzewsky, an Israeli hostage who survived Hamas captivity in Gaza.
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He reported that Israeli military strikes have intensified throughout the Strip, hitting tents housing displaced people, schools, hospitals, and residential buildings.
Since 23 July, at least 2,553 Palestinians have been killed, according to the health authorities. Of this number, some 271 were reportedly killed attempting to collect aid, including in the vicinity of militarized distribution sites.
Additionally, over 240 journalists have been killed since the war began on 7 October 2023 following deadly Hamas-led attacks on Israel.
Although the UN and partners are working tirelessly to assist the people in Gaza, “the security risks are extremely high, and current mitigation measures are woefully insufficient,” he said.
“On my recent visit to Gaza, I was stunned at the scale of the destruction and suffering. I met humanitarian workers risking their lives to deliver aid, while themselves living in intolerable conditions,” he added.
Meeting with survivors and families of hostages
The UN official also visited affected communities in Israel and met survivors of the terror attacks as well as family members of some of the hostages.
“I saw the shattered homes of Nir Oz, where one in four residents was either murdered or abducted on 7 October. I met survivors who carry unbearable loss and trauma,” he said.
Around 50 people, including one woman, are still being held by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, and 28 are believed to be deceased.
Videos released by Hamas and Palestinian Jihad depicting emaciated Israeli hostages were deeply disturbing, he said, stressing that ill-treatment and abuse of hostages constitute a blatant violation of international law.
© UNICEF/Ahed Izhiman
Children in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank looking at the destroyed shelters following recent military operations. (file)
West Bank violence
Meanwhile, the situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, “continues to spiral dangerously downward” and “the territory envisioned for a future Palestinian State is shrinking, while a one-State reality of unlawful occupation and perpetual violence is rapidly advancing.”
Israeli security forces have continued operations in northern cities and refugee camps, displacing more than 32,000 people. Furthermore, security forces killed nine Palestinians, four of them children, during the three-month reporting period.
Settlement expansion
Since the start of the war in Gaza, settler attacks have escalated in frequency and become more violent and deadly, he said, while attacks by Israelis have also continued. The uptick in violence has increasingly led to forced displacement, with settlers then moving in and establishing outposts. At the same time, Israel is “fast-tracking settlement expansion, including in the most highly strategic areas.”
Mr. Alakbarov recalled that the Israeli High Planning Committee recently approved a plan for the construction of more than 3,400 housing units in the E1 area.
“If implemented, the move would effectively sever the connection between the northern and southern West Bank. As such, it would further undermine the possibility of a viable and contiguous Palestinian state,” he warned.
Israeli authorities also continued to demolish Palestinian-owned structures, he added, and 175 Palestinians, including 70 children, have been displaced.
Regional tensions
Mr. Alakbarov noted that the developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are taking place amid a volatile regional context, with more exchanges of fire between Houthi rebels in Yemen and Israel forces occurring this week, along with continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon and an incursion in Syria.
Uphold the two-State solution
“The message from the international community is clear: the two-State solution remains the only viable path toward a just and lasting resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he said.
Calling for bold action, he urged the international community to work collectively to advance practical steps, including through engagements during the high-level week of the UN General Assembly in September.
“With Gaza immersed in a situation so horrendous that it defies basic humanity and with the West Bank facing genuine threats to its long-term existence, we can no longer wait,” he said.
Gaza famine ‘a created catastrophe’
Ms. Msuya’s briefing centered around the recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis confirming that famine is occurring in Gaza governorate – phase 5 conditions – and is expected to spread in the coming weeks.
She drew attention to some of the numbers, saying over half a million people currently face starvation, destitution and death, which could exceed 640,000 by the end of September.
Approximately one million Gazans are in emergency phase 4 and over 390,000 face phase 3 crisis conditions, she continued.
At least 132,000 children under five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition between now and the middle of next year, while the number of those who risk dying has tripled to over 43,000.
Among pregnant and breastfeeding women, the number is predicted to rise from 17,000 to 55,000.
“Let us be clear: This famine is not a product of drought or some form of natural disaster,” she said. “It is a created catastrophe – the result of a conflict that has caused massive civilian death, injury, destruction and forced displacement.”
End this ‘human-made crisis’
Ms. Msuya urged the Council to ensure an immediate and sustained cessation of hostilities to save lives and stop famine from spreading.
She also called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and for civilians and critical infrastructure to be protected.
Furthermore, safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access through all entry points must occur, and aid – including food, medicine, water, fuel and shelter – has to be delivered to all people in need.
Her final request was for the restoration of commercial flows of essential goods at scale, market systems, essential services and local food production.
“Ending this human-made crisis demands that we act as if it were our mother, our father, our child, our family trying to survive in Gaza today,” she said.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider
Ilana Gritzewsky, survivor of Hamas captivity and partner of Matan Zangauker, addresses the United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.
A former hostage’s appeal
Ms. Gritzewsky, who lived at the Nir Oz kibbutz near the border with Gaza, recalled the moment her life was brutally changed on the morning of 7 October 2023.
She told ambassadors she had been grabbed by the hair, hit in the stomach, thrown against a wall, and sexually assaulted, all while being filmed by her terrorist attackers.
“Nothing will ever be the same,” she said.
Ms. Gritzewsky said she received no medication and did not see a doctor during 55 days of captivity.
She is now fighting for the release of the hostages, particularly her partner, Matan Zangauker, and made a passionate appeal to the Security Council to act for the release of all those still being held.
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