Full statement delivered by Her Excellency Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations, in explanation of vote during the UNSC meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question

Colleagues,

Guyana is disappointed that this Council has once again been unable to deliver a ceasefire for the people of Gaza. A ceasefire is the difference between life and death for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and others trapped in the war zone that the Gaza Strip has become.

The delegation of Algeria has approached the tabling of this resolution with great patience, transparency and inclusivity. It has listened to all sides, acquiescing to requests for additional time to be given to other efforts underway. It has been almost three weeks since the draft was first circulated and we still find ourselves at square one. In that time, almost two thousand Palestinians were killed in Gaza and more than two thousand injured.

In those three weeks, every aspect of life in Gaza has gotten worse. Internal displacement has increased, with a serious crisis underway in Rafah.

Food insecurity continued to worsen, with the latest Integrated Food Security and Nutrition Phase Classification (IPC) report stating that Gaza now has the highest share of persons facing devastating levels of acute food insecurity that the IPC has ever classified for any given area or country. The humanitarian situation has been described as “increasingly severe.” Humanitarian access is extremely limited, and people’s desperation has led to them looting aid trucks to secure a morsel of food.

The population is in dire straits. The most vulnerable among them including children, the elderly and people with underlying conditions are especially vulnerable to malnutrition.

And all of this is happening in freezing temperatures.

In that time, we have also seen a further hardening of positions for the worse. For example, we have heard the determination of the Israeli Government to proceed with a ground operation in Rafah despite the strong urgings to the contrary by many of its friends and partners, and others in the international community. We know what a ground operation in Rafah would mean for the people who were driven there by the Israeli Defence Force.

The ICJ orders of 26 January are being completely ignored as though there is no obligation to adhere to them.

UN personnel are continuing to operate in Gaza under these extremely dangerous circumstances, with unprecedented numbers of them killed since 7 October. Deconfliction mechanisms are not being respected so everyone is at risk and nowhere is safe.

Dear colleagues, what else needs to happen before we act for the people in Gaza? How many more lives must be lost? How many more must be maimed? We need a ceasefire now. Resolutions 2712 and 2720 cannot be fully implemented if there is no ceasefire. The longer we take to agree on the need for a ceasefire, the longer the Council will be seen as being complicit in what is taking place in Gaza.

Guyana also calls for the release of all hostages taken on October 7th and Palestinians unlawfully detained in Israeli prisons without trial.

Though progress has been stalled for decades, the two-state solution still remains the best option for a permanent and lasting resolution of the Palestinian question. The current situation in Gaza puts the two-state solution at great risk, especially given the rhetoric from some Israeli Government officials.

I call on the Council to act now for Gaza and for the future of both Palestine and Israel. A peaceful and stable Israel depends on a peaceful and stable Palestine – the two are not mutually exclusive. And a peaceful Palestine and Israel is crucial for lasting peace and stability of the Middle East region.