Statement delivered by H.E. Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations at the United Nations Security Council meeting on "The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question
Your Excellency Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France,
Thank you for convening this high-level open debate. I also thank Secretary-General Guterres for his sobering briefing.
Mr. President,
The situation in the occupied Palestinian territory remains at the center of the conflagrations we are witnessing in various parts of the Middle East region. Except we are able to resolve the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, peace in the region would remain elusive.
Guyana continues to follow the alarming developments in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The combination of military operations by air, land and sea in Gaza and the blockade of aid for more than fifty (50) days, continues to engender death, malnutrition and severe hardships for the population in Gaza. In the West Bank, Israel’s ongoing military operations continues to fuel large scale displacement, destruction of property and death and insecurity for civilians. Israel must bring its war in Gaza to an end, and must cease its military operations in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The protection of civilians must be the foremost priority,
Mr. President,
We have listened with great concern to the Secretary-General’s account of the situation in Gaza today. Gaza is extremely dangerous for humanitarians carrying out lifesaving work and for civilians who are trying to eke out an existence amidst the misery that completely encompasses them. Movement is dangerous for aid workers since deconfliction and coordination mechanisms are non-functional, and access restrictions impede their operations. Further, with the aid blockade in effect since 2 March, vital supplies are running out. We noted with concern, for example, the announcement by the World Food Programme (WFP) last Friday that it had run out of food stocks in Gaza. Further, we noted that hot meals kitchens in Gaza may soon run out of food. We are, in effect, watching as more and more Palestinians are condemned to die through starvation, bomb or bullet, or disease. And all of this in violation of unambiguous tenets of international law that prohibit such treatment of civilians. The Council must demand accountability for these egregious assaults on civilians in Gaza.
Mr. President,
The statistics coming out of the Gaza Strip should compel this Council to urgent action. Since 7 October 2023, more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 116,000 injured. At least 418 aid workers, including 295 UN staff, have been killed in Gaza as a result of the war between the IDF and Hamas. Since 7 October, 210 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed. At least 1.9 million people – or about 90 per cent of the population – across Gaza have been displaced, some of them ten (10) times or more. Indeed, since 18 March, at least twenty (20) displacement orders have been issued by the Israeli military. And over two thirds of the Gaza Strip are considered “no-go” areas. These statistics paint a horrific picture of the circumstances to which Palestinians have been deliberately subject, and one is compelled to draw the same conclusion as OCHA did, that this is “deprivation by design.”In the occupied West Bank, displacement is also in the rise; civilians, including children continue to be killed; demolition of Palestinian-owned structures continues unabated as do attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians.
Guyana therefore reiterates the following four appeals.
First, we call for an immediate return to the ceasefire, for the release of all remaining hostages from Gaza and for urgent, unimpeded humanitarian access into Gaza. We have taken note of ongoing efforts to have the parties agree to return to the implementation of the ceasefire deal and call on Hamas and Israel to cooperate fully in line with resolution 2735.
Second, we call for the protection of civilians to be prioritized in accordance with international humanitarian law. We also call for the UN agencies, including UNRWA, operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to be given full facility to carry out their mandate.
Third, Guyana also calls for the protection of United Nations (UN) personnel, aid workers, and journalists operating in Gaza. Too many of these workers have been killed and injured as they attempted to bring relief to Palestinians or draw attention to their plight.
Fourth and final, Guyana appeals for a return to negotiations towards the achievement of the two-state solution in keeping with relevant UN resolutions. We look forward to the High-Level International Conference in June and hope that there will be some concrete outcomes that can take us closer to that goal.
I thank you.
