Statement by H.E. Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the UN, on behalf of the 10 Elected Members of the Security Council, at UN Security Council meeting on: The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question

Thank you, Madame President, for so swiftly facilitating the request to convene this meeting.

I have the honour to introduce this draft resolution on behalf of the ten elected Member States of the Security Council, namely Algeria, Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Switzerland and my own country, Guyana.

The resolution before the Council is the product of several weeks of consultations among all Council members. It was prompted by the Council’s deep concern over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, including what was unfolding in north Gaza, and the need for an urgent response to that situation.

I take this opportunity to thank all delegations for their very constructive stance throughout the negotiations. Your flexibility has allowed us to develop a text which we feel responds to many critical elements of the conflict.

Madame President,

The text before us recalls the Security Council’s primary responsibility to uphold international peace and security and demands an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire to be respected by all parties and reiterates the Council’s demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. This is one of the most important provisions of the text since it addresses some of the most fundamental concerns regarding the ongoing hostilities.

The text also demands that the parties comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law.

Emphasis is also placed on the last four resolutions adopted by the Council in relation to the conflict, reaffirming the provisions of those resolutions and demanding in particular the full and unconditional implementation of resolution 2735 adopted in June.

Critically, the draft also demands immediate access by the civilian population in the Gaza Strip to basic services and humanitarian assistance indispensable to its survival, while rejecting any effort to starve Palestinians. It also demands the facilitation of full, rapid, safe and unhindered entry of humanitarian assistance at scale to and throughout the Gaza Strip and the delivery of that assistance to all Palestinian civilians who need it, including to civilians in besieged north Gaza.

The draft resolution acknowledges UNRWA as the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza and calls on all parties to enable the Agency to carry out its mandate in all areas of operation.

Madame President,

The text represents a broad consensus achieved on the basis of careful, inclusive and transparent negotiations. While several divergent positions have found a balance in the text, the dominant concern has been to provide a legally binding obligation to end the hostilities in Gaza.

The E10 sincerely hopes that all delegations will support the text since it aligns with our Charter responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

I thank you.