WATCH: UN Security Council Talks as Gazans Die; Israel Calls for SG’s Head

Foreign ministers spoke at the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday as the humanitarian catastrophe continues to mount in Gaza. Israel called on the U.N. secretary-general to resign after he called for Israel to obey the laws of war.  

The meeting took place after two draft Security Council resolutions were defeated last week, one by the lone vote of the United States.  Here are the transcripts of the speeches delivered on Tuesday by the Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Mali, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, whom Israel then called on to resign after he asked for an end Israel’s occupation. Guterres said: “I am deeply concerned about the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza.  Let me be clear:  No party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law.”  

 

Statement by H.E. Dr. Riad Malki, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine, before the Security Council Open Debate on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestine Question, 24 October 2023:

We are here today to stop the killing, stop the massacres being committed against the Palestinian people.

The ongoing massacres – being deliberately and systematically and savagely – perpetrated by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian civilian population under its illegal colonial apartheid occupation must be stopped. The Security Council has a duty to stop them. The international community is obliged under international law to stop them. It is our collective human duty to stop them. Now. Continued failure at this Council is inexcusable.

Mr. President, we express appreciation to Brazil for convening this session of the Security Council and elevating its participation in light of the gravity of the situation we are facing. We thank the Secretary-General of the United Nations for his sobering briefing and for his tireless efforts and that of the U.N. agencies and humanitarian staff on the ground, particularly UNRWA, working round the clock under the most inhumane conditions to aid our people and uphold a minimal sense of humanity… We mourn with them the senseless killing of UNRWA staff and other humanitarian workers, including doctors, nurses, and paramedic who were directly targeted by this ongoing barbarous aggression. They are heroic champions of humanity at a time of abject depravity.

Mr. President,

Over 2 million Palestinians are on a survival mission every day, every night. By the time representatives are done delivering their speeches today, 150 Palestinians will have been killed, including 60 children. In the last two weeks, over 5700 Palestinians have been killed, including over 2300 children and 1200 women. More than 15,000 have been injured, while at least 1,500 are missing under the rubble. I repeat – SEVENTY PERCENT of all casualties are women, children and the elderly. Compared to the population of Gaza, that is the equivalent of 145,000 British citizens or 700,000 US citizens. Almost all those killed are civilians. 1.4 million Palestinians have been displaced. Many of them have no homes to go back to because Israeli bombardment has levelled or destroyed up to 50% of homes in the Gaza Strip, more than 170,000 homes destroyed. Take a minute to think about these numbers and absorb the enormity of this man-made catastrophe.

Excellencies,

Only international law and peace are worthy of your countries’ unconditional support. More injustice and more killing will not make Israel safer. No amount of weapons, no alliance, will bring to it security. Only peace will. Peace with Palestine and its people. The fate of the Palestinian people cannot continue to be dispossession, displacement, denial of rights and death. Our freedom is the condition of shared peace and security.

You have all spoken of the Palestinian people’s legitimate grievances, address them/ of their legitimate aspirations, help achieve them/ of their right to self-determination, support its realization.

For those actively engaged to avoid an even greater humanitarian catastrophe and regional spillover, it must be clear that this can only be achieved by putting an immediate end to the Israeli war launched against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Stop the bloodshed.

There is no amount of humanitarian aid that can address the situation if more death, destruction and devastation are imposed on our people in Gaza. There is no way to contain underlying tensions in our region if that reality does not change. There are so many fronts open for war and none for peace.

Some of my colleagues spoke to me about the pain and anger of bereaved families. Every family in Gaza is a bereaved family. No one is spared. No one is safe. Where is the solidarity with them? Where is the empathy towards them? Where is the outrage for their killing? If these expressions are genuine, they can not be accompanied by excuses for the killer, and reasons for him to continue the killing.

We should be on the same side, all of us who believe in justice and peace, in the rule of international law, in the value and sanctity of human life. We should stand shoulder to shoulder in these moments. But that is only possible if everyone recognizes the value of Palestinian life, the need to uphold Palestinian rights. This is only possible if you offer unconditional support to the rule of international law and the objective of peace, not to those breaching the former and destroying the latter. Sooner or later, you will have to admit that the interests of your countries and those of this Israeli government are not aligned but rather opposed. The sooner you recognize it, the more lives can be saved, the more chance we have to walk back from the abyss.

It may be hard to imagine in these circumstances a different reality. The effort and energy it would take, the difficult choices it implies, the political cost it carries, the changes to policies it entails. But as we said repeatedly, it is worth it. Because of the alternative. The one we are living in right now. The one the Palestinian people have been experiencing for decades. There is a reality where no Palestinians and no Israelis are killed, where all enjoy equal measures of freedom, peace and security. That reality is the one that deserves all your efforts and all your resources. Invest in peace, not war. Support justice not vengeance. Stand for freedom, not justify continued subjugation.

Billions of people from all faiths and all origins care about the fate of the Palestinian people. They measure against it all the statements and positions of your countries. They consider it the ultimate test for the values one proclaims, and the norms we all enacted. In Gaza, under the rubbles lies over 1000 Palestinians and all the values and all the norms. Under the bombs, two million Palestinians, and all the values and all the norms. Abandoning the Palestinian people is betraying those values and norms. You either rescue the international-law based order, or leave it to die there.

We thank all those who have taken an unequivocal position and offered support, starting with the countries of our region, who understand more than any other the implications of the continued inhumane and barbaric attacks against our people, but also countries across the globe, the peoples in your streets, the moral voices of this world. Listen to them.

You have families, and some of you evoked them when Israelis were killed. How you could not but think of your loved ones and what pain and suffering you would feel if they had endured a similar fate. I am therefore convinced you can not be numb to a reality where all the people you love, your parents, grandparents, siblings, children, grandchildren, aunts, uncles and cousins, and in-laws, are all in danger of imminent death, or worse, have all been killed in one strike, in one instant. That is happening repeatedly. Can you feel their pain? Can you imagine the day after for them? For that child who is the only survivor of his entire family? Can you then imagine how we feel when anyone claims this is for the better? Can you imagine your loved ones, besieged and bombed, deprived of the essential goods for their survival, their fate dependent on a decision to allow or prevent fuel, water and food from entering, with any delay meaning a death sentence for many?

If you say you are for international law, international humanitarian law, and for protection of civilians, then nothing can justify what Israel is doing. This is targeting of civilians, or at best inhumane, unlawful indiscriminate attacks. This is collective punishment. Once you remove the principles of humanity and distinction from the laws of war, nothing remains.

What Israel is doing is consistent with its belief that we are sub-humans, or human animals as they put it. But surely you don’t share that belief. You do not believe our lives are less worthy, less sacred, more expendable. So imagine what you would do if bombs were falling on Israel killing civilians by the thousands and then ask why is this any different. Israel has killed thousands of Palestinians over the years, and yet no one suggested that entitled us to start killing Israeli civilians. Neither under a right to defend ourselves, to protect our own, or to resist. Your message was always clear: Nothing can justify killing Israeli civilians. Well, nothing justifies killing Palestinian civilians. Nothing.

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL  

REMARKS TO SECURITY COUNCIL ON THE MIDDLE EAST  

New York, 24 October 2023

[as delivered]

Mr. President, with your permission I would like a small introduction and then ask my colleagues to brief the Security Council on the situation on the ground. 

Excellencies,  

The situation in the Middle East is growing more dire by the hour.   

The war in Gaza is raging and risks spiralling throughout the region.   

Divisions are splintering societies.  Tensions threaten to boil over. 

At a crucial moment like this, it is vital to be clear on principles — starting with the fundamental principle of respecting and protecting civilians. 

I have condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented 7 October acts of terror by Hamas in Israel.  

Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians – or the launching of rockets against civilian targets.  

All hostages must be treated humanely and released immediately and without conditions.  I respectfully note the presence among us of members of their families.  

Excellencies,  

It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. 

The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.   

They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished.  Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing.  

But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas.  And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.  

Excellencies, 

Even war has rules.   

We must demand that all parties uphold and respect their obligations under international humanitarian law; take constant care in the conduct of military operations to spare civilians; and respect and protect hospitals and respect the inviolability of UN facilities which today are sheltering more than 600,000 Palestinians.   

The relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces, the level of civilian casualties, and the wholesale destruction of neighborhoods continue to mount and are deeply alarming.   

I mourn and honour the dozens of UN colleagues working for UNRWA – sadly, at least 35 and counting – killed in the bombardment of Gaza over the last two weeks. 

I owe to their families my condemnation of these and many other similar killings.  

The protection of civilians is paramount in any armed conflict.  

Protecting civilians can never mean using them as human shields. 

Protecting civilians does not mean ordering more than one million people to evacuate to the south, where there is no shelter, no food, no water, no medicine and no fuel, and then continuing to bomb the south itself. 

I am deeply concerned about the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza.  

Let me be clear:  No party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law.  

Excellencies,  

Thankfully, some humanitarian relief is finally getting into Gaza.   

But it is a drop of aid in an ocean of need.  

In addition, our UN fuel supplies in Gaza will run out in a matter of days.  That would be another disaster.   

Without fuel, aid cannot be delivered, hospitals will not have power, and drinking water cannot be purified or even pumped.  

The people of Gaza need continuous aid delivery at a level that corresponds to the enormous needs.  That aid must be delivered without restrictions.   

I salute our UN colleagues and humanitarian partners in Gaza working under hazardous conditions and risking their lives to provide aid to those in need.  They are an inspiration.   

To ease epic suffering, make the delivery of aid easier and safer, and facilitate the release of hostages, I reiterate my appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. 

Excellencies,  

Even in this moment of grave and immediate danger, we cannot lose sight of the only realistic foundation for a true peace and stability:  a two-State solution. 

Israelis must see their legitimate needs for security materialized, and Palestinians must see their legitimate aspirations for an independent State realized, in line with United Nations resolutions, international law and previous agreements.  

Finally, we must be clear on the principle of upholding human dignity.   

Polarization and dehumanization are being fueled by a tsunami of disinformation.   

We must stand up to the forces of antisemitism, anti-Muslim bigotry and all forms of hate.  

Mr. President, 

Excellencies,  

Today is United Nations Day, marking 78 years since the UN Charter entered into force. 

That Charter reflects our shared commitment to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights.   

On this UN Day, at this critical hour, I appeal to all to pull back from the brink before the violence claims even more lives and spreads even farther.   

Thank you very much. 

The @UN Secretary-General, who shows understanding for the campaign of mass murder of children, women, and the elderly, is not fit to lead the UN.

I call on him to resign immediately.

There is no justification or point in talking to those who show compassion for the most…

— Ambassador Gilad Erdan ???? ???? (@giladerdan1) October 24, 2023

The Secretary-General reacted angrily on Wednesday to the Israeli ambassador. 

Secretary Antony J. Blinken
At the U.N. Security Council Ministerial Meeting
on the Situation in the Middle East

October 24, 2023

United Nations Headquarters
New York City, New York

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Mr. President, thank you for convening this ministerial and for convening this council.  And thank you very much, Special Coordinator Wennesland, Deputy Special Coordinator Hastings, for your important briefings.

Mr. Secretary-General, we’re grateful for your leadership in this incredibly challenging time, particularly in helping get humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.

And to the entire U.N. team – their incredible bravery, their dedication – all of those who continue to serve in some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable, we express our gratitude and our admiration.

I’m here today because the United States believes the United Nations – and this council in particular – has a crucial role to play in addressing this crisis.  Indeed, we’ve put forward a resolution that sets out practical steps that we can take together toward that end.

The resolution builds on many elements of the text that Brazil put forward last week.  It incorporates substantive feedback we received from fellow council members over recent days.  It also draws heavily on the views that I heard firsthand from partners across the region after Hamas’s appalling attack on October 7 – views that the United States shares.

First, we all recognize the right, and indeed the imperative, of states to defend themselves against terrorism. 

That’s why we must unequivocally condemn Hamas’s barbaric terrorist attack against Israel – babies riddled with bullets; young people hunted down and gunned down with glee; people, young people beheaded; families burned alive in a final embrace; parents executed in front of their children; children executed in front of their parents; and so many taken hostage in Gaza.  

We have to ask – indeed it must be asked – where is the outrage?  Where is the revulsion?  Where is the rejection?  Where is the explicit condemnation of these horrors?

We must affirm the right of any nation to defend itself and to prevent such horror from repeating itself.  No member of this council – no nation in this entire body – could or would tolerate the slaughter of its people.

As this council and the U.N. General Assembly have repeatedly affirmed, all acts of terrorism are unlawful and unjustifiable.  They’re unlawful and unjustifiable whether they target people in Nairobi or Bali, in Luxor, Istanbul, or Mumbai, in New York or Kibbutz Be’eri.  They’re unlawful and unjustifiable whether they are carried out by ISIS, by Boko Haram, by al-Shabaab, by Lashkar-e Tayyiba, or by Hamas. They’re unlawful and unjustifiable whether victims are targeted for their faith, their ethnicity, their nationality, or any other reason. 

And this council has a responsibility to denounce member states that arm, that fund, and train Hamas or any other terrorist group that carries out such horrific acts. 

Let’s not forget that among the more than 1,400 people Hamas killed on October 7 were citizens from more than 30 U.N. member states, including many of the members around this very table.  The victims included at least 33 American citizens.  Every one of us has a stake, every one of us has a responsibility, in defeating terrorism.

Second, we all agree on the vital need to protect civilians.

As President Biden has made clear from the outset of this crisis, while Israel has the right – indeed, the obligation – to defend itself, the way it does so matters. 

We know Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people, and Palestinian civilians are not to blame for the carnage committed by Hamas.  Palestinian civilians must be protected. 

That means Hamas must avoid using them as human shields.  It’s hard to think of an act of greater cynicism. 

It means Israel must take all possible precautions to avoid harm to civilians.  It means food, water, medicine, and other essential humanitarian assistance must be able to flow into Gaza and to the people who need them.  It means civilians must be able to get out of harm’s way.  It means humanitarian pauses must be considered for these purposes.

The United States has worked relentlessly to make real these principles.  We continue to coordinate closely with Egypt, Israel, and partners across the region as well as with the United Nations to build mechanisms that will enable sustained humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza without benefiting Hamas or any other terrorist group.  President Biden appointed one of our most senior diplomats, Ambassador David Satterfield, to lead our humanitarian efforts, which he is currently doing on the ground.

The United States has committed an additional $100 million in humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, bringing the total aid that we provided to the Palestinian people over the past two and a half years to more than $1.6 billion.  That makes the United States the largest single-country donor by far to the Palestinian people.  We call on all countries, particularly those with the greatest capacity to give, to join us in meeting the U.N.’s appeal for the humanitarian situation in Gaza. 

At the heart of our efforts to save innocent lives in this conflict and in every conflict, for that matter, is our core belief that every civilian life is equally valuable.  There is no hierarchy when it comes to protecting civilian lives.  A civilian is a civilian is a civilian, no matter his or her nationality, ethnicity, age, gender, faith. 

That’s why America mourns the loss of every single innocent life in this crisis, including innocent Israeli and Palestinian men, women, children, elderly people, Muslim, Jews, Christians, people of all nationalities and faiths, including at least 35 U.N. staff members.  That’s why it’s imperative that we work to protect all civilians in this conflict, to prevent more deaths atop the many that have already occurred. 

The value we place on civilian life is the driving force behind our efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza.  I, as others have, had the occasion to meet with families of those missing and suspected to be in the hands of Hamas on my recent trip.  Several, as you know, are in this room with us today.  None of us – none of us – can imagine the nightmare they’re living, something no family should have to endure.  Their loved ones must be released immediately, unconditionally, and every member of this council – indeed, every member of this body – should insist on that, insist on that, insist on that.

We’re grateful to Qatar, to Egypt, to the ICRC, for helping secure the release of four of Hamas’ hostages.  But at least 200 more – and again, from many of our nations – are still in the grip of Hamas.  So again, I implore every member here:  Use your voice, use your influence, use your leverage to secure their unconditional and immediate release.

Third, we’re all determined to prevent this conflict from spreading.  This goes to the principal responsibility of the Security Council – maintaining international peace and security.  A broader conflict would be devastating, not only for Palestinians and Israelis, but for people across the region and, indeed, around the world.  To that end, we call on all member states to send a firm united message to any state or non-state actor that is considering opening another front in this conflict against Israel or who may target Israel’s partners, including the United States:  Don’t.  Don’t throw fuel on the fire.

Members of this council and permanent members in particular have a special responsibility to prevent this conflict from spreading.  I look forward to continuing to work with my counterpart from the People’s Republic of China to do precisely that when he visits Washington later this week.

Now it is no secret to anyone in this room or on this council that, for years, Iran has supported Hamas, Hizballah, the Houthis, and other groups that continue to carry out attacks on Israel.  Iranian leaders have routinely threatened to wipe Israel off the map.  In recent weeks, Iran’s proxies have repeatedly attacked U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria, whose mission is to prevent ISIS from renewing its rampage. 

So let me say this before this council and let me say what we have consistently said to Iranian officials through other channels:  The United States does not seek conflict with Iran.  We do not want this war to widen. 

But if Iran or its proxies attack U.S. personnel anywhere, make no mistake:  We will defend our people, we will defend our security – swiftly and decisively.

To all of the members of this council:  If you, like the United States, want to prevent this conflict from spreading, tell Iran, tell its proxies – in public, in private, through every means – do not open another front against Israel in this conflict; do not attack Israel’s partners. 

And we urge members to go a step further:  Make clear that if Iran or its proxies widen this conflict and put more civilians at risk, you – you – will hold them accountable.  Act as if the security and stability of the entire region and beyond is on the line, because it is.

Fourth and finally, even as we address this immediate crisis, we all agree that we must redouble our collective efforts to build an enduring political solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.  The only road to lasting peace and security in the region, the only way to break out of this horrific cycle of violence, is through two states for two peoples.

As President Biden has underscored from day one, Palestinians deserve equal measures of security, of freedom, of justice, of opportunity, of dignity.  And Palestinians have a right to self-determination and a status of their own. 

Now, we have no illusions about how hard it will be to achieve a two-state solution.  But as President Biden has said, we cannot give up on peace.  Indeed, it’s precisely in the darkest moments, like this one, that we have to fight the hardest to preserve an alternative path, to show people making it real, improving their lives in tangible ways is possible – indeed, it’s necessary.

We have heard many countries express support in recent weeks for a durable political solution. Our message today is this:  Help us build that solution.  Help us prevent the spread of war that will make two states and broader peace and security in the region even harder to achieve.

Members of this council:  We stand at a crossroads.  Two paths lie before us.  The difference between them could not be more stark. 

One is the path offered by Hamas.  We know where it leads: death, destruction, suffering, darkness.

The other is the path toward greater peace, greater stability, greater opportunity, greater normalization and integration – a path toward people across the region being able to live, to work, to worship, to learn side by side, a path toward Palestinians realizing their legitimate right to self-determination and a state of their own.

Nothing would be a greater victory for Hamas than allowing its brutality to send us down its path of terrorism and nihilism.  We must not let it.  Hamas does not get to choose for us. 

The United States stands ready to work with anyone who’s ready to forge a more peaceful and secure future for the region – a future its people yearn for and so deserve.  Thank you, Mr. President. 

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