New York, November 24, 2025 (WAFA) - The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Monday held its regular monthly briefing on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”.
Addressing the UNSC via video link, Ramiz Alakbarov, Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident Coordinator at the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, stated: “Today we meet at a moment of renewed hope,” and urged the Council to “seize the opportunity” to chart a better future for Palestinians, Israelis and the wider region.
“The ceasefire has largely held in Gaza,” he said, adding that the UN has redoubled efforts to mobilize and scale up humanitarian assistance; however, “the picture remains bleak". He underscored a "critical need" to transition from emergency humanitarian assistance towards enabling communities to rebuild their lives.
"The damage in Gaza — physically, economically and socially — is catastrophic,” he added. Highlighting developments in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as in Lebanon, he emphasized that the UN will continue to stand with both Palestinians and Israelis.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s delegate said the situation throughout the occupied Palestinian territories remains "dire" amid ceasefire violations and Israeli air strikes, and observed that Israeli colonist violence had risen to “unprecedented” levels in the occupied West Bank.
He stressed the need to implement UNSC Resolution 2803 (2025) in good faith, notably to advance Palestinian-led and -owned governance, while calling for full adherence to the ceasefire; unhindered humanitarian access; recovery and reconstruction in Gaza; no annexation or forced displacement under any circumstances; an immediate end to illegal Israeli colonial expansion; accountability for violations of international law; and an end to Israeli occupation of all Arab territories.
He also underscored the need for a timebound political process, anchored in UN resolutions, leading to a sovereign, independent and contiguous State of Palestine, based on pre-1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.
In the meantime, Ambassador James Kariuki, UK Chargé d'Affaires to the UN, called for the implementation of the UNSC Resolution 2803 (2025) fully and effectively, in line with international law. “We need an International Stabilization Force and trained Palestinian police deployed quickly to support the ceasefire,” he said. As the resolution underscores the importance of the full resumption of humanitarian aid in Gaza, "every crossing and route must be opened without delay".
He added that "stability in the West Bank is essential to any sustainable peace", while underscoring that “appalling” incidents of |Israeli colonist violence and “horrific” arson attacks, including on a mosque, must be investigated, with those responsible held to account.
He urged Israel, the occupying power, to “end its stranglehold on the Palestinian economy", by releasing withheld clearance revenues.
On his turn, Algeria’s UN Ambassador, Amar Bendjama, said that the Occupied Palestinian Territory “is still a theatre of bloodshed”, while denouncing Israel’s killing of more than 310 Palestinians, many of them women and children.
From Lebanon to Syria, to Gaza to the West Bank, “Israel is blatantly violating arrangements” disregarding mediators and guarantors, he said, calling on the latter to “take decisive measures” to preserve the ceasefire and hold the occupying Power to its commitments.
He noted that humanitarian aid, expected to flow freely, is being hindered by Israel, leaving families facing winter without shelter, food or clean water, with disease spreading rapidly.
He denounced "blatant" violations and "heinous" crimes in the West Bank, which are aimed at ethnic cleansing and designed to kill the very idea of a future Palestinian State. He called for preserving the ceasefire, launching reconstruction efforts and ensuring accountability, and ending the occupation.
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