NEW YORK, January 28, 2026 (WAFA) - The UN Security Council held on Wednesday a high-level open debate on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.
The debate was opened by Somalia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman.
Addressing the UNSC, Deputy Special Coordinator for the United Nations Middle East Peace Process, Ramez Al-Akbarov stated that the current moment marks “a genuine opportunity” to lay the foundations for a more stable and secure future for Palestinians and Israelis.
"Implementation of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan is critical,” he argued. It will “require our firm and collective commitment”.
He added that the entire Palestinian population in the Strip requires humanitarian assistance, stressing: “I saw a little girl carrying heavy stones just to prevent her shelter from blowing away in the wind.”
In the occupied West Bank, he described “spiralling dynamics”, stressing that “negative trends are entrenched daily” amid “extensive” Israeli military operations, colonial settlement-expansion, settler violence, demolitions and large-scale detentions.
He also pointed to the “sharply” escalating pressure campaign against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Meanwhile, Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the UN, welcomed the ceasefire agreement reached last year, commending the engagement of the United States administration and mediation efforts to implement it.
He added that Palestine supported the ceasefire in good faith despite repeated breaches, noting that at least 500 Palestinians were killed since it came into effect.
He also welcomed the completion of release of all Israeli hostages and prisoners, alive and deceased.
“Yet, we must ask: what about the countless Palestinian families whose loved ones have been killed, with thousands of bodies still crushed and buried under rubble, yet to be found, identified and given a dignified burial?”, he asked.
“What of the families who waited for the return of thousands tortured, humiliated, starved, raped or missing? What of the entire families obliterated from existence?”
“The suffering of the Palestinian people – civilian men, women and children – must be ended with equal urgency,” he said. “Healing, recovery and justice are indispensable for all.”
Jérôme Bonnafont, Ambassador of France, said that despite the ceasefire in Gaza, the humanitarian emergency persists and the response to the population’s needs remains insufficient.
He stressed the urgent need for Israel to remove obstacles to humanitarian access, saying the UN and aid actors must be able to operate independently across Gaza, in line with international humanitarian law. He also raised concerns over pressure on UNRWA and restrictions on aid groups.
K.F.
