What's In Blue

Latest post: Tue 28 Nov 2023

Insights on the work of the UN Security Council

The Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question: Ministerial-level Briefing 

Tomorrow morning (29 November), the Security Council will convene for a ministerial-level briefing on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”. Closed consultations are scheduled to follow the open briefing. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will chair the meeting. Secretary-General António Guterres and Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland are the anticipated briefers. Several member states are expected to participate at ministerial level at tomorrow’s meeting under rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure.

Today (28 November) marks the fifth consecutive day of a pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian armed group and de facto authority in Gaza. Following the 7 October large-scale attacks against Israel led by Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have carried out massive airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, and on 27 October, began their ground operation in northern Gaza. Figures provided by Palestinian officials in Gaza cited by OCHA indicate that, as at 23 November, over 14,800 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza. More than 1.8 million people in the Gaza strip, representing nearly 80 percent of the population, are estimated to be internally displaced and, as at 24 November, over 60 percent of the total housing stock in Gaza had been damaged or destroyed. According to figures provided by Israeli authorities cited by OCHA, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. Over 200 hostages were taken into the Gaza Strip during the 7 October attacks. (For background, see our 712,  23, and 29 October, as well as  6, 10, and 22 November What’s in Blue stories.)

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