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Latest post: Fri 13 Sep 2024

Insights on the work of the UN Security Council

Next Week’s Meetings on “The Middle East, including the Palestinian Question”

Next week, the Security Council is expected to hold two open meetings on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”. On Monday (16 September), Council members will receive a briefing from Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator (SHRC) for Gaza Sigrid Kaag on the implementation of resolution 2720. The resolution, which was adopted in December 2023 in the context of the war between Israel and Hamas, requested the Secretary-General to appoint a SHRC mandated with establishing a UN mechanism for accelerating humanitarian consignments to Gaza. The Executive Director of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Jorge Moreira da Silva, is also expected to brief. (UNOPS was tasked with the operationalisation and management of the mechanism mandated by resolution 2720.) Closed consultations are scheduled to follow the open briefing.

On Thursday (19 September), members expect to hear a briefing from Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland on the implementation of resolution 2334. Adopted in 2016, this resolution demanded that Israel cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem, and called for immediate steps to prevent violence against civilians, including acts of terror. A civil society representative is also expected to brief. Slovenia’s Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Tanja Fajon, will chair the meeting. Closed consultations are scheduled to follow.

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