The Middle East, including the Palestinian Question: Quarterly Open Debate
Tomorrow (23 July), the Security Council will hold its quarterly open debate on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question” (MEPQ). Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, is expected to chair the meeting. Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations (DPPA-DPO) Mohamed Khaled Khiari is expected to brief.
Khiari is likely to express grave concern at the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, where the entry and distribution of food remains heavily restricted and humanitarian organisations are reporting a sharp rise in malnutrition and starvation. On 12 July, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reiterated the existing ban on entry into the sea along the coast of Gaza, prohibiting swimming and fishing activities. No shelter supplies have been allowed into the territory for more than four months and fuel remains scarce, according to a 21 July press briefing by Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric.
Following Israel’s issuance of an evacuation order for several neighbourhoods in the city of Deir al Balah on 20 July, almost 88 percent of the Gaza Strip is currently “under displacement orders or within Israeli-militarized zones”, according to a statement by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The statement says that the order has forced 2.1 million civilians into a fragmented 12 percent of the Gaza Strip, dealing “yet another devastating blow to the already fragile lifelines keeping people alive”. Shortly after the evacuation order was issued, Israel began carrying out airstrikes and ground operations in the area. In a 21 July statement, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that its operations have been “compromised” following attacks on one of its warehouses and a facility sheltering WHO staff and their families in Deir al Balah.
Tomorrow, several speakers are likely to refer to an incident on 20 July during which Palestinians came under Israeli fire while in the proximity of a World Food Programme (WFP) food convoy in northern Gaza. According to a WFP statement, shortly after entering Gaza, “the convoy encountered large crowds of civilians anxiously waiting to access desperately needed food supplies”. The statement says that “[a]s the convoy approached, the surrounding crowd came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire”, resulting in the loss of “countless lives”. It adds that the incident occurred “despite assurances from Israeli authorities that humanitarian operational conditions would improve; including that armed forces will not be present nor engage at any stage along humanitarian convoy routes”.
The killing and injury of Palestinians while waiting for humanitarian supplies, or near aid distribution sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)—a non-UN mechanism supported by Israel and the US, which the UN Secretary-General has described as not meeting “basic requirements under the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence”—was a key focus of the 16 July Council briefing on the MEPQ. At that meeting—which was called by Denmark, France, Greece, Slovenia, and the UK—UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said that, between 27 May and 7 July, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded the killings of 798 Palestinian civilians—including children—“desperate to find food, at or near distribution sites and humanitarian convoys”.
During the 16 July meeting, most Council members called for the safe, unimpeded, and unrestricted delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale as well as for respect for international humanitarian law (IHL)—a message that many speakers are likely to reiterate tomorrow. Denmark deplored the killing of civilians seeking to access food, while the Republic of Korea (ROK) stressed that these killings “must stop immediately”. Several members—including China, France, and Pakistan—expressed concern about the aid delivery system established by the GHF contravening fundamental humanitarian principles, among other issues. In sharp contrast, the US urged member states and the UN to support the GHF “as it delivers life-saving assistance to those in need” and accused Hamas of deliberately fomenting unrest near its sites and rejecting ceasefire proposals.
More recently, a joint statement issued on 21 July by 28 member states—including Council members Denmark, France, Greece, Slovenia, and the UK—described the “Israeli government’s aid delivery model” as “dangerous” and condemned “the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food”.
At tomorrow’s open debate, Khiari and many Council members are expected to reiterate long-standing calls for an immediate ceasefire and for the immediate and unconditional release of all the remaining hostages held captive by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.
Many speakers are also expected to address the situation in the occupied West Bank, where settler violence is “escalating at an alarming rate”, according to the remarks delivered by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher at the 16 July Council briefing. In June, Israeli settlers injured 100 Palestinians, which constitutes the highest number of Palestinians injured by settlers in a single month since OCHA began recording casualties two decades ago.
Several speakers are also likely to urge Israel to cease all settlement activity. Some Council members, such as France and the UK, may reference the recent announcement by Israeli authorities about the resumption of plans for construction in the E1 area, which is located in the West Bank between East Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement. These members may urge Israel not to implement the E1 settlement plan, which would sever the connection between the northern and southern West Bank, undermining the viability of a future Palestinian state. Some speakers, including Council members Algeria and Pakistan, may call for an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories.
Several participants at tomorrow’s open debate might underscore the need to reinvigorate a political process leading to a two-state solution. In this regard, speakers may emphasise the need for the international community to agree on concrete commitments on how to advance the two-state solution during the upcoming High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution. The conference—which was mandated by the General Assembly in December 2024 and is co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia—is currently scheduled to take place between 28 and 30 July at UN Headquarters in New York. The conference was expected to take place in June but was postponed following the outbreak of the conflict between Iran and Israel over Iran’s nuclear programme, during which the US intervened in support of Israel.
Tomorrow, some speakers may also refer to recent developments across the wider Middle East region—including in Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and the Red Sea—and call for the de-escalation of tensions.
