The Middle East, including the Palestinian Question: Briefing and Consultations
Tomorrow afternoon (18 February), the Security Council will hold its regular monthly open briefing on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question” (MEPQ). The UK—the Council’s president in February—has invited Council members to participate at the ministerial level, and its Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, Yvette Cooper, is expected to chair the meeting. The anticipated briefers are Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo and two civil society representatives. Closed consultations are scheduled to follow the open briefing.
The situation in the occupied West Bank is expected to be a major focus of tomorrow’s meeting. On 8 February, the Israeli security cabinet approved a series of measures deepening Israeli control over Area A and Area B of the territory. (According to the 1995 Oslo II Accords, Area A of the West Bank is under full Palestinian control and Area B is under Palestinian civilian control and Israeli security control.) The measures include cancelling a prohibition on sales of West Bank land to non-Muslims; declassifying West Bank land registry records to ease land acquisition; transferring construction planning at religious sites to Israeli authorities; and allowing Israeli enforcement of environmental and archaeological issues in Palestinian-administered areas. According to analysts, the measures serve to remove domestic legal distinctions between the occupied West Bank and sovereign Israeli territory, creating conditions “that could accelerate settlement expansion and increase pressure on Palestinian landowners”. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in the statement announcing the decision that the changes would make it easier for Jewish settlers to force Palestinians to give up land, adding that “we will continue to bury the idea of a Palestinian state”.
Israel announced further measures on 15 February, approving funds to implement a May 2025 cabinet resolution to conduct a “land registration process” in Area C of the West Bank. (Area C refers to the approximately 60 percent of the West Bank territory that is under full Israeli military control). This process, which had been frozen since 1968, will require Palestinian landowners in the area to formally prove ownership or have their land confiscated by Israel as state property. Israeli civil society groups have criticised the decision for demanding proof of ownership under conditions that are “nearly impossible” for Palestinians to meet, potentially resulting in their “large-scale dispossession” in a “clear exercise” of annexation.
Secretary-General António Guterres expressed concern about the new Israeli measures in a 9 February statement and condemned them on 16 February. In both statements, he warned that the current trajectory on the ground, including Israel’s latest decisions, is “eroding the prospect” for the two-state solution. The UN ambassadors of members of the League of Arab States (LAS) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) also condemned the measures in a joint stakeout held on 10 February. Today (17 February), over 85 member states and regional organisations held a stakeout condemning Israel’s decisions and calling for them to be immediately reversed.
On 12 February, Council members discussed the situation in the West Bank in closed consultations under “any other business”. At that session—which Bahrain requested on behalf of the Arab Group—Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident Coordinator at the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) Ramiz Alakbarov briefed Council members on the initial Israeli measures announced on 8 February, which most members apparently criticised as an impediment to peace efforts that further undermines prospects for the two-state solution. It seems that the US reiterated that President Donald Trump remains opposed to Israeli annexation of the West Bank. At tomorrow’s meeting, speakers are likely to echo these respective messages.
Efforts to advance the Gaza peace plan are another expected focus of tomorrow’s meeting. In October 2025, Israel and Hamas agreed to the first stage of the US-proposed peace framework known as the “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict”. This stage established the current ceasefire and called for Hamas to release the remaining hostages that it was holding in exchange for the release of Palestinian detainees, a partial withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from Gaza, and an increase in humanitarian aid into the territory, which would be partly facilitated by the reopening of the Rafah border crossing to Egypt. The first phase was largely completed last month, when the IDF retrieved the body of the last remaining hostage in Gaza and Israel agreed to a “limited” reopening of the Rafah crossing.
On 14 January, US Special Presidential Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff announced the launch of the second phase of the Comprehensive Plan. This stage—which the Security Council endorsed through the adoption of resolution 2803 of 17 November 2025—calls for the decommissioning of Hamas’ weapons; the further withdrawal of the IDF, which will progressively hand over security responsibility for Gaza to an International Stabilization Force (ISF); and the establishment of an interim technocratic government in Gaza comprising Palestinian experts under the oversight of an international Board of Peace (BoP). The local body—known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG)—is to eventually cede control of Gaza to a reformed Palestinian Authority (PA), at which point the Comprehensive Plan says that “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood”.
On 22 January, Trump convened a formal signing ceremony on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos to ratify the BoP. Although initially expected to oversee the NCAG and the implementation of the Gaza peace agreement, the BoP’s charter does not mention that conflict specifically and appears to grant the Board a more expansive global remit as a body that “seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict”. The international community’s response to this broader mandate has been mixed: according to media reports, the White House had invited approximately 60 countries to join the BoP, but at the time of writing less than half had responded favourably, with Israel being the latest to formally join on 11 February. Several US allies—including permanent Council members France and the UK—have declined to join at this stage, variously citing constitutional constraints, reservations about other countries that have been invited to join, and concerns about the Board’s mandate encroaching on established multilateral frameworks.
In a 15 February social media post, Trump announced that the BoP would hold its inaugural meeting on Thursday (19 February) in Washington DC. He indicated that member states would announce pledges of up to $5 billion for Gaza’s humanitarian and reconstruction response and “thousands” of personnel for the ISF. Media reports suggest that at least 20 BoP members are expected to attend, including Indonesia, which has signalled the first concrete commitment to the ISF and is reportedly preparing to deploy up to 8,000 troops.
Meanwhile, violence in Gaza persists and the humanitarian situation remains critical despite the ceasefire. Citing local health authorities as at 12 February, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that 591 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli forces since the ceasefire went into effect, while the IDF retains control over 50 percent of the enclave beyond the “yellow line” marking its initial withdrawal boundary. At least two thirds of Gaza’s population (1.4 million out of 2.1 million people) are estimated to reside in about 1,000 displacement sites, often in overcrowded settings and in tents that offer limited privacy and protection from the elements. The precarious living conditions are pushing some people to adopt high-risk coping strategies, including sheltering in areas potentially contaminated with explosive ordnance, while Israeli restrictions on the operations of certain aid organisations and a slow approval process have led to a significant reduction in the provision of shelter assistance.
At tomorrow’s meeting, Council members are likely to welcome progress in operationalising the transitional governance framework envisioned in the Comprehensive Plan and endorsed by resolution 2803. Some might signal continued reservations about the BoP’s broad charter, however, emphasising the importance of it acting within its Council authorisation as well as the need to define a time-bound plan for the PA to assume its governing responsibilities. They may also urge swift progress in reaching an agreement with Hamas on the group’s disarmament, stressing such a deal as a prerequisite for the further implementation of the Comprehensive Plan, including deployment of the ISF and the beginning of reconstruction efforts. Additionally, several speakers are likely to express concerns about continued violations of the ceasefire agreement, reiterate calls on both parties to fully uphold their commitments in this regard, and underscore the need to further scale up the humanitarian response in Gaza, including through the lifting of remaining Israeli restrictions.
