The Middle East, including the Palestinian Question: Briefing and Consultations
Tomorrow afternoon (24 March), the Security Council will hold an open briefing on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question” (MEPQ). At the time of writing, two briefers were expected. The first is Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident Coordinator at the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) Ramiz Alakbarov, who will deliver the quarterly update on the implementation of resolution 2334 of 23 December 2016. This resolution demanded that Israel cease all settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem, and called for immediate steps to prevent violence against civilians, including acts of terror. The other briefer is Board of Peace (BoP) High Representative to Gaza Nickolay Mladenov, who is expected to brief on the implementation of resolution 2803 of 17 November 2025, which endorsed US President Donald Trump’s “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict” and welcomed the establishment of the BoP as a “transitional governance administration” in Gaza. Closed consultations are scheduled to follow the open briefing.
Alakbarov is expected to brief Council members on recent developments in the West Bank. According to the latest update from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), dated 19 March, eight Palestinians—including three children—were killed by Israeli forces or settlers between 10 and 16 March, bringing the total number of fatalities since the beginning of 2026 to 26. So far this year, the monthly average number of Palestinians injured in Israeli settler attacks was 105, up from 69 in 2025 and 30 in 2024. Meanwhile, 1,500 Palestinians have been displaced due to settler attacks and access restrictions since the beginning of the year, with displacement already reaching about 95 percent of the total recorded in the whole of 2025.
The most recent annual report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Israeli settlements in the OPT and in the occupied Syrian Golan identified similar trends. Published on 17 March and covering the 12-month period up to 31 October 2025, the report documented 1,732 incidents of settler violence in the West Bank resulting in casualties or property damage, an increase from 1,400 in the previous reporting period. The report also stated that more than 36,000 Palestinians had been forcibly displaced, which “represented the mass expulsion of Palestinians on a scale previously unseen, amounting to unlawful transfer that is prohibited under international humanitarian law”. The violence and displacement have occurred alongside a series of recent Israeli government measures intended to accelerate settlement activity in the West Bank, deepening Israeli administrative control over parts of the territory and facilitating the expropriation of Palestinian land. (For more information, see our 17 February What’s in Blue story.)
On 23 February, the foreign ministers of 20 countries as well as the secretaries-general of the League of Arab States (LAS) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) issued a joint statement condemning the Israeli measures as a “flagrant violation” of international law that advances “de facto annexation”, calling on Israel to reverse them and warning of their impact on the viability of a two-state solution. On 21 March, the Jerusalem and Ramallah-based diplomatic missions of 13 European countries—including Council members Denmark and the UK—as well as Canada and the European Union (EU) issued a joint statement strongly condemning “increasing settler terror and violence” committed by Israeli security forces and settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank. That statement called on Israeli authorities to prevent and prosecute the attacks, stressing Israel’s obligation as the occupying power to protect Palestinian communities. At tomorrow’s meeting, several Council members are likely to echo these messages.
The briefers are also expected to describe recent developments in Gaza. According to OCHA’s 19 March update, airstrikes, shelling, and gunfire have continued across the Gaza Strip despite the current ceasefire. Citing figures from local health authorities, OCHA reported that 35 Palestinians—including women and children—were killed between 6 and 17 March. Since the announcement of the ceasefire in October 2025, 673 Palestinians have reportedly been killed. OCHA also stated that most people in Gaza remain displaced, “often living in dire conditions with limited protection and inadequate access to diverse and sufficient supplies”. On 14 March, a severe sandstorm accompanied by strong winds and rainfall further worsened conditions in displacement sites, causing extensive damage to temporary shelters and site infrastructure.
Impediments to humanitarian access in Gaza remain another concern. In late January, following the return of the remains of the last hostage held by Hamas, Israel announced that the Rafah border crossing to Egypt would partially re-open for pedestrian passage. The crossing is the only one in Gaza that does not border Israel and had been closed since May 2024, preventing medical evacuations and the return of Palestinian refugees. After Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran on 28 February, prompting retaliation from Iran across the region, Israel closed all Gaza border crossings, including Rafah, blocking the entry of all humanitarian aid and again preventing medical evacuations and the return of refugees. (For more details on the regional escalation, see our What’s in Blue stories dated 28 February, 11 March, and 12 March.)
On 2 March, Israel re-opened the Kerem Shalom crossing, which remains the only operational crossing point for humanitarian and commercial supplies. According to OCHA, this has resulted in a “major bottleneck” and declining stocks in partner warehouses due to the imbalance between items entering Gaza and those being distributed. On 15 March, Israel announced that the Rafah crossing would partially open again for pedestrians. This took effect on 19 March and has allowed the resumption of medical evacuations and returnee movements, according to OCHA.
Tomorrow, Mladenov is also expected to describe recent political efforts to advance the Comprehensive Plan endorsed by resolution 2803. This framework established the current ceasefire in Gaza and called for the formation of an interim technocratic government comprising Palestinian experts under the oversight of the BoP, which is chaired by Trump. According to the plan, this body is to eventually cede control of Gaza to a reformed Palestinian Authority (PA), at which point it says that “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood”. The local governing committee—known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG)—was established in January and coordinates with the BoP through the Office of the High Representative (OHR) for Gaza. In February, the PA also established a liaison office to the OHR.
On 19 February, the BoP held its inaugural meeting in Washington, D.C. Trump announced there that nine BoP member states—Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Uzbekistan—had pledged $7 billion for Gaza relief and reconstruction efforts. Trump also said that the US would contribute an additional $10 billion. Some analysts have raised concerns about the management and dispersal of those funds, however, which cover only a portion of the $70 billion that the UN estimates Gaza’s reconstruction will cost.
Also at the BoP meeting, US Major General Jasper Jeffers announced that five countries—Albania, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, and Morocco—had pledged to contribute troops to the International Stabilization Force (ISF) that resolution 2803 authorised the BoP to deploy. According to Jeffers, who serves as ISF commander, the force will consist of a total of 12,000 police officers and 20,000 soldiers and initially deploy to Rafah. On 17 March, Israeli media reports indicated that Indonesia—which is a BoP member and had pledged up to 8,000 troops, making it the largest prospective troop contributor—was preparing to deploy its first contingent in May. Other reports, however, have indicated that the country’s participation may be on hold due to the current Middle East crisis. On 19 March, US media reported that mediators had presented Hamas with a formal proposal for disarmament, which the ISF would be responsible for overseeing.
Tomorrow, most Council members are likely to reiterate their call on both parties to fully uphold their ceasefire obligations and broader commitments under the Comprehensive Plan as endorsed by resolution 2803. In that regard, some may call on Israel to facilitate the immediate, safe, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance in Gaza, including by fully opening all border crossings. Several members may urge continued progress in advancing implementation of the Comprehensive Plan in a manner consistent with international law, calling on Hamas to fully disarm and for the PA to swiftly assume its governing responsibilities in the enclave. Referring to the current regional crisis, some members may describe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a root cause of instability in the Middle East and reiterate the need to accelerate a political process towards a two-state solution that ensures the security of both countries and realises Palestinians’ right to self-determination across the OPT.
