The Middle East, including the Palestinian Question: Briefing and Consultations
On Monday morning (29 June), the Security Council will hold an open briefing on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question” (MEPQ). The anticipated briefers are Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident Coordinator at the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) Ramiz Alakbarov and two civil society representatives. Closed consultations are scheduled to follow the open briefing.
Alakbarov is expected to brief on the Secretary-General’s latest quarterly report 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 latest report on resolution 2334 was circulated to Council members on 23 June and covers the period from 14 March to 12 June (S/2026/513).
Alakbarov’s briefing is likely to cover the deteriorating situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where the Secretary-General’s report states that violence continued “at an alarming rate”. During the reporting period, 37 Palestinians—including ten children and two women—were killed by Israeli security forces and settlers, while one Israeli was killed by Palestinians. According to the report, settler violence has reached the highest levels ever recorded by the UN, with an average of six attacks per day that have caused casualties, property damage, or both, becoming a key driver of displacement. Between 14 March and 22 April, nine Palestinian communities were fully depopulated following sustained settler violence, bringing to 45 the number of communities fully displaced under similar circumstances since January 2023. The report also notes that the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams remain empty following Israeli security operations, which have displaced over 33,000 residents in the “longest and largest displacement crisis” in the West Bank since 1967.
Alakbarov may reiterate the Secretary-General’s condemnation of Israel’s continued settlement expansion. During the reporting period, Israeli authorities advanced or approved 4,750 housing units in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. On 25 March, the Israeli cabinet approved 34 settlements across Area C—which comprises the approximately 60 percent of West Bank territory that is under full Israeli military control—the largest such approval in a single cabinet decision to date. The report also expresses deep concern about the launch on 27 May of an online platform for land registration in Area C—a process that Israeli officials have described as aimed at strengthening Israeli control and advancing settlements—as well as instructions issued by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on 19 May to execute standing demolition orders against the village of Khan al-Ahmar, located near the planned settlement project in the E1 zone. The Secretary-General warns that the E1 project would effectively sever the connection between the northern and southern West Bank and would have severe consequences for the territorial contiguity of the OPT, presenting an “existential threat” to the two-state solution. In their statements on Monday, several Council members are likely to recall the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which determined that Israel must “end its unlawful presence in the [OPT] as rapidly as possible”.
Some members may raise other concerns highlighted in the report, including Israeli legislation expanding the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of terrorism and creating a special military tribunal to prosecute Palestinians accused of links to the 7 October 2023 attacks. There may also be reference to Israel’s 17 May decision to establish military facilities on the seized headquarters of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in East Jerusalem, which the Secretary-General described as an “unprecedented and escalatory” breach of UN privileges and immunities and called on Israel to rescind it.
The situation in Gaza is another expected focus of Monday’s meeting, which will take place nearly eight months after the adoption of resolution 2803 of 17 November 2025, which endorsed the US-brokered “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict”. This framework established the current ceasefire in Gaza and endorsed the international Board of Peace (BoP)—chaired by US President Donald Trump—as a “transitional governance administration” in the enclave. It also authorised the deployment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) to monitor the ceasefire and oversee other commitments under the Comprehensive Plan, including Hamas’ disarmament and the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from the territory.
The Secretary-General’s report describes the ceasefire as “increasingly fragile”, as frequent Israeli strikes, shelling, and gunfire continued across Gaza during the reporting period, alongside clashes between Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups. Citing figures from local health authorities, the report notes that 353 Palestinians were killed and 1,380 injured during the reporting period, bringing the total killed since the ceasefire took effect in October 2025 to 981. According to Israeli sources, there were no Israeli fatalities in Gaza during this period, although several IDF soldiers were reportedly injured. The report also notes that five aid workers were reportedly killed by IDF fire, raising the toll among humanitarian personnel since the ceasefire to nine.
On Monday, Alakbarov and Council members may express concern over recent escalatory developments in Gaza. During the reporting period, Israel resumed strikes targeting senior Hamas commanders for the first time since the beginning of the ceasefire, killing the head of Hamas’ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades—the group’s armed wing—on 15 May and his reported successor on 26 May. On 28 May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel already controlled 60 percent of the Gaza Strip—an increase from the 53 percent permitted under the first phase of the ceasefire—and that he had instructed the IDF to take over at least 70 percent of the territory. In his report, the Secretary-General expresses particular concern about increasing calls for a resumption of widespread hostilities in Gaza, warning that such a development “must be avoided at all costs”.
Alakbarov is also likely to address the humanitarian situation in the enclave, which the report describes as dire, despite signs of improvement in nutrition and food security following increased aid and commercial deliveries. He may note that humanitarian efforts remain heavily constrained by limited operational crossings and continued Israeli restrictions on items it considers “dual-use”, including fuel, spare parts, and medical supplies. The report highlights the final Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment—published on 20 April by the UN, the World Bank, and the European Union (EU)—which identifies approximately $71.4 billion in recovery and reconstruction needs over the next decade and reports that the territory’s economy has contracted by 84 percent as a result of the conflict.
Most Council members are likely to stress the need to implement the Comprehensive Plan’s provisions in full. These include the decommissioning of weapons held by Hamas and other armed groups—the subject of recent talks in Cairo among the mediators (Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye), BoP High Representative to Gaza Nickolay Mladenov, and Hamas—as well as the withdrawal of the IDF, the deployment of the ISF, and the handover of governance to a reformed Palestinian Authority (PA), in line with resolution 2803. Referring to the scale of destruction in Gaza, some members may emphasise that recovery and reconstruction efforts should not be made conditional on progress of other parts of the plan. Most Council members are also expected to echo the Secretary-General’s call for the international community to support the PA in reassuming its responsibilities in Gaza and to take concrete steps towards a viable two-state solution in line with relevant Council resolutions.
In this regard, speakers may welcome recent international steps to advance a two-state solution. These include the 20 April meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution and the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) in Brussels; the 11 June announcement by Australia, Canada, and the UK of a new International Peace Fund for Israelis and Palestinians; and the 12 June “Paris Call for the Two-State Solution”, which convened Israeli and Palestinian peacebuilders. Some members may also note recent measures against settlers and settlement organisations in the West Bank, such as EU sanctions adopted on 28 May and coordinated national sanctions that six states—including permanent Council members France and the UK—announced on 9 June.
The US, by contrast, may reiterate its opposition to resolution 2334 and the quarterly briefings on its implementation, which it has previously argued serve to “distract from pressing threats to international peace and security”. It may also echo the joint statement that the US and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) issued yesterday (25 June) following their ministerial meeting in Bahrain, which reaffirmed their support for the Comprehensive Plan and stressed the importance of the “demilitarization of all non-state armed groups to enable Gaza’s reconstruction”.
