Gaza risks experiencing a ‘permanent’ state of abandonment if transition plans stall, Security Council hearing

Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is becoming “increasingly dangerous”, with increasing violence in Gaza and the West Bank.

“In Gaza, delays in the implementation of resolution 2803, accompanied by daily violence and an ongoing humanitarian crisis, have replaced the initial momentum after the ceasefire.he said.

The resolution adopted last November supports a US peace plan to end the conflict, gives transitional powers to the Peace Council and supports the International Stabilization Force, paving the way for Israel’s withdrawal.

Read more about the resolution here.

While negotiations on the next stage of the October ceasefire continue, Alakbarov warned against a return to full-scale fighting.

“The people of Gaza can no longer fight,” he said. “This scenario must be avoided at all costs.”

The urgent need continues

Humanitarian conditions in Gaza are still serious. Nearly one million people in the enclave still need urgent housing assistancewhile most of the population is still displaced.

Major funding and operational constraints are still hampering relief efforts, including delays at checkpoints, damaged roads, and restrictions on vital supplies entering the region.

The UN-coordinated Flash Appeal 2026, which seeks more than $4 billion to support nearly three million people in Gaza and the West Bank, is only about 13 percent is funded.

‘No recovery yet’

Nickolay Mladenov, the Security Council High Representative for Gaza – and the UN Special Coordinator in the region until the end of 2020 – told ambassadors that although the ceasefire had significantly reduced violence and increased access to aid, “there has been no recovery” in Gaza.

“About 80 percent of buildings in Gaza were damaged or destroyed,he said. “More than a million people have no permanent residence. This morning they were living in tents and in the ruins of buildings.”

Plans based on ‘reciprocity’

He said the proposed roadmap for implementing the transition plan was based on “reciprocity” – with each step taken by one party triggering obligations on the other – and stressed that Hamas and all armed groups must ultimately be disarmed under Palestinian authority.

“No Palestinian armed group is obliged to transfer weapons to Israel,” he said. “They passed to NCAG,” referring to the proposal by the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.

The roadmap also envisions a gradual Israeli withdrawal linked to verified progress in disarmament and the deployment of stabilization forces.

Mladenov warned that failure to move forward risks leaving Gaza divided and destroyed.

“The risk is that the deterioration of the status quo becomes permanent,he said. “The next generation of children grew up in tents, in fear, with despair as the most rational thing they felt.”

Attacks and land grabbing in the West Bank are intensifying

Along with the crisis in Gaza, Alakbarov warned of worsening violence and settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

He said Israeli planning authorities recently submitted plans to build more than 2,200 new settlement housing units, while settler attacks on Palestinian communities have increased sharply this year.

“Some 220 Palestinian communities have faced attacks,he said, adding that violence was increasingly leaving entire communities homeless.

The envoy also noted the Israeli government’s recent plans in this regard UNRWA complex in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, following the previous seizure of the site.

“The Secretary General strongly condemns this decision,” he said.

Ceasefire ‘has not brought security’

The council also heard from Rami Hijjo of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, who described the daily struggle for survival in Gaza amid ongoing bombing, displacement and severe supply shortages.

“I stand before you today as a civilian and humanitarian worker living in Gaza,” he said. “The ceasefire has not brought salvation.”

Hijjo described repeated displacement, dysfunctional health services and the increasing risks faced by humanitarian workers, including the killing of a Palestinian Red Crescent medic earlier this year.

“No amount of creativity can completely overcome employment restrictions, systematic and deliberate designed to make the lives of all civilians and all those who seek to help them unbearable.he said to the ambassadors.

An important opportunity

Despite his gloomy assessment, Alakbarov emphasized that the current ceasefire framework remains the best chance to prevent a recurrence of large-scale war and start rebuilding Gaza.

He warned that without urgent progress in realizing resolution 2803, the situation will only get worse.

He called for “collective responsibility” for Israeli and Palestinian leaders to return to the path of a two-state solution.

For a detailed report on where key countries stand in the face of the ongoing crisis, see today’s report Live coverage here.