Gaza at Total Breaking Point, With 2 Million People Still Trapped, Under Attack Despite Ceasefire, New Peace Plan, Speakers Warn Security Council

Gaza at Total Breaking Point, With 2 Million People Still Trapped, Under Attack Despite Ceasefire, New Peace Plan, Speakers Warn Security Council

Gaza's humanitarian situation is at "an absolute breaking point" ahead of winter, with 2 million people still trapped and families enduring the cold season in rubble and tents, the Security Council heard today.

In November 2025, the 15-member Council endorsed the United States-backed Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict through resolution 2803 (2025), about a month after a precarious ceasefire took effect. The Plan established a framework for Hamas's disarmament, staged Israeli withdrawal and Gaza's reconstruction, while the New York Declaration set out a broader pathway towards an independent Palestinian State and implementation of the two-State solution.

While figures show Gaza had "clawed" its way back from an engineered famine, it is "disturbing" to celebrate that a child who may no longer be at imminent risk of starving to death may still be killed by shelling, said Athena Rayburn, Executive Director of the Association of International Development Agencies, dependent on assistance controlled and restricted by the State that has designed this scarcity.

"This is not success," she assured. Any reported improvements do not dilute the responsibility that "still sits in this room".

Rather, success must be measured by whether the Board of Peace, international stabilization force and National Committee for the Administration of Gaza provide immediate protection for civilians; and in the long term, whether they move Gaza towards the required legal endpoint: The end of Israel's unlawful presence and realization of the Palestinian people's right to self-determination.

Board of Peace Is Failing, Israel Deregistered Aid Groups Under Its Watch

"By these basic measures, the Board of Peace is failing," she warned.

Under its watch, Israel deregistered over 30 international organizations renowned for their capacity to deliver assistance. More than 1,000 Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israel's military; medical items, such as crutches and wheelchairs, considered "dual-use" were repeatedly rejected; arbitrary restrictions were placed on engine oil, forcing a 45 per cent price hike; and watermelons and onions were repeatedly rejected for falling outside "the humanitarian policy" - a policy that has never been made available.

These actions have brought the humanitarian response to "an absolute breaking point", she stressed, asking the Council: "Are you clear on the reasons why we are almost one year into the so-called ceasefire and still advocating on the necessity of engine oil and fresh produce?"

15-Point Roadmap towards Peace 'Historic Breakthrough'

While emphasizing that Gaza "cannot be disarmed in a fortnight", Nickolay Mladenov, High Representative for Gaza on the Board of Peace, stressed that the road map contains elements that "did not exist at any point in time before us".

On 30 July, Hamas accepted the road map for completing the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict - "a historic breakthrough". He recalled that, in the Board's last meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there was agreement on a mechanism through which remaining questions will be settled, and committees were established for that purpose. "This is not a process that has stalled," he emphasized; rather, "it has moved from the negotiating table to the engineering table". However, risks remain.

"Every use of force that does not answer an immediate threat, and every incident that the deconfliction mechanism was not asked to resolve, costs the process something that is very, very hard to buy back," he warned.

Hamas has also yet to fully meet its commitment to cease military activity, and that every weapon, tunnel and obstruction "hands an argument to those who want to resume war". Another risk is time as the cold winter months approach.

Aid Still Inaccessible, Restricted for Two Thirds of Gazans

"Winterization efforts must be scaled up," stressed Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Acting Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, warning that stocks of shelter and non-food items are depleted. Gazans are losing hope.

"We must restore electricity," he stressed, highlighting that reliable power is vital for water, sanitation and other critical services. The main obstacle is that about two thirds of Gaza remains inaccessible or faces severe access restrictions.

In the West Bank, he said, large-scale settler attacks continue, and Israeli authorities recently opened bids for more than 1,200 housing units in the E1 area east of Jerusalem. On Tuesday, Israeli authorities forcibly entered and unlawfully seized the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Kalandia Training Centre in East Jerusalem.

He commended Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye for advancing mediation processes and welcomed the humanitarian efforts of the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Regarding the Palestinian Authority's fiscal crisis, he said Israel continues to withhold $6 billion in clearance revenues. He urged immediate full implementation of resolution 2803 (2025) and called for advancing the New York Declaration.

Hamas Must Disarm for Peace, Reconstruction to Occur

"Not a word from Ms. Rayburn, the civil society briefing, on the kneecapping of Palestinians who recently dared to step out and protest Hamas's rule," said the representative of the United States in the ensuing discussion.

Contrasting civilian suffering with the lives of Hamas leaders, he said: "Hamas fighters aren't starving […] their wives who are carrying Birkin bags on camera, they're not starving." Washington, D.C., defended President Donald J. Trump's comprehensive Gaza plan, arguing that it offers a viable alternative to continued Hamas rule or prolonged Israeli occupation. "Gaza cannot sustainably rebuild while Hamas retains the ability to plunge it back into war," he stated.

"It is important that Hamas disarm," echoed France's delegate, but also said: "We firmly condemn the public statements by the Israeli National Security Minister, Mr. Ben Gvir, calling a few days ago for 30 or 40 people in Gaza to be killed each night." Insisting Israel commit to the Phase Two Roadmap and Hamas lay down its arms, the representative of the United Kingdom stressed: "The ceasefire must be respected". She also urged Israel to immediately retract construction tenders for the E1 settlement project.

Israel Not Respecting Ceasefire

Noting that the Board of Peace recently announced progress regarding the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, China's delegate pointed out that Israel "not only openly rejected it but even went so far as to intensify its devastating attacks on Gaza". The "crux of the unrealized lasting peace in Gaza", he stressed, is the lack of political will to achieve it. "Unfortunately, it's still too early to speak of the advent of lasting peace in the Gaza Strip," said the Russian Federation's representative, underscoring that Israeli attacks and humanitarian restrictions have continued unabated. "Virtually every family faces a problem of finding shelter," he underscored.

"If the ceasefire is holding - as we have been told - then how are strikes continuing and civilians being killed?", asked Pakistan's delegate. "The reality on the ground," said Panama's delegate is that every day since the ceasefire was announced, almost four Palestinians have been killed on average.

Despite efforts by the Board of Peace and regional mediators, "we have not seen the progress we had all hoped for and promised nine months ago", said Denmark's representative, Council President for August, speaking in her national capacity. While Israel has a right to defend itself, Latvia's representative said, international humanitarian law must be fully respected. Bahrain's speaker reaffirmed the importance of "coexistence and tolerance" while Liberia's delegate said that "peace in the Middle East crucially depends on the decisions of this Council".

Rejecting collective punishment, Somalia's delegate stressed that "civilians, especially women and children, must never bear such consequences", while the representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo said that, while aid delivery may have improved, "only a few crossing points are functioning". Greece's representative, echoing many, voiced alarm over Israel's incursion into UNRWA's Kalandia Training Centre, underscoring the integrity of UN premises.

The representative of Qatar, speaking for the Arab Group, condemned "ongoing gross Israeli violations" across the Occupied Palestinian Territory. "This is a direct rejection of the Comprehensive Plan," she emphasized, underscoring: "Just, comprehensive and durable peace cannot be achieved without ending Israeli occupation".

Israel Has Crossed the Rubicon to Full-Blown Annexation

While "annexation has long been underway", the observer for the State of Palestine underscored that Israel has now "crossed the Rubicon" to "full-blown annexation" with the release of tenders for its plans to build in the "E1" area. Israel's objectives are clear, he stressed, reflecting "an illusion that the Palestine question can be addressed by the annihilation of our national project and the destruction of our State and our people". What is also clear are Israel's objectives - "as clear as its disregard for them", he added.

As for the international community's obligations, he said that Member States must act against the businesses and financial institutions contributing to the illegal settlement enterprise. Moreover, the Palestinian people must be immediately afforded international protection "until such time as their sovereign and independent State is able to protect them", he said. He urged: "We must act resolutely now, or the horrors we have seen so far will only be a prelude for more horrors to come."

Civilians of Gaza Are Not Israel's Enemy

"The civilians of Gaza are not Israel's enemy," said Israel's representative, highlighting how Israel is working with partners to prepare Gaza for winter. While expressing commitment to implementing Mr. Trump's 20-point plan to end the Gaza conflict, she said: "Disarmament must come first." The plan will materialize only if Hamas is fully disarmed and its terrorist infrastructure fully destroyed. She accused Hamas of rebuilding military capabilities and violating the ceasefire. "Hamas must be judged by its actions," she stressed.

Since the ceasefire began almost a year ago, she said, some 600 aid trucks per day carrying food have entered the Gaza Strip. "These quantities significantly exceed every benchmark for humanitarian food requirements published by the World Food Programme (WFP) for Gaza," she emphasized, also sharing ways Israel was improving access to water, expanding sewage treatment, addressing waste accumulation and facilitating the entry of additional shelter material. "The humanitarian trajectory is improving," she assured.