00:00or to the representative of the Russian Federation.
00:05Thank you, Mr. President.
00:09We are grateful to the Assistant Secretary General Miroslav Yenchev
00:12for his detailed briefing on the situation in Gaza
00:16and the situation with the hostages who remain in the enclave.
00:21We note the presence amongst us of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Gideon Saar.
00:26We listened very carefully to Elad David
00:30and we studied very carefully to the letter by the Israeli side
00:33and we mourn for all the innocent victims of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
00:39regardless of its citizenship and nationality.
00:43As all of those present here,
00:46we also were shocked by the footage earlier this month
00:51showing two Israeli hostages, Rom Braslavsky and Aviat or David.
00:54In the video, they look depressed
00:56severely emaciated and weakened
00:59because of an acute shortage of food and water
01:02which, as we know, is something that all people in Gaza encounter.
01:07Every day spent by the hostages in Gaza
01:11is a tragedy for themselves, for their families
01:14who spend every minute of their time waiting for their return.
01:19We also listened very carefully to the recent statements
01:22made by the relatives of Rom Braslavsky,
01:25Aviat or David and other Israelis held in Gaza.
01:28And we share their pain, but we cannot overlook the fact
01:31that the people who are in such a terrible emotional state
01:35and who fear for their children also voice a direct criticism of the leadership of the country
01:41which, according to some of them, is drawing out the negotiating process with Hamas
01:46and thereby is signing a death warrant for the remaining hostages.
01:52Let me recall here that we immediately condemn the tragic events of the 7th of October, 2023.
01:58There can be no justification for that,
02:00nor can there be a justification for the collective punishment of the people in Gaza
02:04and turning a whole region into a zone of total despair.
02:09We advocated and continue advocating an immediate and unconditional release of all detainees
02:15and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
02:19Mr. President, we are sincerely convinced that there is no delegation in this room
02:24which would dispute the very simple fact that the life of any person is important and priceless.
02:31And we shouldn't have to decide whose suffering is more worthy of attention.
02:36This applies equally to the Israelis in captivity and to the peaceful Palestinians
02:41who, for now 670 days, have been essentially suffering the bombardment by Israel.
02:48At the time when the whole world watched the terrible footage of Rome, Braslavsky,
02:54and Vyator David with horror, from Gaza, we received shocking data
03:00about the fact that since the 1st to the 2nd of August, 180 people died there.
03:06Such tragedies is something that we receive information about essentially daily,
03:11since October 2023, more than 61,000 Palestinians have died,
03:16and amongst them, according to UNICEF, 18,000 are children.
03:22Against this background, the general situation in Gaza can only be characterized as a humanitarian catastrophe,
03:30and this has consequences not just for the Gazans but also for the Israeli hostages.
03:35Palestinians themselves are dying in the enclave not only as a result of air bombs or artillery shelling,
03:41but also because of widespread hunger and disease outbreaks.
03:44According to the World Food Programme, every third Palestinian is going hungry for several days in a row.
03:51The grim statistics of the victims of hostilities and the lack of hunger is compounded by the dead and wounded
03:58as they line up for food rations at the sites of the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
04:04And there, the number of victims is in the thousands.
04:07Since 27th of May, almost 1,500 Palestinians were killed.
04:13We're seriously worried also by the consequences of the practice that was resumed since the end of July,
04:19the practice of airdropping of food supplies.
04:23As recently as yesterday, the humanitarian bombs crushed to death two medical workers from the Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balakh.
04:31The Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Mr. Lazzarini, in his recent comments warned against using such dangerous
04:40and costly way of supplying assistance.
04:43It's 100 times more expensive than using the land routes.
04:48Meanwhile, on the perimeter of this trip, there are 6,000 trucks with sufficient food supplies
04:54which would provide enough food to provide for several months for civilians.
05:02Mr. President, we are shocked by the targeted attack by IDF on the headquarters of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society
05:10in Hanunis, as a result of which one staff died and several people were injured.
05:14Unfortunately, this is not the first time when members of the Red Crescent Society in Gaza died.
05:21We recall how the Israeli military mercilessly shot the ambulance Red Crescent
05:27and their bodies were found in a mass grave subsequently.
05:31We call on Israel to stop this lawlessness.
05:33Humanitarians and medical workers should not be targeted, nor should the headquarters of the Red Crescent be targeted.
05:39It's clearly marked with its logo and unambiguously is under the protection of international humanitarian law.
05:45Contrary to the statement by West Jerusalem, the humanitarian blockade that they initiated in March essentially remains to date.
05:55What was announced on the 27th of July, namely partial easements and limited deliveries within the framework of the so-called tactical pauses,
06:04according to the UN humanitarians, is just a drop in the ocean compared to the acute needs of the Gazans,
06:11including, as we all understand, the needs of the Israeli hostages.
06:15In this context, we fully support the calls by the leadership of UNRWA and other specialized UN agencies
06:21to immediately remove the impediments to supplying to Gaza all of the essential things, including food, water, fuel, and medicines.
06:30We're very concerned by the aggressive campaign deployed by West Jerusalem
06:35against the staff of UN OCHA and its head, Tom Fletcher,
06:40who provide a sober and uncomfortable for Israel sometimes assessments of humanitarian situation.
06:48We can see that humanitarians are trying to analyze it comprehensively
06:53and find some ways of easing the plight of Palestinian civilians.
06:57What is undeniable here is that in order to have an uninterrupted and unimpeded humanitarian supply,
07:05the main thing that is needed is to create the necessary security conditions.
07:10Unfortunately, the regular calls for a ceasefire that we hear from the Secretary General
07:15and from the absolute majority of the international community remain without due reaction from Israeli leadership.
07:22West Jerusalem continues intending to continue with the war in Gaza using by any means and under any pretext
07:32and tries to prevent the stoppage of a military operation in the sector.
07:37Mr. President, we are equally concerned also by the fact that the Israeli authorities decided to cleanse
07:44and colonize the West Bank of the Jordan River.
07:46The victims of continuous raids by security services and violence of settlements,
07:52the victims of that are the regular Palestinians and foreigners sometimes.
07:56For example, on the 30th of July, there was an attack against the office vehicle of the Russian representation
08:07with the Palestinian Authority.
08:09And this was done under the lenient eye of the Israeli military.
08:14Furthermore, there are new negative records being made of the destruction and seizure of the property of the local citizens,
08:23building new settlements, legalizing outposts to make sure that the Palestinian towns are not connected to each other.
08:31Knesset continues passing new provocative passages.
08:36Following yesterday's decision to ban UNRWA at the end of July, there was another dangerous decision made about extending Israeli sovereignty of the West Bank.
08:47It is clear the systematic expulsion of the Palestinians, be it from Gaza, of the West Bank,
08:52is something that's fraught with new risks and dangers for the stability and security of the Middle East
08:58and can yet once again bring the region to the brink of a major war.
09:03It is also clear that the complete freedom of action that the Israelis have,
09:08freedom to do anything in Gaza or in the West Bank,
09:11would have been impossible without a direct military support
09:15and international and political cover provided by the United States.
09:18At the same time, the absolute majority of states in the world are rejecting this line.
09:27And what it's telling in this situation was the Israeli and American boycott of the conference on the 28th, 30th of July,
09:36the high-level conference in support of this two-state solution,
09:39and the futile attempts by Washington to dissuade their partners from participating in this representative forum.
09:45We do have certain optimism from the fact that despite the pressure from the Americans,
09:51the majority of the international community remained unintimidated
09:54and showed solidarity with the Palestinian people.
09:57And some Western capitals, although belatedly, nonetheless announced their plans to recognize the state of Palestine next month.
10:05Mr. President, despite this fact that the situation is very difficult,
10:09we remain convinced that the diplomatic settlement of the conflict was and remains the only viable solution here.
10:17And we call on the parties, with support of mediations, to return to the negotiating table
10:22so as to work out mutually acceptable solutions, so as to restore the ceasefire regime,
10:27release those who are detained, and unblock the humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip.
10:32And we are confident that this is what the people of Palestine want,
10:37as well as the families of hostages, including the relatives of Israelis held in Gaza.
10:41And we hope that all regional and international stakeholders will work towards this goal.
10:47The negotiation process must return to a political track,
10:51which will, the kind that will accommodate both Israelis' legitimate security interests
10:56and the Palestinian people's hard-earned right to establish their own state within the 1967 borders.
11:02I thank you for your attention.
