Meeting of the UN Security Council on the Middle East. Security Council hears UN report on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank Peace and Security
The United Nations warned Tuesday that the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip remains fragile and the humanitarian situation is rapidly deteriorating as winter sets in, despite ongoing diplomatic efforts to prevent a new escalation.
Speaking at a meeting of the Security Council, Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Ramiz Alakbarov presented the quarterly report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 2334 (2016), concerning Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Alakbarov began his remarks by recalling that the Secretary-General strongly condemned the recent terrorist attack on Jewish families gathered to celebrate Hanukkah in Sydney and expressed solidarity with Jewish communities around the world. The ceasefire brokered by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United States did not completely stop the violence. Continued Israeli military strikes and armed attacks by Palestinian groups are causing civilian deaths and further destruction of infrastructure.
Dire humanitarian situation
The humanitarian situation, he said, remains extremely dire. The UN is providing winter assistance, including the distribution of tents, blankets and other essentials, but the risks increase as temperatures drop. Earlier on Tuesday, the first death from hypothermia was confirmed – a two-week old newborn boy in Khan Yunis.
Alakbarov stressed that maintaining humanitarian access is critical and called for expanded operational space for the UN and its partners. He welcomed the partial reopening of the Allenby-King Hussein Bridge to accommodate aid delivery from Jordan, but noted that current volumes remain insufficient. Significant shipments of vital aid remain in warehouses awaiting full resumption of supplies.
He also expressed serious concern about the events in East Jerusalem, where on December 8, Israeli authorities forcibly entered the United Nations Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) compound, seized property and replaced the United Nations flag with an Israeli one. The Secretary-General, he said, strongly condemned these actions, recalling the inviolability of UN premises.
West Bank
The situation in the occupied West Bank is also deteriorating. Alakbarov pointed to the Israeli cabinet’s recent decision to approve or legalize 19 settlements, including two settlements evacuated in 2005. In 2025, settlement expansion reached its highest level since UN monitoring began in 2017, which it said was undermining the viability of a unified and territorially contiguous Palestinian state.
The rise in settler violence, especially during the olive harvest season, is particularly alarming. Palestinian farmers face attacks, intimidation and crop destruction, often in the presence of Israeli security forces.
Detentions of Palestinians
The report also expressed concern about the continued detention of large numbers of Palestinians, including children, reports of abuse in detention facilities, and incitement and provocative rhetoric from officials.
Commitment to Peace
Concluding his speech, Alakbarov reaffirmed the United Nations commitment to the two-state solution and called for an end to the illegal occupation, as well as strict adherence by all parties to the conflict to international law and relevant resolutions UN.