Lavrov & Palestine at UNSC

I’m on the road and currently only have time to post this translation of Lavrov’s presentation about the Palestine Crisis at the UNSC today. Later today when I arrive home, Lavrov’s Presser ought to be available for me to post and comment upon.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to the distinguished ministers and other high-level representatives in the Security Council Chamber. Their participation in today's meeting confirms the continued relevance of the topic under discussion.

In accordance with rule 37 of the provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representatives of Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Qatar, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Viet Nam. Chile, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, Turkey and Uganda. It was so decided.

In accordance with the provisional rules of procedure and the previous practice in this regard, I propose that the Council invite the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine with Observer State status to the United Nations to participate in this meeting. There are no objections, and it is so decided.

In accordance with rule 39 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure, I invite Mr. Rattray, Chef de Cabinet of the Secretary-General, to participate in this meeting.

I also invite the following persons to take part in this meeting:

– His Excellency Mr. Majid Abdelaziz, Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States to the United Nations,

– His Excellency Mr. Sven Kumpans, Special Representative of the European Union for the Middle East Peace Process,

- His Excellency Mr. Sheikh Niang, Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

It was so decided. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of agenda item 2. I give the floor to Mr Rattray.

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Ladies and gentlemen,

Excellencies

The Middle East region is facing unprecedented risks to the security, well-being and peace of its people. Waves of violence spill over far beyond the Arab-Israeli conflict zone, destabilizing the situation in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and North Africa.

A frank and honest conversation is needed on how to immediately stop the bloodshed and suffering of civilians and move on to a long-term settlement of both old and relatively new conflicts.

Our country has historically maintained good relations with all countries in the region. The USSR was the first state to recognize Israel de facto and de jure, establishing diplomatic relations with it immediately after declaring independence in May 1948. In 1949, we supported Israel's application for UN membership, provided (I would like to emphasise this) that General Assembly resolutions 181 and 194 on the Palestine Partition Plan and the right of return of Palestinian refugees are implemented. This was clearly stipulated when we voted for Israel's admission to the UN. In the same way, today we support the accession of Palestine to our Organization. Its sovereignty as a state has already been recognized by almost 150 countries that are members of the UN.

We defend our position based on the norms of international law within the framework of various international formats for the settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli and, more broadly, the Middle East conflict. We proceed from the imperative of implementing UN resolutions, including the first General Assembly resolutions and key Security Council resolutions: 242 and 338 adopted after the end of the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War, as well as 478 and 497 on the status of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

We attach particular importance to dialogue with the Arab countries and their neighbours – Iran and Turkey. From the very beginning, we highly appreciated the constructive potential of the Arab Peace Initiative put forward by Saudi Arabia in 2002. At the same time, we respected the decision of a number of Arab states to normalise relations with Israel even before the settlement of the Palestinian issue. We advocated the involvement of pan-Arab and Islamic organisations – the Arab League and the OIC – in collective efforts within the framework of the Quartet of international mediators, which, unfortunately, was "buried" under the ruins of the US "deal of the century."

The Mandate and colonial past of the Middle East and North Africa has become – and remains – a difficult legacy for the countries of the region. The Sykes-Picot Accords, the Balfour Declaration and the White Paper laid time bombs that continue to explode to this day. The situation is exacerbated by the new geopolitical experiments of the West. We are convinced that the countries of the region should determine their own path to strengthening sovereignty and independence, socioeconomic development for the benefit of their peoples, without outside interference. This will make it possible to liberate the enormous global historical, civilizational, religious and cultural significance of the Middle East and North Africa in the interests of peace and stability.

Today, the most acute and urgent problem is the Palestinian one.

The UN Security Council is meeting at the ministerial level for the fourth time in 10 months. Four resolutions were adopted. However, the ongoing bloodshed in the occupied Palestinian territories confirms that all these decisions have remained "on paper".

Russia has consistently opposed terrorism in all its manifestations. We unequivocally condemned the terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, but what is happening now in Gaza is an unacceptable collective punishment of the civilian population.

For almost 300 days, the military cleansing of the sector has been going on - the most densely populated place on the planet, which has been called an "open-air prison" for many years.

The result of the large-scale military operation that Israel is conducting together with its American allies has been a horrific statistics of casualties and destruction. In 300 days, i.e. in 10 months, there were almost 40,000 dead and 90,000 wounded Palestinian civilians, most of whom were children and women. This is twice as many as the number of civilian casualties on both sides during the 10 years of conflict in southeastern Ukraine. Ten months have resulted in twice as many civilian casualties as 10 years of conflict in Ukraine since the February 2014 coup d'état. This means that they were born and raised under a total blockade and, in addition to the current escalation of violence, survived Israeli military operations such as: "Summer Rains" and "Autumn Clouds" in 2006, "Hot Winter" and "Cast Lead" in 2008-2009, "Pillar of Defense" in 2012, "Protective Edge" in 2014 and "Guardian of the Walls" in 2021.

Today, Gaza is in ruins, with housing, schools and hospitals almost completely destroyed, and key civilian infrastructure destroyed. In the sector, there were epidemics of infectious diseases, mass starvation, and a real humanitarian catastrophe broke out. There is no safe and sustainable access to all those affected and in need amid the ongoing fighting.

The death toll among UN humanitarian personnel and NGOs is already approaching 300. This is the largest single loss for the UN in modern history. Many humanitarians were killed along with
their families. We express our condolences to the relatives and friends, as well as colleagues of the victims.

On 7 May, an operation was launched to clear Rafah, the last refuge for the 1.5 million Palestinians who had fled from all over Gaza. The Rafah BCP was closed. The Strip has once again become "the only conflict zone in the world from which people are not even allowed to flee." This was said by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres back in 2009, when he was UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Nothing has changed since then. The situation is only deteriorating.

Border crossings on the Israeli side are functioning intermittently and with serious restrictions. They are passing much less cargo than it was even before the current confrontation, with much less needs.

A difficult situation is developing in the West Bank of the Jordan River and in East Jerusalem. The Israeli military raids and settler aggression do not stop there. All this is accompanied by casualties on both sides. Contrary to the requirements of UN Security Council Resolution 2334, Israel is not only not reducing, but even increasing the construction of illegal settlements. In addition to the expropriation of land and the demolition of Palestinian homes, the retrospective legalization of settlement outposts is practised, the construction of which has been declared illegal even under Israeli law.

Such unilateral actions to create irreversible "facts on the ground" (as Chief of the UN Secretary-General's Cabinet Erica Rattray said) are gross violations of Israel's obligations as an occupying power. I would like to note in particular the obligations arising from the Geneva Conventions adopted 75 years ago, ironically, largely to protect the Jews who suffered inhuman suffering during World War II and to prevent any persecution on the basis of nationality in the future.

Dear Colleagues,

The current unprecedented outbreak of violence in the Middle East is largely a consequence of the well-known US policy in the region. This is a consequence of the very diplomacy that US representatives have been telling us about the "effectiveness" of which for almost 10 months, demanding that we curtail our work at the UN Security Council. My colleague, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, also made a similar call. Time after time, the veto has been used to block calls for an immediate, permanent and widespread ceasefire.

When Resolution 2728, with a cessation of hostilities for the period of Ramadan, was adopted, the United States immediately declared that it was not legally binding. In return, we received the notorious "Joe Biden plan", which the Americans intended to approve even before receiving Israel's reaction. Everyone knew that it was negative. Because Israel does not need any plan with a hint of peace. We have seen this again today. I would like to ask the representative of the United States, listening to the statement of the representative of Israel today, did you have the feeling that you made the wrong room and came to the discussion that was not announced? I hope it is clear what I am talking about. It is for this reason that we abstained from voting on UN Security Council Resolution 2735, knowing that it was deliberately silently rejected by Israel.

By providing diplomatic cover for Israel's actions, supplying weapons and ammunition, Washington (everyone understands this) has become a direct participant in the conflict – just as in the case of the situation in Ukraine. If this support stops, the bloodshed will be stopped. However, the United States either does not want to or cannot do this. Apparently, the main thing is not saving human lives, but maneuvers that will allow you to score more points during the election campaign.

I would like to once again outline Russia's principled approaches.

We condemn the terrorist attack of October 7, 2023, which, however, cannot be used as a justification for Israel's current actions and to undermine the very idea of creating a Palestinian state.

We support a permanent and widespread ceasefire, which will make it possible to release 120 Israeli hostages and about 9500 Palestinians arbitrarily arrested since October 7, 2023.

We call for safe and adequate humanitarian access to all victims and those in need. We reaffirm the key mandate of UNRWA as a unique structure for providing assistance to Palestinians in the occupied territories and in neighbouring Arab countries.

We insist on the immediate cessation of illegal settlement activities.

The solution of these urgent tasks would create conditions for a return to peace negotiations on the universally recognized basis of international law in the interests of the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security with Israel. Only then will the historical injustice against the Palestinian people and their fundamental right to self-determination be redressed.

In this regard, it is important to restore intra-Palestinian unity, which we have always sought to promote by providing an opportunity for representatives of various Palestinian movements to conduct a much-needed dialogue on the Moscow platform. We are convinced that the Palestinians are capable of determining their own future without outside interference, no matter how much someone would like to decide everything for them and against their will. That includes Gaza's future as an integral part of a Palestinian state. We are all aware of the behind-the-scenes contacts and plans that predetermine the future structure of Gaza and the entire Palestinian state. Although there is practically no talk about the state. I believe that everyone should respect the principle of "not a word about Palestine without Palestine".

Our proposal for a meeting of all external players who have influence on various groups in Gaza and the West Bank, and who can, if they speak with one voice, help overcome the split in the Palestinian ranks remains on the table. An important step in this direction was taken in February of this year in Moscow, when all Palestinian factions, sending their delegations, spoke in favor of restoring unity on the basis of the PLO platform.

Today, we all have a responsibility to stop the unfolding human tragedy. In addition to the military operation in the occupied Palestinian territories, its other neighbors are under the threat of being drawn into a large-scale confrontation with Israel.

Tensions on the Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel are increasing day by day. Representatives of the Israeli leadership publicly announce plans to "open the northern front." Hezbollah does not remain in debt either, warning of its readiness to repel the invasion.

In Syria, the Israeli Air Force has multiplied attacks on the territory of the country, including the areas of Damascus, Aleppo, Latakia and the Golan Heights. Key airports and seaports, which played an important role in the delivery of urgent humanitarian aid, including in response to last year's severe earthquake, were hit.

Dear Colleagues,

A ceasefire and cessation of violence in Gaza and the West Bank of the Jordan River can create conditions not only for the search for a lasting settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but also for overcoming other hotbeds of crisis in the vast Middle East in accordance with Security Council resolutions, and not someone's geopolitical ambitions or "rules" with which the West is trying to replace the UN Charter.

An important role in upholding the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people belongs to pan-Arab and pan-Islamic structures, whose activities we support, as well as to all truly responsible members of the international community.

I would like to note in particular the potential of the Persian Gulf states. Now, after the early elections in Iran and the first statements by the new Iranian President Mike Peseschkian, there is hope that all the coastal countries of the Gulf will come closer together in the interests of overcoming long-standing contradictions and mistrust, uniting efforts on a generally acceptable basis in order to determine the parameters of mutual security without external interference and unanimously achieve the realization of the aspirations of the Palestinian people and build an architecture of stability in the region as a whole. Neighbourhood.

Progress on the Palestinian track in full compliance with UN resolutions, in the normalisation of relations between the coastal countries of the Persian Gulf – all this would be an important contribution to the objective process of forming a common Eurasian architecture based on the principles of indivisible security and equal collective responsibility, mutual respect and a balance of interests.

Again, I would emphasize much but I don’t have the time.

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