UN official reports concerning developments in West Bank, Gaza

Ramiz Alakbarov, Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, reiterated the Secretary-General’s strong condemnation of the relentless expansion and acceleration of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

“These developments further entrench the unlawful Israeli occupation and threaten the viability of a fully independent, contiguous and sovereign Palestinian State,” he said, stressing that all Israeli settlements and related infrastructure have “no legal validity”, constitute a flagrant violation of international law, and must cease immediately. 

Turning attention to the ceasefire announced eight months ago in Gaza, he said that the strip still faces profound uncertainty and immense human suffering.

“I condemn the continued killing and injury of civilians in Gaza, including women and children,” he said.  He also expressed particular concern over recent increasing calls for a resumption of widespread hostilities in Gaza. 

“This would be disastrous for the Palestinian people of Gaza, for Israelis and for the entire region,” he said. 

Despite the ceasefire announced eight months ago, humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip remain bleakwith 70 per cent of the population lacking dignified housing, sanitation systems destroyed and Israel still blocking much of the food and medical aid required to meet Palestinian residents’ “immense” needs, a senior UN official told the Security Council.

Gaza still faces profound uncertainty and immense human suffering,” said Ramiz Alakbarov, who serves as Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator.

Mr. Alakbarov briefed the 15-member Council alongside two civil society experts, delivering a quarterly update on the implementation of resolution 2334 (2016) — a landmark text which declared that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory were illegal under international law.

However, he also focused much of his briefing on the implementation of resolution 2803 (2025), through which the Council endorsed the United States-facilitated Comprehensive Peace Plan in Gaza in October 2025 and authorized the deployment of an international stabilization force.

“The legitimate needs, concerns and aspirations of the people of Gaza must be addressed through the full implementation of [that resolution],” stressed the Deputy Special Coordinator.  Instead, the situations in both Gaza and the West Bank have remained volatile.  Israeli air strikes and military operations have continued across Gaza, resulting in further fatalities and bringing the total killed since the ceasefire to over 1,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, he said, Israeli forces continue to expand their territorial control, now holding approximately 70 per cent of the Strip.  “This encroachment of areas under Israeli control is reducing the space available to civilians,” he said.  “Palestinians in Gaza are concentrated in increasingly limited areas, living amid insecurity and violence.”

Needs in Gaza Immense

Noting improvements in the humanitarian situation in Gaza since the signing of the ceasefire, he said the share of households going to bed hungry dropped from 92 per cent to 36 per cent.  More humanitarian access has been granted. “But […] the needs in Gaza remain immense,” he stressed, warning that 70 per cent of the population still lacks dignified shelter and sanitation conditions are alarming.

Turning to the West Bank, where the situation continues to deteriorate, he said Israeli military activity continued in Jenin, displacing Palestinians.  He voiced concern over escalating violence in the West Bank, adding: “I am appalled at the numerous instances in which officials glorified violence and engaged in dangerous provocations, incitement and inflammatory language.”

Outlining several important developments on the political front — including a recent Palestinian Authority decree committing to holding presidential elections in 2027 — he strongly condemned Israel’s plan to establish military facilities at the Sheikh Jarrah compound of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), in East Jerusalem, and urged it to rescind that decision.