Israel/Palestinian territories : The Security Council should take action

As you know, we have closed consultations now. The situation in Gaza is deteriorating further. What I would say is three things:

The Security Council should take action. It took action on November 15, but it’s not enough, we should do much more than that. There is an emergency situation. We need more than humanitarian pauses, we need a truce leading to a ceasefire. We need full humanitarian access, it’s absolutely needed now. We need full respect for international humanitarian law. We need the release of hostages. Of course, we respect the right of Israel to defend itself and to go after the terrorists who committed these horrible crimes on October 7. So, that is what we need to do in the short term.

Then, we need to have a discussion about what is next in Gaza, because we will need to find a solution, and the Security Council has a role to play in deciding what kind of governance to put in Gaza to avoid another crisis in the future. We also need to make sure that there is no spillover of this crisis. The situation in the West Bank now is deteriorating by the hour. The situation in the North between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon can become a new front, it would be an absolute tragedy because it could lead to a regional crisis.

And last but not least, it’s not too early to have a discussion about the resumption of a political track. If we do not move to a resumption of a political peace process, there will be another crisis in Gaza, another crisis in the West Bank, worse than this one. So, I don’t think we can continue to refuse to address the aspiration of the Palestinians for statehood. I think it’s a necessity. We need to go back to this discussion: the two-state solution. It would be for the both sides to decide what kind of compromise they agree upon. But I think a discussion should take place, it should not be put under the carpet, like it has been the case in the last nine years.