🎙 Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue (May 21, 2026)

💬 Mr. President,

We wish to thank Mr. Ramiz Alakbarov, Deputy Special Coordinator for the #MiddleEast Peace Process, for his briefing on the situation in the Middle East.

We have closely listened to Mr. Nikolay Mladenov, High Representative for Gaza of the Board of Peace, as well as to Mr. Rami Hijjo. Frankly speaking, we were somewhat surprised to hear various members of the Council extolling what is happening now.

Today’s meeting is more than a routine briefing. Recently, the Council was presented with the first semi-annual report of the Board of Peace, pursuant to Security Council Resolution 2803.

Let me remind you that Russia abstained during that vote as the resolution failed to mention Israel’s obligations, the role of UNRWA, the situation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, or the universally recognized two-State solution. We chose not to block the document then only in response to numerous requests, primarily from regional States, to allow the US blueprint for Gaza a chance to succeed.

❗️ Regrettably, our fears were borne out. The Board of Peace’s report echoes the language of paragraph 33 about “the difference between a framework that exists on paper and one that delivers on the ground for the people of Gaza.” Six months after the vote on Security Council Resolution 2803, the so-called “Trump Plan” remains largely a dead letter, with declarative successes only serving as a smokescreen to conceal the grim reality in the #GazaStrip. <...>

In fact, since the ceasefire was announced on October 10, 2025, Israeli strikes have been killing Palestinian civilians literally each and every day – more than 880 people have died and over 2,600 have been wounded. According to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), most of them died as a result of sniper fire or explosions of tripwire bombs which were positioned at access points to water sources. There is a genuine manhunt underway targeting Palestinian law enforcement officers. <...>

Those who survived in Gaza continue to suffer from acute shortages of food and basic necessities, communicable diseases, and they are being forced to relocate en masse due to the bans and restrictions, which were imposed and are being tightened by the Israelis. As was mentioned at a recent OHCHR briefing, sanitary conditions in the enclave are catastrophic, which is compounded by acute shortages of clean drinking water. According to the available information, the UN emergency humanitarian appeal for $4 billion is financed to the tune of a meager 12%.

Those who read the report by the Board of Peace might come to the impression that Hamas alone is to blame for all the misfortunes plaguing Gaza. Essentially, it is being proposed that we accept the premise whereby blocking humanitarian aid, investment, and development assistance can be made contingent on political demands.

We are explicitly being told that until Palestinian groups disarm, we better forget about the provisions of the Trump plan stipulating that “Israel will not occupy or annex the Gaza Strip” and that the people of the enclave will be given “the opportunity to build a better Gaza.” At the same time, it is being proposed that the Security Council members exert pressure on Hamas and Palestinian factions for them to accept a “road map” and a framework document on disarmament, which have not even been shown to the Security Council. However, such “pigs in a poke” no longer surprise us.

👉 The US plan for Gaza contains no specific political commitments vis-à-vis the Palestinians themselves. The Palestinians, who have been tormented by a decades-long brutal war, are cynically being lured with idyllic depictions of beach resorts, skyscrapers, and promises of jobs. But this will be in exchange for their own State, which was pledged to them by the international community more than 70 years ago.

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