Are Gaza and the West Bank Expendable? Security Council Clashes Over the Palestinian Question

United Nations, New York City

Sphinx News: Ahmed Ali

Convening on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, the Security Council colludes to what may be another otiose end, characterized by high-level delegations barging on the political, economic, and humanitarian trajectory of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

While the world’s focus has almost entirely been on the Middle East War, the Security Council meeting on the Palestinian question renews discussion on both Gaza and the West Bank.

Intended to be ample in its diplomatic progress, where the UNSC’s (United Nations Security Council) adoption of Resolution 2803 in November of 2025 signified consensus around Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan as an effective joint comprehensive plan of action, the meeting was instead emblematic of the ongoing political grievances that have made progress on the ground so stagnant. Illuminated by the vehement appeals of UN member states, ambassadors point to two key issues that have made growth so intangible: the continuous “reign of terror by Hamas”, and the impunity of Israel’s settlement activity within the Occupied West Bank.

REMARKS BY UN OFFICIAL

Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident Coordinator at the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Ramiz Alakbarov, told the Security Council today that Israel’s settlement activities in the Occupied West Bank continue at “high levels.” With this notion, Alakbarov warned that undeterred legislative proposals, coupled with staunch polemical appeals by members of the Israeli cabinet to subdue the intended autonomous status of the occupied West Bank, erode prospects for a long-term two-state solution.

For that reason, Alakbarvo reiterated the Secretary-General’s firm rejection and “condemnation” of settlement activities within the Occupied West Bank, highlighting as well that such conduct is illicit in nature, a direct contravention to relevant UN resolutions and international law.

The West Bank expansionist effort has equally exacerbated the Palestinian humanitarian crisis, where settler violence has massively contributed to the displacement crisis, racial injustices, and the demolition of Palestinian homes. He described such initiatives as “crippling” to the Palestinian cause, where a displacement crisis stifles the viability of educational institutions, Palestinian heritage, and job loss.

Alakbarov recalled Israel’s obligation to abide by relevant Security Council resolutions, notably Security Council Resolution 2334, non-negotiable in its definition of settlement activities in a long-occupied territory as a “flagrant violation of law.”

Alakbarov professed to the Council that “Between 3 December 2025 and 13 March 2026, the period covered by the Secretary-General’s latest report, Israel advanced or approved over 6,000 housing units in the occupied West Bank, including around 3,160 in Area C, and 2,850 units in East Jerusalem.” This development has been subsidized by the Israeli cabinet’s plan, passed through the Knesset on February 15th, to “resume land registration processes in Area C of the Occupied West Bank.”

BOARD OF PEACE HIGH REPRESENTATIVE TO GAZA NICKOLAY MLADENOV

In his appeals to the Security Council, formally invited by the President of the Security Council for March (Ambassador Mike Waltz of the United States), the Board of Peace High Representative to Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, endorsed Trump’s 20-point Peace Plan as a credible political solution, ending the Gaza conflict through the establishment of “a Palestinian-led apolitical, technocratic committee to administer Gaza.”

He recalled the October 7th Hamas attacks and the subsequent destruction of Gaza as a “catastrophe” of immense proportions, one that “should never be repeated.”

Mladenov posited that the seeds to the current conflict have been planted for a particularly long time, continuing that such an implosion is a direct product of the international community’s alleged acquiescence to “years of systemic complacency towards extremism and radicalization”, of course referencing the Palestinian organization, Hamas, and its armed wing, the Qassam Brigades. “The political transition,” he added, outlined within the 20-point peace plan supported by UNSC resolution 2803, must neutralize the potential for Hamas to govern or control Gaza within any capacity, stating, “The transition in Gaza must decisively address this underlying failure.”

With this in mind, Mladenov tells the Council that the decommissioning of weapons and reconstruction, referenced in resolution 2803 (2025), are essential, yet remain “insufficient” without a concerted effort to challenge the ideologies that fuel violence. He notes the Council and its respective Governments must “use all means to urge Hamas and all Palestinian factions to accept the framework without delay”, a critical step towards “building a Gaza led by Palestinians.”

STATEMENTS BY UN MEMBER STATES

Echoing the decisive statements of Mladenov, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, Danny Danon, says, “Hamas must be disarmed.” Danon assured the Council that despite Israel focusing military attention on debilitating the efforts of Iran and Hezbollah, it has not diverted attention away from Hamas.

Danon told the Council that Hamas is “hiding behind civilians, turning homes, schools and hospitals into instruments of war.”

“Now, we are dismantling it,” he said, noting that Israel and the US have carried out 8,500 strikes targeting missile launchers, weapons production facilities, and command centers aimed at weakening the “proxies Iran has built for decades.”

Danon ended his statement by reiterating the “existential threat” of the current Iranian administration, warning that Iran is exceeding in its missile capabilities, equipped to aim their efforts at “Paris, London, Athens, Copenhagen, and Riga.

Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, Riyad Mansour, insisted that “Palestinian lives are not expendable, and Palestinian land is not for grabs.”

He pointed to horrific events of State-condoned rape used as a weapon of war, the killing of entire families, shoot-to-kill policies against innocent civilians, children shot in the head or chest, wanton destruction, rape and sexual assault.

“All these horrors that Gaza witnessed are more and more prevailing in Israeli prisons,” where over 350 Palestinian children are held.

“As we speak, settlers are spreading terror across communities throughout the West Bank,” he continued, attacks that are a “direct result” of State-sponsored violence, incitement, and impunity, and would not be possible without the complicity of the Israeli Government.

“Without accountability, these attacks will continue,” he assured.

The Arab Peace Initiative should be “heeded by all,” he said, to transform the region, moving away from perpetual war towards sustainable peace and shared prosperity. “This is the only way forward for our region and the world.”

The key facilitator in the Security Council-endorsed Resolution 2803, Permanent Representative of the United States, Mike Waltz, told Council members that “Hamas continues to reign its terror on the Palestinian people of Gaza and export its terror for more October 7ths.”

Waltz asserted that either the IDF continues to control the enclave, “or we chart a new way forward together”.

He notes that the United States has made major developments with its Board of Peace initiative. During the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Qatar pledged more than $7 billion in support of Gaza’s reconstruction effort.

If Hamas “lays down its weapons”, he says, “Gaza can become a destination for investment and real growth.”