Statement EUSR Koopmans – UN Security Council: Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question

Thank you Mme President,

I would like to thank the Secretary-General for his briefing today.

The European Union sees the urgent need for a sovereign, secure and peaceful State of Palestine, alongside a sovereign, secure and peaceful State of Israel, and is of course ready to contribute to that goal. I will propose today a novel, untried way to get closer to that goal. But let us first focus on the immediate horrendous crises.

Our first prioritymust be to end the suffering in and around Gaza; the unfathomable killing of thousands of children and other civilians; the despicable hostage-holding that started with Hamas' terror attacks of 7 October; and the man-made famine that Israel must decide to halt. We reiterate the need to implement Resolution 2728, including through reaching an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and the full and unhindered provision of humanitarian assistance at scale.

Resolution 2728 must be implemented immediately, as must the Orders of the International Court of Justice.The EU has recognised the right of Israel to defend itself in line with international humanitarian law. We strongly urge Israel not to undertake a ground operation in Rafah. Gaza in its entirety needs to be returned to the rule of the Palestinian Authority, and be part of that future free State of Palestine.

Our second prioritymust be to avoid a regional war that can arise from the worsening occupation and terrorism in the West Bank; the deliberate weakening of the Palestinian Authority; and, the aggression that we have repeatedly condemned, between Hezbollah, Iran and Israel. This includes the unprecedented attack on Israel last weekend which we have roundly condemned, as well as the preceding attack in Damascus, and of course, the attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea. We launched a maritime operation - ASPIDES - to protect shipping in the Red Sea. We urge all to implement your Council's Resolutions and to de-escalate.Now, our third prioritymust be comprehensive regional peace. Last September the EU joined with Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League to launch the Peace Day Effort. Today, we call for a Peace Conference. But such a Conference to succeed, first needs a ceasefire; and second it needs a preparatory meeting among those willing to contribute to peace, to help reverse engineer the solution. Let me explain briefly.

The parties are not all ready to make peace. But the more their friends and partners prepare for their peace, the more we can help them move towards it. We should spell out, all of us, what we can contribute.

How can we all help ensure Israel's security? What can we contribute to a stable state of Palestine? How can both be integrated in the region, politically, economically, in cooperation on security, water, energy and climate change? What can regional normalization for both Israel and Palestine mean in practice? These questions all of us, as contributors to peace, can start to address today, even when one or more of the parties are not yet ready. We do not need another uncertain roadmap. We need to reverse engineer the peace, by starting at the end; practically elaborating the day of peace.

To that end, Mme President, I call for the organization of a preparatory peace conference soon after a ceasefire. Let us start, we the contributors, to map out our support if and when there is the two-State solution. Let us also reiterate the well-known, self-evident framework for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Let us then invite the parties, separately, to tell us what they need from us to accompany them to their peace. And let us give clarity about the consequences we will attach to engagement or non-engagement with such a global initiative.

Mme President,

It is not just the Israelis and Palestinians and not just the members of this Council but all of us have a responsibility to prepare for peace. We owe it to those killed, to those taken hostage, those now dying of famine, to try this new approach to reach peace.

Thank you.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.