UN Relief Chief to Security Council: "We cannot accept a return to pre-ceasefire conditions"

Thank you, Madam President, and I welcome the opportunity to update the Security Council on the humanitarian crisis.

Overnight, our worst fears materialized.  Airstrikes resumed across the entire Gaza Strip. Unconfirmed reports of hundreds of people killed. 

New evacuation orders issued by Israeli forces, and once again, the people of Gaza living in abject fear. 

Modest gains made during the ceasefire destroyed. 

Humanitarian workers remain on the ground, I’m in close touch with them, ready to provide life-saving support to survivors and carry out our humanitarian mission. We must be allowed to do so. 

Last month, Madam President, I visited the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Israel to meet survivors, frontline workers and authorities. 

In Israel, I met with survivors of the horrendous Hamas-led attacks on 7 October at the Nir Oz kibbutz. I will never forget my visit there – one in four people killed or taken hostage. 

In the West Bank, I met with families whose homes were demolished and who face daily threats of eviction and forcible displacement.

And yet, my trip coincided with some of Gaza’s better recent days: A ceasefire was in place. Humanitarians were delivering hundreds of trucks every day, saving lives and restoring hope.

We demonstrated that when we are allowed to do so, we can deliver aid at scale.

Not anymore.

Today, I am distressed to report that, in addition to the intense airstrikes that have resumed, since 2 March, Israeli authorities have cut off the entry of all lifesaving supplies – food, medicines, fuel, cooking gas – for 2.1 million people. Our repeated requests to collect aid sitting at Kerem Shalom crossing have been systematically rejected.

Food is rotting and medicines are expiring.

No further hostages have been released. Only medical evacuations and humanitarian staff rotations have continued, and even those came to a halt today. 

During the ceasefire, we surged support after more than a year of aid being placed on a drip feed. The suspension of aid and commercial materials is reversing that progress that we achieved during that brief period. Essential survival resources needed are now being rationed.

Israel has cut power to southern Gaza's desalination plant, limiting access to clean water for 600,000 people. 

The prices of staples have surged. Vegetable prices in north Gaza have already tripled. Six bakeries subsidized by the World Food Programme have closed due to shortages of cooking gas. 

The World Health Organization warns that public health risks remain very high, including for communicable diseases from overcrowding and poor sanitation.

This total blockade of life-saving aid, basic commodities and commercial goods will have a disastrous impact on the people of Gaza who remain dependent on a steady flow of assistance into the Strip.

Madam President, 

As Gaza is cut off – again – our ability to deliver assistance and basic services is becoming harder. 

Funding levels for the response are extremely low. 

We are seeing increasing restrictions being placed on NGO partners who are critical to the aid operation – not only in Gaza, but across the OPT. 

Since the Knesset legislation formally took effect on 30 January 2025, UNRWA international staff are no longer able to rotate in and out of Gaza.

The amount of cash that humanitarian personnel can bring into Gaza has been further decreased to a half of previous levels, far below what is required to cover even basic expenses for a six-week rotation.

On 9 March, Israeli authorities introduced new registration rules for international NGOs delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the OPT. 

If enforced, these would impose strict conditions and will significantly disrupt aid operations. 

The Israeli Knesset is also considering a bill to impose considerable taxation on donations from third States to Israeli NGOs, including humanitarian and human rights groups.

If implemented, this would further erode the number of partners with the capacity to implement protection interventions. 

Many Israeli NGOs are engaged on legal cases involving home demolitions and forced evictions. They also provide protective presence activities related to settler violence.

We continue to give what remains inside Gaza to those most in need. We are trucking water where we can, providing reduced food rations, and distributing shelter items. 

We continue to support hospitals with supplies, emergency medical teams, and casualty evacuations to hospitals in Gaza. 

Our education partners report that about 631 temporary learning spaces are now operational throughout Gaza, supporting over 172,000 students. 

But we cannot sustain this for much longer unless the crossings are opened again for aid to enter. 

Madam President,

The 42-day ceasefire proved what was possible. 

Aid delivery was enabled, and we scaled up quickly and effectively.

30 hostages, and 8 deceased hostages, and 583 Palestinian detainees were released during that period.

Criminal activity in Gaza was brought under control, reducing the looting of humanitarian convoys by armed Palestinians.

Over 4,000 trucks of aid per week entered Gaza.

We reached over 2 million people.

540 water delivery points were set up.

113,000 tents were distributed to families by the UN humanitarian partners and others. 

Our polio vaccination targets were exceeded, reaching over 600,000 children.

Maternity [care] was expanded to support 5,000 births. Thousands of postpartum kits were distributed for mothers and newborns.

It proves what’s possible when we’re allowed to do our job. 

We cannot and must not accept a return to pre-ceasefire conditions or the complete denial of humanitarian relief. 

Civilians must be protected. Their essential needs must be met. International law must be respected.

Madam President, 

I also have grave concerns about the protection of civilians in the West Bank. The situation there is an urgent crisis that must be addressed with the necessary international attention.

Since the start of this year, 95 Palestinians have been killed, including 17 children, and 869 have been injured, including 179 children. 

The Israeli military has renewed widescale operations in the northern West Bank, deploying tanks for the first time in two decades.

40,000 Palestinians have been displaced in these operations, including from refugee camps and cities. Civilian infrastructure has been extensively destroyed.

In Area C, Palestinian communities continue to be coerced off their land by settlement expansion, settler violence and home demolitions. 

Hundreds of Israeli settlers have launched large-scale attacks on Palestinian villages, burning homes and destroying property. 

Over 800 movement obstacles, including over 20 new road gates and checkpoint closures, are severely disrupting Palestinians’ access to work, healthcare and essential services. Restrictions by Israeli authorities continue to prevent thousands of Palestinian worshipers from reaching holy sites.

Madam President,

Three things need to happen right now.

First and foremost, humanitarian aid and commercial essentials must be allowed to enter Gaza. Blocking food, water and medicine for people who need them is unconscionable. 

It also goes against international humanitarian law and the provisional orders of the International Court of Justice.

Second, we must renew the ceasefire. Over 48,000 Palestinians have been killed and thousands more are missing. Over 1,200 Israelis have been killed. Over 100,000 Palestinians are injured, many with life-changing wounds. The return to hostilities overnight must cease.

The suffering of the people of the people of the region must end. A renewed ceasefire is the best way of protecting civilians – in Gaza, in the OPT and in Israel – releasing hostages and detainees and allowing aid and commercial supplies in. 

Third, the humanitarian response must be funded. We have received only 4 per cent – 4 per cent – of what is needed. We don’t even have enough to get through this quarter. 

In closing, I am reminded of a message I saw scrawled on a hospital whiteboard in Gaza, written by a doctor who was later killed, a message that has struck with me: “Whoever stays until the end will tell the story. We did what we could. Remember us.”

Madam President, colleagues on the Security Council,

Will we be able to say that we did what we could?

Thank you.