Ahead of the High-Level Conference on Palestine that opens in New York on Monday, I urge immediate steps by Israel to end its unlawful continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory, and for all parties to work for tangible progress towards a two-State solution.
I urge Governments to use the opportunity of this Conference for concrete action that puts all possible pressure on the Israeli Government to end the carnage in Gaza - permanently. Countries that fail to use their leverage may be complicit in international crimes.
Every day, we are watching the unspeakable tragedy in Gaza and the West Bank with horror and frustration. Every day, we see more destruction, more killings, and the further dehumanization of Palestinians.
Every day, we see actions and hear about plans to consolidate the annexation of the West Bank, to force Palestinians to relocate outside Gaza, and to crowd extremely exhausted and hungry people into ever-smaller areas of the territory, after repeated displacement orders by the Israeli military. These steps put the two-state solution even further out of reach.
When we think it can't get worse, it gets worse. Children are starving and dying in front of our eyes. Gaza is a dystopian landscape of deadly attacks and total destruction.
Chaotic, militarized distribution centres run by the US- and Israeli-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation are failing utterly to deliver humanitarian aid at the scope and scale needed. More than one thousand people have been killed since the end of May as they tried to get food. According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, more than 200,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured since 7 October - some ten percent of the entire population. And we can never forget that more than 300 of our own colleagues have been killed by Israel's military action.
All countries have an obligation to take concrete steps to ensure that Israel, the occupying power in Gaza, complies with its obligations to ensure that sufficient food and lifesaving necessities are provided to the population.
Meanwhile in the occupied West Bank, Israeli security forces and settlers continue to kill Palestinians, demolish houses, cut off water supplies, and consolidate systems of oppression and discrimination against Palestinians.
I have repeatedly condemned the horrific 7 October attacks by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups, fully recognizing the trauma inflicted on Israel. I have also repeatedly condemned the scope and scale of death, destruction and misery inflicted on the Palestinian people in Gaza since then. I have warned again and again about the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and about the need to prevent genocide, in line with the provisional measures of the International Court of Justice.
The people of the world will judge this Conference on what it delivers.
I call again for an immediate, permanent ceasefire; the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and all others arbitrarily detained; immediate and unhindered humanitarian access; and the delivery of massive humanitarian aid to Palestinians, wherever they are.
We stand ready to support the Palestinians in state-building, with human rights and rule of law at its centre. When that time comes, programmes to support victims and survivors will be an important avenue for opening a pathway to accountability and redress.
