The United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, on Wednesday cautioned that breaches of the Gaza ceasefire are jeopardizing a United States-backed peace initiative, pointing to rising casualties and growing instability in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Addressing a high-level session of the United Nations Security Council on the situation in Palestine, Cooper said the truce remains precarious.
“The ceasefire itself remains fragile, and the progress we all seek is at risk. We have seen ceasefire violations on both sides,” Cooper said at the UN Security Council’s high-level session on the situation in Palestine.
Citing casualty figures, she noted that “over 600 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire began,” adding that such violations are “deeply disturbing and undermine phase one of President (Donald) Trump’s peace plan. Gaza must not get stuck in a no man’s land between peace and war.”
Calling for swift measures to stabilize the territory, Cooper said: “We need to see the Palestinian police strengthened, international stabilization force deployment and IDF (Israeli forces) withdrawal from the Strip.”
She outlined additional political objectives, stating: “Second, we need to build stable Palestinian governance.”
“Third, we must prevent the destabilization of the West Bank and preserve the viability of a Palestinian state,” she said, warning of escalating tensions.
“We are witnessing an all-time high of Israeli settlement expansion and settler violence in a flagrant breach of international law, with Palestinian families and communities driven from their homes, beaten while farming their own land, and attacks that sow terror among civilians. This is deeply, deeply wrong and a clear contravention of the resolutions of this council and counterproductive,” she said.
Cooper emphasized the urgency of humanitarian intervention, declaring that “fourth and most important of all, most immediately, we must address Gaza’s catastrophic humanitarian situation.”
She criticized restrictions imposed on aid organizations, saying: “The Israeli government’s policy of deregistering and shutting down the operations of international NGOs in Gaza, including British organizations like Save the Children, risk choking off essential access to people in desperate need and closing fragile health facilities.”
Urging Israeli authorities to “urgently ensure that experienced and longstanding organizations can continue to operate,” she added that “the UN and its partners must remain at the heart of the response throughout the whole of Gaza, including the proper protection of all UNRWA and UN staff, premises and operations.”
“We know we cannot undo the trauma of the past, but we can chart a different course for generations to come, to help realize Palestinian self-determination, to help provide Israel with long-term security and to secure the two-state solution as the only path to lasting peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis alike,” she said.
The United Kingdom currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council.
