Delegates, we are standing at a turning point in history. On
September 21, 2025, the UK formally recognized the State
of Palestine, a decision taken not as a symbolic gesture,
but as a necessary intervention to stop the forensic
dismantling of the two-state solution. We meet here against
the disturbing reports of the Report of the High
Commissioner (A/HRC/58/73), which presents findings
that are not merely concerning; they are a condemnation of
the international community being inactive. The report
details how the settlement enterprise in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory has metastasized into de facto
annexation, with over 28,000 new units advanced in a
single year. This aggressive expansion, developed to cut
East Jerusalem from the West Bank, constitutes an obvious
and existential violation of UN Security Council
Resolution 2334, which explicitly declares such measures
to be devoid of legal validity. The UK refuses to accept a
status quo where extremist narratives are pushed by
ministers to fuel the violence, this is why the UK has
enforced the most severe sanctions regime in its history
against those undermining peace in the West Bank.
Turning our gaze to Gaza, we are witnessing a catastrophe
that the Secretary-General’s Report (A/80/399) describes
as the systemic erasure of civilian life. The United
Kingdom is outraged by the findings detailing the
intentional bureaucratic obstacle of aid, which has
developed famine conditions in direct contravention of
Security Council Resolution 2735. This resolution was not
a suggestion; it was a binding demand for the immediate,
unhindered provision of humanitarian assistance at scale.
Yet, we see a reality where starvation is being weaponized
and the "safe zones" have failed to be safe. We reaffirm
our absolute rejection of any attempt at demographic
change in the Gaza Strip and align ourselves fully with the
International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion of July
2024, which confirmed that the continued occupation is
unlawful and must be brought to an end "as quickly as
possible." The legal view of the UK is quite clear, the
entire population will not be subjected to punishments due
to the mishaps of the terrorist group.
Therefore, the United Kingdom, in accordance with our
partners in the Contact Group, asserts that the era of
"managing the conflict" is over. We require the immediate
implementation of a three-stage roadmap: first, full
accordance with Resolution 2735 to accommodate an
immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all
hostages; second, a time-bound plan to dismantle illegal
outposts in accordance with the ICJ’s mandate; and third,
an irreversible political path toward a sovereign Palestinian
state based on 1967 lines. Peace will not be built on the
ruins of Gaza nor on the seized hilltops of the West Bank;
it will be built on the equal application of the law.