Security Council

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, today:

As fighting between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza broke furiously into its seventh day, foreign ministers in the Security Council today called unequivocally for an immediate end to the bloodshed, sounding alarm bells over the imminent potential for the violence to spill into the wider region.

Relentless military escalation by Ansar Allah in Yemen’s northern Marib region, along with import restrictions at Hudaydah, the closure of Sana’a International Airport and the absence of a political process are depriving people of hope that an end to the conflict is possible, the chief United Nations mediator told the Security Council today, calling on parties to make the concessions needed to conclude a peace deal.

Five months away from national elections in Iraq — a milestone event in the country’s young democracy — violent attacks against both civilian and military targets continue with “troubling” regularity, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today, as delegates called for continued vigilance against terrorist activities and the enactment of economic reforms.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) until 15 November 2021, maintaining the current ceilings for troops and police.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia until 31 October and expanded it to include monitoring implementation of the sentences handed down by a special judicial body established under the 2016 peace agreement between the Government and a rebel group.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Zhang Jun (China):

Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) committed genocide against the Yazidi and war crimes against unarmed cadets and military personnel at Tikrit Air Academy, the head of the United Nations team investigating these atrocity crimes told the Security Council today.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Zhang Jun (China):

Multilateralism — the cornerstone of international relations for 75 years — is eroding under the weight of multiple challenges, from climate change and migration to ideological confrontation, terrorism and above all, the COVID-19 crisis, delegates said in the Security Council today.