Published On 25/11/2025
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Last update: 05:24 (Mecca time)
Ramiz Alakbarov, Deputy United Nations Special Coordinator for the Peace Process, warned on Monday that the picture in the Gaza Strip “remains bleak,” adding that many families cannot afford chicken and meat despite the availability of basic food commodities and the improvement in their prices.
Alakbarov confirmed, in a briefing heard by the Security Council at its meeting, that the United Nations and its partners are still facing major challenges in providing shelter materials such as tents and blankets, stressing the need to find an urgent solution to these delays with the onset of the winter season.
The briefing provided by the UN official follows the visit that led him to Gaza last week, during which he met with displaced persons and humanitarian workers.
The UN official pointed out that the violence threatens the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, and called on all parties to exercise restraint and adhere to their obligations in accordance with the ceasefire agreement.
He stressed that the United Nations had redoubled its efforts to expand the scope of humanitarian aid, and called on Israel to expand the capabilities of the crossings and expedite approval for the entry of supplies.
He pointed out that the decisions taken now will determine whether the ceasefire will hold or collapse, stressing the necessity of implementing the first phase of the ceasefire in full, and urging the parties to reach an urgent agreement on the mechanisms for implementing the next phases.
The UN official pointed out that the ceasefire agreement has largely held in Gaza since it entered into force last month, acknowledging that the recent Israeli air strikes on populated areas caused many casualties and great destruction.
He also noted that Palestinian resistance fighters in Gaza continued their sporadic attacks on Israeli soldiers in the Strip, warning of the danger of the collapse of the ceasefire.
Settlement expansion
Alakbarov also warned of the escalation of settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, the spread of settlement outposts, and violence, including settler violence, displacement, and evictions, at levels he considered “worrying.”
The same spokesman warned that settler violence had reached “emergency levels,” noting that the United Nations recorded the highest number of settler attacks on Palestinians since it began monitoring them during the olive harvest season last October, at a rate of 8 attacks per day.
The UN official stated that these attacks led to the injury of farmers and the destruction of olive trees and livelihoods, highlighting that in many cases “Israeli forces failed to prevent these actions or were complicit in them.”
He pointed out that in some cases, “Israeli settlers violently confronted Israeli forces.”
He also stressed that the United Nations will continue to stand by both the Palestinians and the Israelis, and support all efforts aimed at ending the illegal occupation, implementing the negotiated two-state solution up to the pre-1967 borders, and making Jerusalem the capital of two states living side by side in peace.