Source: UN News: Tuesday, 26 May 2026 00:02 AM
The ceasefire announced in October 2025 in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel, remains fragile and the humanitarian situation there is continuously worsening. The Security Council met on Thursday to discuss the stalled peace process and the future of this area badly devastated by war and the continuously deteriorating situation in the West Bank. Common people are dying in both these Palestinian areas. A recording of the proceedings of this meeting can be seen here. Gaza ‘cannot afford any more war’ Ramiz Al-Akbarov, the UN’s deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, told Thursday’s meeting that the situation across the entire Palestinian territory occupied by Israel is becoming increasingly uncertain and dangerous. More than 1 million people are in desperate need of shelter assistance across the Gaza Strip, where the majority of the population is displaced. The expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and violence and provocations involving Jewish settlers continue to escalate tensions. In Gaza, he said, the initial post-cease-fire dynamics have been replaced by delays in implementing resolution 2803 (2025), daily “The people of Gaza cannot tolerate any more war. Such a situation must be avoided at all costs,” he stressed. “Against this backdrop, while negotiations are underway to move forward on implementing the second phase of the ceasefire, there are also calls for a resumption of hostilities and violent activities in some areas,” he stressed. Deputy Special Coordinator Ramiz Al-Akbarov also stressed that we cannot wait any longer to implement Security Council resolution 2803 (2025). It is noteworthy that in this resolution passed by the Security Council on 17 November 2025, a comprehensive peace plan was approved for a ceasefire and peace establishment in Gaza. Ramiz Al-Akbarov said that the war in Gaza should not be stopped. All elements of the comprehensive disengagement plan must be fully implemented, including the disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the deployment of the International Stabilization Force. In addition, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza must be empowered. He warned that Israeli attacks on Gaza continue on an almost daily basis, killing many people daily, as well as armed activities by Hamas and other Palestinian groups. Israel has said it now controls 60 percent of Gaza, up from 52 percent at the time of the ceasefire. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation remains dire, and relief efforts are “heavily hampered” by Israel’s limited operational outposts and restrictions on critical humanitarian goods that Israel considers dual-use. Mechanisms should be established to enable a sustainable recovery in line with (2025).” No reconstruction has yet taken place. Nikolai Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s representative in Gaza, addressed the Security Council. Addressing the Security Council, he said that the ceasefire has significantly reduced violence in the area and has also improved aid access, “but no reconstruction has taken place yet.” He said that about 80 percent of the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed. “More than 10 lakh people have no permanent place to live. Till this morning, they were living in tents and the remains of demolished buildings.” UN News In the Gaza Strip, even after more than two and a half years of war that broke out in October 2023, millions of people are displaced in the Gaza Strip and have to live in makeshift tents. These makeshift camps have become a long-term way of daily life for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians amid deteriorating infrastructure and no clear hope of returning to their destroyed homes. Humanitarian aid operations disrupted Meanwhile, UN agencies have warned that humanitarian aid operations in Gaza are becoming increasingly limited due to lack of funds, restrictions on movement and damaged infrastructure. Only 12 percent of funds have so far been received in response to Israel’s ‘2026 aid appeal’ for the occupied Palestinian territory, while aid convoys continue to face delays, broken roads and critical equipment and fuel. Food insecurity also remains severe throughout the Gaza Strip, with humanitarian partners now able to distribute approximately 1 million packets of food aid per day, down from 1.8 million in February. Aid agencies say one in five families eat only one meal a day, and many mothers go hungry themselves to feed their children.
