Mr. President,

I thank the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Greece, and Slovenia for initiating today's meeting and express my appreciation to Under-Secretary-General Tom Fletcher and Executive Director Catherine Russell for their distressing briefings.

Twenty-one months into the conflict in Gaza, the humanitarian situation has deteriorated to an unprecedented level. The international community must act decisively and with the strongest sense of urgency to alleviate this humanitarian catastrophe. I wish to emphasize three points:

First, humanitarian access must be fully restored. Under Israel's extreme blockade, Gaza faces severe shortages of all essential supplies, and widespread famine looms. Nine humanitarian agencies, including OCHA and WFP, have jointly warned of a critical fuel crisis that risks paralyzing all humanitarian operations. Ensuring humanitarian assistance is Israel's obligation under international humanitarian law as the occupying Power, a demand explicitly reiterated in multiple Security Council resolutions and the ICJ's provisional measures order. China firmly opposes the weaponization of aid and urges Israel to immediately lift the siege on Gaza and restore full humanitarian access.

Second, humanitarian assistance must adhere to humanitarian principles. The UN has repeatedly stressed that the militarized aid distribution mechanism promoted by the U.S. and Israel violates the principles of impartiality, independence, and neutrality. Far from alleviating suffering, it has repeatedly caused mass civilian casualties. The use of force by Israeli forces against civilians seeking aid has resulted in over 600 deaths and 5,000 injuries. China strongly condemns these attacks on civilians and calls for thorough accountability. UN humanitarian agencies possess the expertise and capacity to deliver aid at scale across Gaza. All parties should support the UN in conducting assistance in line with humanitarian principles, and Israel is obligated to ensure their safety and provide all necessary facilitations.

Third, forced displacement in Gaza must cease. Since the onset of this conflict, Israel has issued mass evacuation orders covering over 86% of Gaza, forcibly displacing more than 1.9 million people multiple times. We are gravely concerned by reports that Israel is discussing establishing so-called “humanitarian city” in southern Gaza. Gaza and the West Bank are the homeland of the Palestinian people—not bargaining chips. Any attempt to forcibly transfer Palestinians flagrantly violates international law and Security Council resolutions and must be firmly rejected by the international community.

Mr. President,

An immediate and sustained ceasefire is the fundamental prerequisite to saving lives and ending Gaza's humanitarian catastrophe. While we note the resumption of ceasefire talks, Israel's ongoing military operations continue to claim innocent lives daily. As the brutal reality has repeatedly shown: Military force cannot bring peace, and prolonging this war only deepens death and hatred. We urge Israel to cease all military operations in Gaza immediately. Countries with significant influence over the parties should adopt a fair and responsible approach and take concrete, forceful steps to advance a ceasefire.

The two-State solution remains the only viable path to resolve the Palestinian question. We welcome the High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution later this month and hope it will galvanize momentum for the political process. China will continue working with the international community to end the fighting in Gaza, alleviate humanitarian suffering, advance the two-State solution, and ultimately achieve a comprehensive, just, and lasting resolution to the Palestinian question.

Thank you, Mr. President.