23.01.2025 Statement by Denmark at the Security Council briefing on children in Gaza

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Thank you, Mr. President,  

I also wish to thank USG Tom Fletcher, and Ms. Nateel for their sobering briefings.

Last week, a long-awaited ceasefire and hostage agreement was reached.

An agreement, which we hope, will ensure the release of all remaining hostages, adequate humanitarian aid, and which can hopefully lead to a permanent ceasefire to allow for reconstruction and a path toward a two-state solution.

We also hope that the ceasefire will provide a first step toward a safer future for children in Gaza. A chance for children to attend school without interruption, to play without fear, to once again hope for the future.

On this fifth day of its implementation, we call on all parties to uphold their commitments and ensure that the agreement is fully implemented.

Children in Gaza must be protected from attacks. They must receive much needed medical care and life-saving services to treat injuries, malnutrition and disease. And they must be allowed to resume their education.

Mr. President,

As we have seen in far too many conflicts around the world, children bear the brunt of war. Last year, the Occupied Palestinian Territory was ranked as the deadliest place in the world for children, as children make up close to half of those killed in Gaza.

Those surviving face a grim reality and a lifetime of trauma: More than 34,000 children have been injured, and Gaza is home to the largest number of amputee children in modern history. Gaza also has the highest rate of child malnutrition globally. And, approximately 1 million children are estimated to be in need of mental health and psychosocial support.

The war has left close to 17,000 children orphaned.

More than 95 per cent of schools in Gaza have been partially or completely destroyed. And, the 625,000 school-aged children of Gaza have lost more than one year of learning.

These figures, and the immense suffering that they convey, are more than shocking.

We remind all parties of their obligations to take all necessary precautions to protect civilians, not least the children who count for almost half of the population in Gaza. We also remind that schools must be protected and their civilian status respected.

We once again call on all parties to this conflict to immediately end and prevent all six grave violations against children, and ensure that there is accountability for those committed.

Mr. President,

Denmark remains deeply concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza. With the ceasefire agreement in place, we must now see a surge in humanitarian assistance into and across Gaza, as well as the guaranteed safety for humanitarian workers.

A key priority will be to get sufficient food, water, and medical supplies as well as winter supplies to children and their families. Restoring schools and the physical and mental safety needed for children to be able to resume learning will be a Herculean task. But a task we need to undertake.

At this critical moment, UNRWA remains the backbone of the wider humanitarian response in Gaza. It must be allowed to implement its full mandate including on the delivery of essential services, including healthcare and education.

Mr. President,

We are awaiting impatiently to finally see the release of the remaining child hostages brutally taken and held by Hamas in a blatant violation of international humanitarian law. One, as young as two years old, knowns no other world outside these dire conditions.

We recall the need to ensure immediate release of all remaining hostages, without conditions. And, we call for humanitarian visits to all remaining hostages held by Hamas as well as Palestinians held in Israeli detention. They are protected under the Fourth Geneva Convention and ICRC delegates must be allowed access to them, wherever they may be.

Mr. President,

Palestinian and Israeli children alike deserve a brighter future, where they can live in peace without fear of losing their family or their lives.

Building on the ceasefire agreement, we need to see tangible steps toward realising a Two-State Solution, with the State of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable State of Palestine living side-by-side in peace, security and mutual recognition.  

This is the only path to durable peace. A durable peace, where children can dream beyond mere survival, envisioning lives full of possibility, without the weight of war.

That is the future the children of Israel and Palestine need. The future they deserve.

Thank you. 

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