24.11.2025 Statement for briefing on MEPP

Checked Against Delivery

Thank you, Mr. President,

I would also like to thank Deputy Special Coordinator Alakbarov for his briefing.

We gather today at a critical crossroads where the dust of devastation is beginning to settle in Gaza and as the first faint signs of a new future begin to appear.

Denmark once again thanks the United States, Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye for their relentless efforts toward the silencing of the guns.

The ceasefire in Gaza has brought about an opportunity for change. But developments over the weekend show how fragile it remains, and we call on all parties to exercise restraint.

What happens next will be determined by what is being done now.

With the adoption of Resolution 2803 last week, the Council has begun defining the contours of this future, and we must remain engaged, both in the immediate term and in the longer term.  

In the immediate term, delivery of full humanitarian aid across all of Gaza as stipulated in Resolution 2803 remains vital. Yet, we are hearing reports of continued restrictions, including on dual-use items, on medical personnel, and on humanitarian partners’ ability to operate. And it is concerning that the crucial Rafah border crossing remains closed and that many international NGOs continue to face de-registration by the end of this year.

This is happening as winter and heavy rainfalls are making the situation for the people of Gaza more dire. What Gaza needs now is not charity in fragments, but relief with purpose: nutrition, safe water, stable shelter, functioning hospitals, energy, and sanitation.

Delivered through effective corridors without restrictions, in line with the humanitarian principles and in accordance with international humanitarian law. The UN-led humanitarian system remains best placed to undertake this monumental task.

Beyond immediate needs lies the massive task of reconstruction. Entire neighbourhoods must rise again, brick by brick, across all of Gaza.

Palestinians must be part of designing the blueprints of their own homes. They must be part of determining the path of their own recovery, in deciding how their communities are rebuilt, and they must have influence on how the stabilisation force operates as a protective presence in full compliance with international law. All of this must happen without Hamas’ rule.

The Council should remain engaged and receive further clarity on the establishment of the Board of Peace and the International Stabilisation Force as well as the developments on the ground including in the Civil Military Coordination Centre.   

Mr. President,

As we lift our gaze toward the wider horizon and the long-promised two-state solution, the pathway to Palestinian statehood must be laid out with clarity and credibility, rooted in equality, dignity, and security for both peoples. The contours of that future must be sketched now.

We also must not allow the West Bank to disappear behind the headlines of Gaza. While attention has been turned elsewhere, the West Bank has faced devastating developments: settler violence, intimidation, the torching of homes, the seizure of farmland and destruction of crops. Forcing families to flee their villages.

We fear that these are not isolated sparks but part of a spreading fire that threatens the very prospects of peace. We cannot accept such a fire to catch hold.

Our message must be unambiguous: Gaza and the West Bank are not two stories, but one. They must be reunited under a reformed and renewed Palestinian Authority, capable of governing a future state that stands alongside Israel in peaceful and democratic co-existence.

Mr. President,

The moment is delicate, but possibility lives within it. Let us choose the path that honours international law, the right to self-determination, and security for all. A path that rejects terrorism and lights the way toward the only horizon that offers lasting peace: two peoples, two states, living side by side.

Let me reassure you of Denmark’s continuous commitment to that effect and to the implementation of the Gaza peace plan as recently endorsed by this Council.

I thank you.