United Kingdom • • • 🌿 Progressive

Ilustración de la sala del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU con delegados de espaldas y un mapa abstracto de Gaza y Cisjordania con olivos en pantalla
Sala del Consejo de Seguridad con un mapa abstracto de Gaza y Cisjordania: imagen alusiva a la declaración británica. · Imagen generada para EPM

United Kingdom backs two states and demands full aid access to Gaza

The British ambassador defended the two-state solution at the Security Council, condemned Houthi attacks, backed the 20-point plan and resolution 2803, and…

--- The context --- Addressing the Security Council, the British ambassador argued that the two-state solution remains the only route to lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike, and warned that this goal now faces a serious threat. --- The facts --- She recalled that last week marked three years since the attacks of 7 October 2023, offered condolences to those bereaved, injured or taken hostage, and cited testimonies heard from survivors, including a man held in captivity for 505 days alongside his wife. She welcomed the 20-point plan, the Gaza ceasefire and resolution 2803, and supported their full implementation, but said progress is not yet sufficient: since the ceasefire, an average of four people have been killed every day, among them over 300 children. Humanitarian conditions, she said, are devastating: civilians face a fourth winter in tents and makeshift shelters amid falling temperatures and flooding, Gaza's health system has been decimated, restrictions on essential supplies continue, and over 8000 emergency shelter kits positioned outside Gaza continue to be denied entry. In the West Bank, she said settler violence continues at alarming levels: in just one week in September, the UN recorded 51 settler attacks causing casualties and widespread property damage, including to hundreds of olive and fruit trees, just as the olive harvest starts. She demanded an immediate halt to the E1 development, retraction of its tender and an end to all settlement expansion. --- The positions --- She condemned the continuing Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia and announced a presidential statement agreed just before the meeting, reiterating that condemnation and the Council's solidarity with the Kingdom. She called on Israel to facilitate aid at scale, remove unnecessary restrictions and comply with international humanitarian law, and on Hamas to decommission its weapons, dismantle its infrastructure and hand over governance and security control. --- What remains unknown --- The statement sets no timetable for admitting the shelter kits held outside Gaza, no verification mechanism for the disarmament demanded of Hamas, and no date for reunifying Gaza and the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority. --- Unanswered questions --- When will the over 8000 shelter kits held outside Gaza finally be allowed in? Will Hamas decommission its weapons and hand over governance as resolution 2803 requires? Will the Palestinian Authority reconsider postponing elections until September 2027? Will Israel halt the E1 development and stop all settlement expansion? --- EPM analysis --- The progressive reading stresses the humanitarian and democratic tests: aid at scale, Palestinian elections without further delay, and protection for communities harvesting their olives. London backed the Palestinian Authority's reform agenda as central to improving services, yet regretted its decision to postpone legislative and presidential elections to September 2027, saying this again deprives Palestinians of a vote and erodes confidence in democratic institutions. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, the British statement rightly refuses to call the current progress sufficient. A ceasefire under which an average of four people still die every day, including over 300 children, and over 8000 shelter kits remain blocked outside Gaza falls short of any credible peace. The demands placed on every party are coherent; what will matter now is verifiable delivery, with aid moving, elections held and settlement expansion stopped for good. That standard should guide London's next steps as well. That is the measure by which the next steps should be judged.
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