The Palestinian representative to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, has issued a formal call for the Security Council to deploy its full range of tools to enforce international law throughout the occupied West Bank. During a high-level briefing, Mansour criticized the international community for relying on routine condemnations, characterizing such responses as mere “business as usual.” He asserted that Israel’s primary objective remains the seizure of maximum Palestinian land while minimizing the presence of Palestinians, noting that the territory has been restricted by design to only 30 percent of Gaza and 40 percent of the occupied West Bank. He described the current situation as an “evil system” of occupation that is actively uprooting families, declaring that “the reality is that one state is illegally occupying the land of the other state.”
Mansour urged the council to implement the 20-point peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump, as referenced in Resolution 2803, in its entirety. He insisted that the plan must be adopted as a whole rather than selecting specific parts to discard. Warning that annexation is not merely a concept but a process already underway, he implored the council to intervene before the situation becomes irreversible, arguing that the cost of global inaction outweighs the burden of intervention. While the United States reiterated its opposition to the annexation of the West Bank, the American envoy noted that the 20-point plan requires the Palestinian Authority to carry out comprehensive, verifiable reforms. Washington also highlighted a late July milestone in which Hamas committed to a formal disarmament plan, calling for momentum toward full and irreversible disarmament.
Other member states expressed deep alarm regarding the fragmentation of Palestinian territory. Somalia highlighted that more than 33,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced, marking the highest figure since 1967, and warned that settlers are increasingly utilizing heritage and archaeological claims to justify occupation. The United Kingdom voiced opposition to the “E1” settlement project, which threatens to bisect the West Bank, while Pakistan noted that the “Crimson Thread” project serves as an effort to shatter territorial contiguity. Russia pointed out that the American peace plan has essentially stalled and cited a tragic toll, noting that Israeli forces have killed an average of one child per day in Gaza over the last 300 days. Meanwhile, France welcomed upcoming Palestinian elections, and Liberia warned that the council is currently presiding over the slow-motion disappearance of the two-state solution.
