Palestine’s UN envoy Riyad Mansour has said that a lasting Gaza ceasefire requires Israel’s complete withdrawal and an end to attempts to dictate the enclave’s future, underscoring that Palestinian suffering must be addressed with the same urgency as that of others.
Welcoming the Gaza ceasefire agreement reached in October 2025, Mansour told the UN Security Council on Wednesday, "We support the plan because it offered an immediate path toward ending the killing and suffering, the famine, and the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe inflicted on the Palestinian people in Gaza."
"While we recognise that thousands of lives have been saved by the ceasefire, these goals are yet to be fully achieved," he said, welcoming the completion of the release of all Israeli captives, both alive and deceased.
Mansour questioned the lack of accountability for Palestinian victims and asked: "What about the countless Palestinian families whose loved ones have been killed, with thousands of bodies still crushed and buried under rubble yet to be found, yet to be identified and to be given dignified burial?"
"What of the families who waited for the return of thousands detained, tortured, humiliated, starved, raped, or missing?" he asked, stressing that "the suffering of the Palestinian people, civilian men, women, and children must be ended with equal urgency."
‘War against humanitarian actors’
Condemning Israeli actions against humanitarian organisations, Mansour said Israel must end what he described as a "war against humanitarian actors," including the UN Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA) and NGOs.
He said their ability to operate has been undermined by repeated Israeli attacks on UN facilities, including "the seizure and destruction of its headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem."
Stressing that Israel has no sovereignty over Palestinian land, he said: "We are obliged to underscore, yet again, that Israel is not the sovereign in the Palestinian territory," adding: "This illegal occupation has no rights whatsoever in occupied Palestine, including in Jerusalem."
Unity and self-determination
"The ceasefire’s permanence and success require that Israel cease trying to dictate the future of Gaza and to fully withdraw from the territory," he said, noting that "Gaza is an integral part of the Palestinian territory. It belongs to the Palestinian people, nobody else."
He said Gaza must be reunified with the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and that Palestinian self-determination and statehood "cannot be disposed of," calling on Israel to halt plans to forcibly displace Palestinians.
Mansour further reiterated Palestine's readiness to work with the US and international partners to uphold the ceasefire, saying Palestinians are waiting for recovery and rebuilding.
"Palestine needs a just peace more than any other country because it suffers most in its absence," he said, adding that it "is seeking a peaceful path to freedom."
