<\/p>\n
2 September 2026<\/p>\n
430th Meeting (AM)<\/p>\n
GA\/PAL\/1496<\/p>\n
Desperate conditions prevail throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People<\/a>\u00a0heard today, as humanitarian actors detailed inadequate funding to address dire need as another winter threatens to make things even worse.<\/p>\n The situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is \u201cextremely dangerous and dire\u201d, stressed Riyad H. Mansour, Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine, as he updated the Committee on the situation there. \u00a0Across its three components \u2014 the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip \u2014 the Israeli Government is implementing its \u201cwell-known plan\u201d to \u201ctake the maximum amount of Palestinian land\u201d, he reported. \u00a0Currently, Israel occupies 70\u00a0per\u00a0cent of Gaza and is attempting to annex 60\u00a0per\u00a0cent of the West Bank. \u00a0Meanwhile, as it wishes to expel the people living there, he said that Israel is \u201cmaking the situation in Gaza as horrible as you can imagine\u201d.<\/p>\n On that, he pointed out that Israeli authorities are \u201cnot embarking on any practical steps\u201d to provide durable housing in the Strip as winter approaches. \u00a0This will make conditions for the Palestinians \u201ccrammed\u201d into the remaining 30\u00a0per\u00a0cent of Gaza \u201calmost impossible\u201d as they will be forced to try and survive the harsh conditions of winter in \u201cflimsy tents\u201d. \u00a0Meanwhile, intensified settler \u201cterrorism\u201d in the West Bank is reaching \u201cunprecedented\u201d levels, he said, emphasizing that settlers are attacking and killing Palestinian civilians \u201cat a very high level that we haven\u2019t seen in a long time\u201d. \u00a0Further, he stressed that they are besieging certain villages to \u201cmake life hell\u201d for Palestinians.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the plan of the Israeli side, and therefore it is our collective duty to do everything that we can to support the Palestinian people for the survivorship of the State of Palestine,\u201d he urged. \u00a0Detailing recent ±¬ÁÏÍø activities towards that end, he noted formal and informal Security Council meetings concerning issues such as Israeli activities to either\u00a0destroy or weaken<\/a>\u00a0the Palestinian Authority. \u00a0These activities include, he said, Israel\u2019s \u201cstealing\u201d of $6\u00a0billion in taxes to put the Authority in a situation where it can neither address the needs of the people nor pay salaries in the hopes that the Authority will \u201ccollapse from within\u201d.<\/p>\n The Council also\u00a0addressed<\/a> the \u201cextreme danger\u201d posed by the Israeli Government\u2019s recent announcement of tenders for more than 1,200\u00a0housing units in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, which, he said, threatens to \u201cdestroy the contiguity of the land of the State of Palestine\u201d. \u00a0Noting that the State of Palestine has announced that legislative elections will be held on 28\u00a0November, he said they aim to \u201cshow the whole world that there is unity, territorial integrity, and therefore, sovereignty of this land for the people who live in this land\u201d. \u00a0He added: \u201cIt will be a form of exercising self-determination.\u201d<\/p>\n The Committee also heard two briefings this morning concerning the humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with developments there being conveyed by Michel Saad, Deputy Director of the Crisis Response Division in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and Jehan Salim, National Coordinator of the\u00a0Palestine Shelter Cluster<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are few words that can convey the scale of suffering present in Gaza, where people continue to endure very difficult conditions,\u201d said Mr.\u00a0Saad. \u00a0The vast majority of the 2.1\u00a0million people in the Strip remain displaced, humanitarian needs continue to outpace available resources, basic services remain severely strained and deteriorating living conditions are increasing public-health risks. \u00a0Further, these vulnerabilities are expected to deepen as winter approaches, as more than 70\u00a0per\u00a0cent of families experienced often-repeated flooding during that season in\u00a02025.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in the West Bank, he said that humanitarian conditions have worsened significantly.\u00a0 Since the beginning of\u00a02026, 79\u00a0Palestinians, including 19\u00a0children, have been killed and about 1,870\u00a0injured.\u00a0 Of these casualties, 23\u00a0Palestinians were killed and more than 1,040\u00a0injured in incidents involving settlers.\u00a0 More than 900\u00a0movement obstacles continue to restrict access to services and livelihoods, while over 3,700\u00a0people have been displaced in\u00a02026 due to demolitions, settler violence and access restrictions.\u00a0 Since\u00a02023, 47\u00a0Palestinian communities have been completely displaced.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, funding shortages are forcing aid reductions, with the World Food Programme\u00a0(WFP) recently\u00a0announcing<\/a>\u00a0that assistance for the West Bank will be cut by half \u2014 reducing the number of people reached each month from\u00a0400,000 to\u00a0200,000.\u00a0 \u201cThis is happening while the need for food assistance has actually doubled,\u201d he said, stressing that \u201cwe cannot allow further deterioration\u201d.<\/p>\n He concluded his remarks with three urgent asks.\u00a0 First, civilians must be protected in line with international humanitarian law.\u00a0 Second, humanitarian access must be enabled and sustained.\u00a0 And third, the humanitarian response must be adequately funded, particularly ahead of the winter season.\u00a0 \u201cThe international community must act with urgency and resolve,\u201d he urged.<\/p>\n Ms. Salim provided further reason to do so, reporting that 1.98\u00a0million people \u2014 \u201cor 98\u00a0per\u00a0cent of the population in Gaza\u201d \u2014 require urgent shelter and household assistance. \u00a0Yet, only 10\u00a0per\u00a0cent have received either in recent months. \u00a0She also said that 58\u00a0per\u00a0cent of households face \u201ccritical catastrophic\u201d shelter needs, \u201cmeaning that the living conditions are unsafe, and in many cases, are life-threatening\u201d. \u00a0Further, around two thirds of households are living in tents or makeshift shelters, more than half of those have been doing so for over a year and more than half of these tents are in very poor condition.<\/p>\n She went on to say that more than 80\u00a0per\u00a0cent of households are living in \u201ccritical catastrophic\u201d conditions, impacting their ability to cook, sleep, store food and water, stay warm or cold and maintain hygiene. \u00a0\u201cWhen the ceasefire began last October, we were optimistic we could start repairing homes, but the possibility of returning to adequate housing continues to shrink,\u201d she stated. \u00a0More than 82\u00a0per\u00a0cent of structures are damaged \u2014 including over 300,000\u00a0housing units \u2014 and, for displaced families, she emphasized that \u201cthis means fewer homes to return to and fewer structures that can be realistically repaired\u201d.<\/p>\n And while light repairs \u201care one of the few viable ways forward\u201d, she stressed that the materials needed to conduct them are being systematically blocked. \u00a0Hundreds of thousands of timber pieces remain stranded in Jordan and Egypt, and approval processes for the sole operational cargo crossing of Kerem Shalom \u201cremain entirely unpredictable\u201d, she said. \u00a0Recently, basic kitchen sets were rejected because they included butter knives, and tool kits were turned back because they contained nails. \u00a0As for funding, she said that only a quarter of the estimated $500\u00a0million needed for emergency response has been provided as of August.<\/p>\n She urged Member States to press for the sustained, predictable entry of shelter-repair materials and access to land where safe repairs are possible. \u00a0Without swift movement on both, she stressed that \u201cGaza faces another winter of severe shelter failure \u2014 a crisis that is entirely preventable\u201d. \u00a0Member States must also end Israeli demolitions and forced evictions in the West Bank. \u00a0\u201cAcross both contexts, the immediate risk is that temporary displacement becomes permanent loss of home,\u201d she warned, urging: \u201cDo not simply fund the consequences of displacement \u2014 act on the conditions producing and prolonging it.\u201d<\/p>\n In other business, the Committee approved its draft annual report (document\u00a0A\/81\/35), as introduced by Rapporteur Pendapala Naanda (Namibia), which is scheduled to be presented to the General Assembly at its eighty-first session during its consideration of the question of Palestine. \u00a0The report covers the Committee\u2019s work between 2\u00a0September\u00a02025 and 31\u00a0August\u00a02026.\u00a0 The Committee also elected Nadzirah Osman (Malaysia) as Vice-Chair to succeed her fellow national Ahmad Faisal Muhamad for the duration of his unexpired term.<\/p>\n Addressing the Committee, she expressed her country\u2019s support for the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as well as for the admission of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations.\u00a0\u201cMalaysia will continue to contribute constructively to our collective efforts to uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive solution to the question of Palestine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Related document:<\/strong><\/p>\n Humanitarian situation across the OPT deeply alarming, OCHA briefs the ±¬ÁÏÍø Palestinian Rights Committee – Question of Palestine<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 2 September 2026 430th Meeting (AM) GA\/PAL\/1496 Desperate conditions prevail throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People\u00a0heard today, as humanitarian actors detailed inadequate funding to address dire need as another winter threatens to make things even worse. The situation in the Occupied Palestinian […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[6999],"document-source":[1753,2173],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1945,2005,1745,2729,6251],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-320052","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-meeting-coverage","document-source-ceirpp","document-source-division-for-palestinian-rights-dpr","document-subject-assistance","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-refugees-and-displaced-persons","document-subject-shelter","document-subject-west-bank","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/320052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/320052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320064,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/320052\/revisions\/320064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=320052"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=320052"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=320052"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=320052"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=320052"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=320052"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=320052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Food Assistance to West Bank Cut by Half as Needs Double<\/strong><\/h4>\n
98\u00a0Per\u00a0Cent of Gaza\u2019s Population Needs Shelter Assistance<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Committee Approves Annual Report, Elects New Vice-Chair<\/strong><\/h4>\n