“History will judge our response” Statement delivered by UN Assistant Secretary-General at the 2025 Nakba Commemoration

Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

423^rd meeting  

Statement delivered by Khaled Khiari

Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific

UN Department for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs  

The Commemoration of the Nakba, 2025

15 May 2025

Excellencies,

Distinguished Delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Through resolution 77/23 (2022), reaffirmed in December 2024, the General Assembly requested the UN Secretariat to commemorate the anniversary of the Nakba, which led to the displacement and dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Today, more than 5 million registered Palestine refugees are spread across Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has led to the world’s longest refugee crisis. It is a crisis that remains unresolved, shaping identity, lives, and the enduring pursuit of justice and self-determination for the Palestinian people.

This event demonstrates the importance the international community attaches to the ongoing plight of Palestine refugees.

Excellencies,

The situation we are witnessing today in Gaza is a catastrophe with no end in sight. Since the horrific terror attacks by Hamas on 7 October 2023 and continued holding of hostages, over 1.9 million Palestinians – more than 85 per cent of Gaza’s population and almost 80 per cent of them Palestine refugees from 1948 – have been forcibly displaced, many repeatedly, some 10 times or more. As the Secretary-General had warned, Gaza has now become a “humanitarian hellscape.” There is no safe place in the Strip.

Forced displacement must be rejected unequivocally. Unrestricted humanitarian access must be ensured, and the blockade on Gaza lifted to allow the flow of life-saving aid in order to prevent the deepening of an already grave humanitarian crisis.

International humanitarian law requires the protection of civilians, UN personnel, humanitarian workers and journalists. Accountability for violations is imperative.

In parallel, since early 2025, over 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced in the occupied West Bank due to Israeli military operations, most of them from Palestinian refugee camps in Northern West Bank.  They are a staggering human tragedy.

As affirmed by the International Court of Justice, in its Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024, Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and, of course, Gaza, is unlawful and must end.

Excellencies,

I echo the Secretary-General’s call on the international community to fully support peace, stability, and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. International law must be upheld by all parties.

The Secretary-General has called for an immediate and durable ceasefire, the release of all hostages without delay, and the resumption of credible political negotiations.

Steps must also be taken to reverse the negative trends of violence, settlement expansion and unilateral steps that undermine the Palestinian Authority.

I echo the Secretary-General’s own recent warning that the promise of a two-State solution is at risk of dwindling to the point of disappearance.

The upcoming GA-mandated international conference on the two-State solution in June 2025 offers an important opportunity for Member States to support a viable two-State solution – before it is too late.

Peace will require tangible, irreversible and permanent progress toward the two-State solution, an end to the occupation, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, with Gaza as an integral part.

A viable, sovereign Palestinian State living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel is critical to achieving peace in the Middle East.

Let us build political momentum toward that end.

The United Nations remains committed to a multilateral response anchored in human rights, dignity, international law, and shared responsibility.

History will judge our response. The suffering of the Palestinian people – including generations of displaced and dispossessed – remains as a stark reminder that the root causes of this conflict have yet to be resolved. The UN Charter calls on us to end this conflict and uphold the principles of our organization. Let us act with clarity, determination and conviction.

Thank you.