US Defends Israel at UN Security Council as Trump, Netanyahu Hold Talks
NEW YORK, Sept 30: The United States stood as the lone voice in support of Israel at a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Monday, as President Donald Trump prepared for high-level talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz accused council members of “rewarding Hamas” after several countries, including France, the UK, Canada, and Australia, formally recognized Palestine last week.
“If we want to end the war, accountability must be placed where it belongs—with the terrorist organization known as Hamas,” Waltz said. He argued that recognition of a Palestinian state amounted to legitimizing Hamas’ actions, including the October 7 attacks.
Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN’s deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, presented a stark update on Israel’s settlement expansion and humanitarian fallout in Gaza and the West Bank.
Between June 18 and September 19, Israeli planning authorities advanced or approved 20,810 housing units in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Alakbarov reported. In the same period, Israeli authorities demolished or seized 455 Palestinian-owned structures, displacing 420 people—among them 175 children and 118 women.
In Gaza, at least 7,579 Palestinians have been killed and 37,201 injured, mostly women and children, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry. “After 23 months of fighting, the humanitarian situation in Gaza is beyond breaking point,” Alakbarov said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated that Israeli settlements “have no legal validity” and violate international law and UN resolutions.
“They are systematically shrinking the territory of a future Palestinian state while entrenching Israel’s unlawful occupation,” he said. He described Gaza’s devastation as a “man-made disaster,” warning of famine and “unbearable suffering.”
Non-permanent member Slovenia, which recognized Palestine last year, said the “horrors of Gaza dominated” discussions at the UN General Assembly. Ambassador Samuel Zbogar urged stronger support for the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA, calling the latter “indispensable” for Gaza’s future governance.
He also noted growing calls for peace within Israel, including from hostage families and Jewish groups worldwide. “The safety and future of Israelis is inseparable from that of Palestinians,” Zbogar said.
Pakistan’s UN envoy, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, condemned Israel’s “systematic military operations, illegal settlements, and forced displacement,” warning that these measures aim to extinguish the two-state solution.
“The people of Palestine cannot wait,” he told the council. “The cause of peace, and the credibility of this council, depend on what we do now.”