Guyana urges UN Security Council to intensify efforts against Israel’s Gaza takeover

…calls for a permanent ceasefire

Guyana has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to urgently intensify efforts to stop Israel’s planned takeover of Gaza City and to work towards a permanent ceasefire in the region. The appeal came from Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, during the Council’s 9975th meeting on the Middle East and the Palestinian question on August 10, 2025.

In her address, Rodrigues-Birkett condemned the Israeli Security Cabinet’s decision to occupy Gaza City by October 7, 2025, a move she warned would forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and severely undermine the two-state solution. She urged Israel to reverse what she described as a “reprehensible” decision and highlighted the broader pattern of actions in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem that violate international law and threaten global peace and security.
The Guyanese envoy noted that Israel has a record of publicly announcing decisions that, if implemented, breach international law, referencing previous instances involving the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). She stressed that the latest move to fully control Gaza is another chapter in decades of violence and dispossession faced by Palestinians since the 1947 decision to establish the Israeli state – a history marked by the Nakba and ongoing occupation.
“We, the Security Council, must respond to the fact that over sixty-one thousand Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, and this number increases every single day. In an unfortunate move, Israel has now announced its intention to intensify its military operations in Gaza. With the scale of destruction that has taken place already in Gaza, there are hardly any buildings left to target. Therefore, let us be clear about the objective of intensifying military operations in the Strip and what it would mean for Palestinians who have, to this point, managed to defy the odds and remain alive, humiliated and persecuted as they are,” Rodrigues-Birkett said.
While condemning the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel by Hamas and other armed groups, Rodrigues-Birkett maintained that “nothing – absolutely nothing – justifies the collective punishment” Israel has inflicted on Gaza over the past two years. She challenged Member States to ask themselves why Israel acts in defiance of international law, why such actions are not met with a united and forceful Council response, and whether any nation would tolerate such treatment of its own citizens.
Citing the International Court of Justice’s clear position on the illegality of any annexation of Palestinian territory, she urged the Security Council to step up pressure on Israel to withdraw completely to pre-1967 borders. Guyana also pressed for immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire measures, an end to violence against civilians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and unimpeded humanitarian access across Gaza.
“The Council must act in the face of all that is taking place in Gaza, and now in response to Israel’s annexation plans. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) was clear in its pronouncements regarding the illegality of any annexation of Palestinian territory by Israel. We must intensify our efforts to ensure Israel completely evacuates the Palestinian territory and withdraws to the pre-1967 lines, in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions and the Advisory Opinion of the ICJ. Guyana also urges that this Council act collectively to achieve an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to end the violence against civilians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” she added.
Further, the Permanent Representative criticised Israel’s humanitarian aid plans, saying they were inadequate, dangerous, and limited in scope. She insisted the Security Council must demand that UN agencies and humanitarian partners be granted safe and unhindered access to deliver large-scale relief. Rodrigues-Birkett also called on all UN member states to ensure they are not indirectly supporting the war effort in Gaza or contributing to what she described as attempts to annihilate the Palestinian people.