Desperate conditions prevail throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People heard 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 Territory is “extremely dangerous and dire”, stressed Riyad H. Mansour, Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine, as he updated the Committee on the situation there. Across its three components — the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip — the Israeli Government is implementing its “well-known plan” to “take the maximum amount of Palestinian land”, he reported. Currently, Israel occupies 70 per cent of Gaza and is attempting to annex 60 per cent of the West Bank. Meanwhile, as it wishes to expel the people living there, he said that Israel is “making the situation in Gaza as horrible as you can imagine”.
On that, he pointed out that Israeli authorities are “not embarking on any practical steps” to provide durable housing in the Strip as winter approaches. This will make conditions for the Palestinians “crammed” into the remaining 30 per cent of Gaza “almost impossible” as they will be forced to try and survive the harsh conditions of winter in “flimsy tents”. Meanwhile, intensified settler “terrorism” in the West Bank is reaching “unprecedented” levels, he said, emphasizing that settlers are attacking and killing Palestinian civilians “at a very high level that we haven’t seen in a long time”. Further, he stressed that they are besieging certain villages to “make life hell” for Palestinians.
“This 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,” he urged. Detailing recent UN activities towards that end, he noted formal and informal Security Council meetings concerning issues such as Israeli activities to either destroy or weaken the Palestinian Authority. These activities include, he said, Israel’s “stealing” of $6 billion 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 “collapse from within”.
The Council also addressed the “extreme danger” posed by the Israeli Government’s recent announcement of tenders for more than 1,200 housing units in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, which, he said, threatens to “destroy the contiguity of the land of the State of Palestine”. Noting that the State of Palestine has announced that legislative elections will be held on 28 November, he said they aim to “show the whole world that there is unity, territorial integrity, and therefore, sovereignty of this land for the people who live in this land”. He added: “It will be a form of exercising self-determination.”
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 Palestine Shelter Cluster.
Food Assistance to West Bank Cut by Half as Needs Double
“There are few words that can convey the scale of suffering present in Gaza, where people continue to endure very difficult conditions,” said Mr. Saad. The vast majority of the 2.1 million 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. Further, these vulnerabilities are expected to deepen as winter approaches, as more than 70 per cent of families experienced often-repeated flooding during that season in 2025.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, he said that humanitarian conditions have worsened significantly. Since the beginning of 2026, 79 Palestinians, including 19 children, have been killed and about 1,870 injured. Of these casualties, 23 Palestinians were killed and more than 1,040 injured in incidents involving settlers. More than 900 movement obstacles continue to restrict access to services and livelihoods, while over 3,700 people have been displaced in 2026 due to demolitions, settler violence and access restrictions. Since 2023, 47 Palestinian communities have been completely displaced.
Meanwhile, funding shortages are forcing aid reductions, with the World Food Programme (WFP) recently announcing that assistance for the West Bank will be cut by half — reducing the number of people reached each month from 400,000 to 200,000. “This is happening while the need for food assistance has actually doubled,” he said, stressing that “we cannot allow further deterioration”.
He concluded his remarks with three urgent asks. First, civilians must be protected in line with international humanitarian law. Second, humanitarian access must be enabled and sustained. And third, the humanitarian response must be adequately funded, particularly ahead of the winter season. “The international community must act with urgency and resolve,” he urged.
98 Per Cent of Gaza’s Population Needs Shelter Assistance
Ms. Salim provided further reason to do so, reporting that 1.98 million people — “or 98 per cent of the population in Gaza” — require urgent shelter and household assistance. Yet, only 10 per cent have received either in recent months. She also said that 58 per cent of households face “critical catastrophic” shelter needs, “meaning that the living conditions are unsafe, and in many cases, are life-threatening”. Further, 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.
She went on to say that more than 80 per cent of households are living in “critical catastrophic” conditions, impacting their ability to cook, sleep, store food and water, stay warm or cold and maintain hygiene. “When the ceasefire began last October, we were optimistic we could start repairing homes, but the possibility of returning to adequate housing continues to shrink,” she stated. More than 82 per cent of structures are damaged — including over 300,000 housing units — and, for displaced families, she emphasized that “this means fewer homes to return to and fewer structures that can be realistically repaired”.
And while light repairs “are one of the few viable ways forward”, she stressed that the materials needed to conduct them are being systematically blocked. Hundreds of thousands of timber pieces remain stranded in Jordan and Egypt, and approval processes for the sole operational cargo crossing of Kerem Shalom “remain entirely unpredictable”, she said. Recently, basic kitchen sets were rejected because they included butter knives, and tool kits were turned back because they contained nails. As for funding, she said that only a quarter of the estimated $500 million needed for emergency response has been provided as of August.
She urged Member States to press for the sustained, predictable entry of shelter-repair materials and access to land where safe repairs are possible. Without swift movement on both, she stressed that “Gaza faces another winter of severe shelter failure — a crisis that is entirely preventable”. Member States must also end Israeli demolitions and forced evictions in the West Bank. “Across both contexts, the immediate risk is that temporary displacement becomes permanent loss of home,” she warned, urging: “Do not simply fund the consequences of displacement — act on the conditions producing and prolonging it.”
Committee Approves Annual Report, Elects New Vice-Chair
In other business, the Committee approved its draft annual report (document A/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. The report covers the Committee’s work between 2 September 2025 and 31 August 2026. 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.
Addressing the Committee, she expressed her country’s 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. “Malaysia 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,” she said.