UNITED NATIONS – Guyana has joined the international community in urging the United Nations to have Israel reverse a cabinet decision to take control of Gaza City by October 7, 2025, declaring that it would expel thousands of Palestinians from their homes and end the two-state solution.
Guyana’s UN Permanent Representative, Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, urging Israel to rethink its policy on Gaza.Guyana’s UN Permanent Representative, Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, told the UN Security Council on Sunday that the planned occupation could destabilize regional and global peace.
“We, the Security Council, must respond to the fact that over 61,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, and this number increases every single day,” Rodrigues-Birkett said.
The Guyanese diplomat said that while Guyana has reasserted its condemnation of the October 7 attacks against Israel by Hamas, no attack can ever be a justifiable reason to subject Gaza’s civilian population to collective punishment.
Guyana presented several particular demands, including that Israel reverse the occupation action, agree to an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, withdraw to the pre-1967 borders in accordance with UN resolutions and the International Criminal Court (ICJ) advisory opinion, and allow unrestricted humanitarian access, so that assistance could flow rapidly and safely to civilians in need.
Rodrigues-Birkett also warned that current plans for relief delivery were inadequate and could put civilians and humanitarian staff at risk.
She spoke of the safety of United Nations personnel and other humanitarians in Gaza, and called for the release of all hostages.
Two top UN officials warned that the Israeli cabinet’s green light this week for a fresh offensive aimed at gaining total military control of Gaza City – home to around one million Palestinians – would only risk igniting “another horrific chapter” of displacement, death and destruction.
Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed plan for “defeating Hamas” and the establishment of an alternative civilian administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority, risked “yet another dangerous escalation” that would destabilize the entire region.
“If these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings, and destruction – compounding the unbearable suffering of the population,” said Jenča, calling for a full, immediate, and permanent ceasefire, the unconditional, immediate release of all hostages and compliance with international humanitarian law by Israel.
Senior humanitarian affairs official, Ramesh Rajasingham, saisd that hunger-related deaths were already rising, ahead of any new mass-displacement policy for Gaza City.
“Whatever lifelines remain, are collapsing under the weight of sustained hostilities, forced displacement and insufficient levels of life-saving aid.”
The head of the humanitarian affairs coordination office in Geneva said he was extremely concerned over the “prolonged conflict and further human toll that is likely to unfold following the Government of Israel’s decision to expand military operations in Gaza”.
