The current escalation of violence and deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza comes in the context of over half a century of occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (including East Jerusalem). The hostilities in Gaza since October 2023 have now killed over 34,000 Palestinians, approximately 70% of whom are women and children, and displaced nearly 1 million women. Further fighting in Rafah, where an estimated 1.5 million people are sheltering in dire conditions, risks a humanitarian disaster that must be averted. The constant bombardment of hospitals, combined with the Israeli government’s restrictions on fuel, water, and aid, has led to the collapse of the healthcare system, putting mothers and their newborns at risk of significant physical and mental harm and violating women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. More than 155,000 pregnant and lactating women are unable to access essential services. Nearly 1.1 million people are experiencing catastrophic food insecurity, with famine an imminent concern in northern Gaza, exposing women and marginalized groups to additional immediate and long-term health consequences as a result of the hostilities. Since 7 October, 480 Palestinians have also been killed in the West Bank, where attacks by settlers have displaced people from at least 20 communities. Arrests of Palestinians, including women and girls, have surged, and there are concerning and credible reports of Palestinian women and girls facing sexual violence in detention. UN experts have further expressed alarm regarding reports of arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killing, inhuman and degrading treatment, and targeting of Palestinian women, including peacebuilders, women human rights defenders, journalists, and humanitarian workers, which could amount to grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, and serious crimes under international criminal law. The Security Council must:

• Following the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2728 (2024), demand compliance with an immediate and sustained ceasefire and further demand all parties stop all unlawful attacks on civilians, civilian infrastructure, and humanitarian actors, including by refraining from a full-scale military operation in Rafah, which would have devastating consequences for civilians. Call on all actors to uphold international human rights and humanitarian law, and all relevant Security Council resolutions, including on women, peace and security, and work towards a long-term and peaceful resolution to the conflict.
• Ensure immediate, safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access for the provision of basic services and life-saving relief assistance, including food, water, fuel, medical supplies and care, electricity, and internet access, and safe access of humanitarian and medical personnel into Gaza, as required by Resolution 2728 and Resolution 2720 (2023).
• Demand an immediate halt to the transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition to Israel and to Palestinian armed groups while there is risk that they are used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law.
• Demand the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and humane treatment of all those captured, in accordance with international humanitarian law, as required by Resolution 2728, and the release of all individuals forcibly detained and imprisoned without charge.
• Call on the Government of Israel to immediately and fully comply with all provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice to protect Palestinians in Gaza from acts of genocide, including by refraining from acts prohibited under Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. All Member States must uphold their obligation to prevent genocide, which is a jus cogens norm of international law.
• Demand an immediate end to the forcible transfer of civilians in violation of international humanitarian law and an immediate end to all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character, and status of Palestinian territory, in line with Resolution 2334 (2016).
• Demand an end to the total blockade of Gaza, which is a violation of international law and amounts to collective punishment of a civilian population.
• Call on donors to fully fund the updated and extended Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to scale up sustainable, direct, and flexible funding for national NGOs, particularly local women-led civil society organizations. Further, donors should urgently reverse decisions to withhold funds from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and support its continued and vital operations without interruption.
• Urge all parties to cooperate with independent, impartial, investigative mechanisms, including the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, to monitor, collect, and verify evidence, and report on human rights violations and abuses, including all forms of gender-based violence, committed by all parties on and since 7 October; further, ensure that all justice and accountability efforts are human rights-based, survivor-centered, and non-discriminatory, and designed and implemented in partnership with survivors.
• Demand that the rights of diverse Palestinian women, including women human rights defenders, peace activists, and journalists, are upheld in line with international law, and that they are able to fully contribute to any de-escalation, ceasefire, or other efforts to negotiate peace.