Gaza plan a potential turning point, says UN official

With Israel laying to rest its last returned hostage this week, a senior United Nations official said the Gaza stabilization plan offers a potential "turning point" for the enclave.

Israel buried Ran Gvili, an off-duty police officer who was killed fighting Hamas militants, on Wednesday, two days after the recovery of his remains in Gaza. Hamas has said it provided information to mediators to help locate the body.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the closing of Gvili's grave "seals the painful reality of the presence of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip".

Also on Wednesday, Ramiz Alakbarov, UN deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, told a Security Council debate that the announced start of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal marked a critical step in consolidating the truce.

However, nearly the entire population in Gaza needs humanitarian assistance, he said, adding the Israeli military continues to conduct operations. He also highlighted continued tensions in the occupied West Bank.

Riyad Mansour, permanent observer of Palestine to the United Nations, reiterated that the success of the Gaza ceasefire deal hinges on full Israeli withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territories and Israel ceasing to dictate the future of Palestinians in Gaza.

Mansour welcomed the completion of release of all Israeli hostages and prisoners, alive and deceased, but emphasized the issue of the countless Palestinian families whose loved ones have been killed and thousands of bodies crushed and still buried under the rubble.

The bodies must be retrieved, identified and given a dignified burial, he said.

Palestine supports the ceasefire in good faith despite repeated breaches, he said, noting that at least 500 Palestinians had been killed since the truce came into effect in October.

"The suffering of the Palestinian people — civilian men, women and children — must be ended with equal urgency," he said. "Healing, recovery and justice are indispensable for all."

Alakbarov said at the UN that there was genuine opportunity to lay the foundation for a more stable and secure future for Palestinians and Israelis, and to advance the goal of a legitimate Palestinian government that can reunify Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

He also said it could chart a course toward ending the occupation and advancing a political process that will ultimately end the conflict.

Mehmet Rakipoglu, an assistant professor at Mardin Artuklu University in Turkiye and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Exeter in England, said he was not hopeful about the next steps of the Gaza truce deal, citing Israel's repeated violations.

"This pattern signals that Israel's strategic outlook remains centered on sustaining the war rather than transitioning to a genuine post-conflict political process. It reflects a vision of Gaza's future shaped by continued military pressure, not stabilization," he said.

The peace framework initiated by the United States, including ideas of a technocratic government or peace council, "appears to operate in Israel's favor", amid lack of penalties for systematic violations, he said.

"Gulf states are increasingly uneasy with Israel's escalating aggression as Gaza has shifted from a localized conflict into a driver of regional instability," Rakipoglu added.

To contain risks, the Gulf states are strengthening cooperation with actors such as Turkiye, driven by strategic necessity rather than ideology, he said.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

jan@chinadailyapac.com