The UN Security Council is holding a high-level open debate on the Middle East which is expected to focus on the Gaza peace plan - including the role of President Donald Trump's Board of Peace - the continuing humanitarian crisis in the enclave and turmoil in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, following the demolition of UNRWA's headquarters there. Follow live coverage below, and UN News app users can click here. (https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/01/1166845)

What to Know: Security Council Debate on Gaza, West Bank

What happened: The Security Council held an all-day debate on Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territory, with the Deputy Special Coordinator urging consolidation of the fragile ceasefire while warning of continued violence and settlement expansion in the West Bank.

Why it matters: Despite the ceasefire, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and humanitarian conditions remain dire. Ongoing military operations, aid restrictions and settlement activity are undermining prospects for a two-State solution.

Driving ideas: Speakers called for full implementation of the peace plan's next phase, Gaza's reconstruction, Palestinian self-determination and the protection of civilians. Several urged recognition of the State of Palestine, while others raised concerns about proposed new governance and security mechanisms.

The bottom line: The ceasefire offers a narrow opening for peace -- but without urgent action, delegates warned, that window could close quickly.

(Summary generated with AI assistance based on UN coverage.)

End of live coverage

A summary of today's meeting is available here. (https://press.un.org/en/2026/sc16284.doc.htm)

Israel's approval of new settlements a serious setback,

says Palestinian Rights Committee

Nicaragua's delegate, Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, said that Israel's approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem -- among them the re-establishment of settlements evacuated in 2005 -- represents a serious setback. "These illegal, colonial actions openly seek to destroy the territorial contiguity of Palestinian land and foreclose the possibility of a viable Palestinian State," he said.

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation urges full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, action on statehood

Speaking as Chair of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the delegate of Türkiye welcomed United States efforts to sustain the Gaza ceasefire but warned that Israel's continued aggression must end.

He called for "full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza" to enable recovery, welcomed the start of the ceasefire's second phase and urged the Council to implement relevant resolutions, including resolution 2334 (2016), and to act "expeditiously" on admitting the State of Palestine as a full UN member.