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Statement on Middle East crisis spillover effect

Statement by Representative of Slovenia to the UN Security Council Ambassador Samuel Žbogar at the UNSC Briefing – Threats to international peace and security

Thank you very much, Madam President. First, I want to congratulate you, Madam President and your country, Guyana for assuming the Presidency of the Council for this month, and we have full trust that you will be our North Star in the difficult discussions that you are going to have in February and that you will guide us through the month.

I also want to thank France and Ambassador de Rivière and his team for the leadership that they provided during the month of January.

I would also like to thank Under-Secretary Rosemary DiCarlo for the briefing.

With each passing day, the situation in the Middle East is becoming more volatile.

We have a growing feeling of powerlessness against the increasing spill-over of the Gaza conflict into the wider region.

The Coalition’s presence in Iraq is under growing threat from intensified attacks, which could undo the progress achieved in the country. Meanwhile, the situation in Syria is deteriorating, with more violence and tension in the North West and North East.

We are gravely concerned about this cycle of violence that is causing numerous civilian casualties.

We wish to recall that international law must be respected by all and the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure must be ensured at all times and in any circumstances.

We continue to believe that our best hope to stop the spiral of violence, to start restoring calm in the wider region is to restore calm in Gaza.

Call it as you like but the bombing, the shelling, the killing in Gaza, as well as attacks on Israel must stop. Hostages must be released and urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance for Gazans must be restored in full.

We urge all actors in the region to exert utmost restraint and to work towards de-escalation. We also call on those countries who can exert influence on non-state groups to do so.

Thank you.

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