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S/PV.8181 The situation in the Middle East 14/02/2018 2/13 18-04189 The meeting was called to order at 10.10 a.m. Adoption of the agenda The agenda was adopted. The situation in the Middle East The President (spoke in Arabic): In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to participate in this meeting. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite Mr. Staffan de Mistura, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. I give the floor to Mr. De Mistura. Mr. De Mistura: I have come to New York to convey to the Security Council in person — although I could have done it by video, as we have many times — the Secretary-General’s grave concern about the escalation of violence in Syria, and to urge the Council to focus on de-escalating that violence and on finding a political path forward for the full implementation of resolution 2254 (2015). We have seen a string of dangerous and worrying escalations, including both inside and outside the de-escalation zones established by the Astana guarantors. There has been a gradual return to back-and- forth competition over territory in ldlib and Hama. We have seen heavy and sustained air strikes across the North-West and in besieged eastern Ghouta, including today. Civilians have been killed on a horrific scale — reports suggest that more than 1,000 have died in the first week of February alone — and strikes have continued to hit hospitals, schools and markets. There have been several allegations of chlorine attacks, in Ghouta and Idlib and now recently also in Afrin. We cannot independently verify those allegations, but such acts, if confirmed, are outrageous and should not go unpunished. In just two months, 320,000 people have been displaced due to fighting in Idlib — an area that already hosts more than 1.2 million internally displaced persons. Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham — Al-Nusra — is active in Idlib. Meanwhile, there are reports of heavy mortar shelling in residential Damascus, wounding and killing civilians, damaging infrastructure, such as Embassies, and falling close to the hotel in which United Nations personnel reside. The conflict is also spilling over Syria’s borders in more than one direction, and there have been increased military intervention from multiple sources. Over the past several weeks, a new cross-border conflict in Afrin has emerged, with no clear end in sight. There are reports of exchanges of fire between Turkish and Syrian Government forces in Idlib, and between the United States-led coalition and pro-Syrian Government forces in the Euphrates valley, with major loss of life. A Russian aircraft was shot down over northern Syria and its pilot was killed. Last weekend, there were Israeli reports of an Iranian drone entering Israeli airspace, which have been denied by Iran; Israeli jets striking targets inside Syria; an Israeli jet shot down by Syrian Government anti-aircraft fire; and of what Israel calls large-scale strikes against the Syria air defence system and Iranian targets. In short, we see developments that raise questions about the sustainability of the Astana de-escalation arrangements, in which we placed a great deal of hope, and threaten wider regional stability. I have been Special Envoy for Syria for four years now, and this situation is the most violent, worrying and dangerous I have observed during my tenure. I strongly reiterate the Secretary-General’s appeal to all concerned in Syria, the region and beyond to de-escalate immediately and unconditionally, and urge all stakeholders, including the Astana guarantors, to use their influence to help reduce the level of violence. I also urge that continued attention be given to maintaining the Amman de-escalation arrangements in place in the south. Not only are Syrian civilians being killed and displaced in large numbers — even greater than before. They are also being deprived of the humanitarian assistance they need. There has not been a single United Nations humanitarian convoy to any besieged area since 28 November, two and a half months ago. Last week, together with Senior Adviser Jan Egeland, I warned the Humanitarian Task Force of the International Syria Support Group in Geneva of a collective failure to enable effective humanitarian action. At the time, I urged the co-Chairs — the Russian Federation and the United States — as well as other States to take urgent action to ensure immediate and unfettered humanitarian access to besieged and hard-to-reach areas in particular