Palestine conflict is a long-standing one on the United Nations table. Discuss its recent escalation since October 2023 and critically assess the big powers' reaction to it.

Introduction

Nelson Mandela, speaking on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People in December 1997, said: "We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians." Nearly three decades later, that freedom is further away than ever. The Palestine question has been on the United Nations agenda since 1947, making it one of the oldest unresolved issues before the world body. Since 7 October 2023, it has entered its bloodiest phase, with a devastating war in Gaza, rising violence in the West Bank and a wider regional conflict. The reaction of the big powers has exposed sharp divisions in the international order and a deep gap between their stated principles and their actions.

Overview

The UN General Assembly adopted the Partition Plan, resolution 181, in November 1947. The creation of Israel in 1948 led to the displacement of about 700,000 Palestinians, the Nakba. In 1967 Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, and the Security Council adopted resolution 242, calling for withdrawal from occupied territories. The Oslo Accords (1993) promised a two-state solution, but settlements expanded, the peace process stalled, and Gaza came under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade after Hamas took control in 2007. Repeated wars in Gaza in 2008–09, 2012, 2014 and 2021 left the conflict unresolved. Security Council resolution 2334 (2016) declared settlements a "flagrant violation" of international law, yet they kept growing.

The escalation since October 2023

1. The attack of 7 October 2023.

Hamas-led fighters crossed from Gaza into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, the deadliest day in Israel's history. (Reference: Israeli government figures, reported by Reuters and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), October 2023.)

2. Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

Israel declared war, imposed a "complete siege" on Gaza and launched air strikes and a ground invasion. By the October 2025 ceasefire, Gaza's Health Ministry reported more than 67,000 Palestinians killed, most of them women and children according to UN analyses. (Reference: Gaza Ministry of Health figures, cited by UN OCHA, October 2025.)

3. Humanitarian catastrophe and famine.

Around 90 per cent of Gaza's population was displaced and most buildings were damaged or destroyed. In August 2025 the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification confirmed famine in Gaza Governorate, the first ever confirmed in the Middle East. (Reference: UN OCHA situation reports; IPC Famine Review Committee, 22 August 2025.)

4. Violence in the West Bank.

Settler attacks, Israeli raids and the expansion of settlements intensified, killing hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and displacing whole communities. (Reference: UN OCHA, West Bank data on casualties and displacement, 2023–2025.)

5. Regional spillover.

The war spread to Lebanon, where Israel fought Hezbollah until a ceasefire in November 2024; to the Red Sea, where the Houthis attacked shipping; and to direct Israel-Iran exchanges in April and October 2024 and a twelve-day war in June 2025. (Reference: UN Security Council meeting records; International Maritime Organization statements on Red Sea shipping.)

6. International courts step in.

South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice on 29 December 2023, and the ICJ ordered provisional measures on 26 January 2024. In July 2024 the ICJ advised that Israel's occupation is unlawful, and in November 2024 the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and former defence minister Gallant. (Reference: ICJ, South Africa v. Israel, order of 26 January 2024; ICJ Advisory Opinion, 19 July 2024; ICC press release, 21 November 2024.)

7. Global protests and new recognitions of Palestine.

Mass protests spread across the world. Spain, Ireland and Norway recognised Palestine in May 2024, and the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Portugal and France did so in September 2025. (Reference: governments' official statements, May 2024 and September 2025; UN General Assembly records.)

8. Ceasefires of 2025.

A ceasefire and hostage exchange began in January 2025 but broke down in March. A new ceasefire based on US President Trump's plan took effect on 10 October 2025, followed by a summit at Sharm el-Sheikh, though its later phases remained fragile. (Reference: statements of the mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States, January and October 2025; reported by Reuters and Al Jazeera.)

The big powers' reaction

1. United States: firm backing for Israel.

The Biden Administration gave Israel political, diplomatic and military support, including a large supplemental aid package in April 2024, and vetoed several Security Council ceasefire drafts, beginning on 18 October 2023. It paused one shipment of heavy bombs in May 2024 but did not change course. (Reference: UN Security Council voting records, 2023–2025; US Congress, National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, April 2024.)

2. United Kingdom: from support to recognition.

Britain first backed Israel's right to self-defence, then suspended some arms export licences in September 2024 over the risk of violations of humanitarian law, and recognised Palestine in September 2025. (Reference: UK Foreign Secretary's statement to Parliament, 2 September 2024; Prime Minister's statement, 21 September 2025.)

3. France: humanitarian pressure and recognition.

France called for a ceasefire, voted for UN General Assembly resolutions on a humanitarian truce, co-chaired with Saudi Arabia the UN conference on the two-state solution and recognised Palestine in September 2025. (Reference: UN General Assembly, High-level International Conference on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine, July and September 2025.)

4. Germany and the European Union: divided.

Germany, citing Israel's security as part of its Staatsräson, stood closely by Israel, though in August 2025 it halted exports of arms that could be used in Gaza. EU members were split, with Spain and Ireland critical and others supportive of Israel. (Reference: German Federal Chancellery statement, 8 August 2025; EU Council conclusions, 2023–2025.)

5. Russia: critic of the US, limited role.

Russia called for an immediate ceasefire, blamed US policy for the crisis and hosted Palestinian factions in Moscow, but, absorbed by the war in Ukraine, played no decisive role. (Reference: Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs statements; UN Security Council draft resolution proposed by Russia, 16 October 2023.)

6. China: diplomatic support for Palestine.

China called for a ceasefire and a two-state solution, vetoed with Russia a US draft in March 2024 it considered weak, and brokered the Beijing Declaration of July 2024 in which Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas, pledged national unity. (Reference: UN Security Council records, 22 March 2024; Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing Declaration, 23 July 2024.)

7. A paralysed Security Council.

Vetoes by the US on one side and Russia and China on the other blocked action for months. The Council passed only limited texts such as resolution 2712 (November 2023) on humanitarian pauses, 2728 (March 2024) demanding a Ramadan ceasefire and 2735 (June 2024) endorsing a ceasefire plan. (Reference: UN Security Council resolutions 2712, 2720, 2728 and 2735.)

8. The Global South and the Muslim world.

The General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for a humanitarian ceasefire in December 2023, by 153 votes. South Africa took Israel to the ICJ, and the OIC and Arab League held a joint summit in Riyadh in November 2023; Pakistan consistently demanded a ceasefire and a Palestinian state on pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds as its capital. (Reference: UN General Assembly resolution ES-10/22, 12 December 2023; Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit, Riyadh, 11 November 2023; Pakistan Foreign Office statements.)

Critical assessment

The big powers' response was shaped more by geopolitics than by principle. Western powers that invoked international law over Ukraine were slow to apply it in Gaza, which damaged their credibility in the Global South. Russia and China criticised the West but offered little beyond statements. The Security Council, the body meant to keep peace, was paralysed by vetoes, and humanitarian law was openly flouted. Yet there were signs of change: European recognitions, arms restrictions, ICJ and ICC proceedings and the 2025 ceasefire showed that public pressure and legal action can move policy. A lasting peace still requires an end to occupation and a viable, sovereign Palestinian state.

Conclusion

Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963) that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." The war since October 2023 has shown that injustice in Palestine threatens the stability of the whole Middle East and the credibility of the international order. The big powers have mostly managed the conflict for their own interests rather than resolving it. Only a just two-state solution, based on UN resolutions and international law, can end the cycle of violence that has kept Palestine on the UN table for more than seventy-five years.