NEW YORK: The US ambassador to the UN stood as a lone voice in support of Israel on Monday, as he repeated accusations that the countries that recognized Palestine last week had “rewarded Hamas.”

Mike Waltz was addressing a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East as US President Donald Trump was set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

Waltz accused the UNSC of having an “obsessive focus” on Israel. “The US continues to work tirelessly to free all 48 hostages and end the war … If we want to end the war, we need to place accountability where it belongs, with the terrorist organization known as Hamas,” he said.

“Members of this body rewarded Hamas for its horrible atrocities, including Oct. 7, by unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state.”

Hamas “sees actions like that as winning and as a win for them,” Waltz said, calling on the council and UN member states to “pressure Hamas to end the bloodshed.”

A stable West Bank “keeps Israel secure, and is in line with this administration’s goal to achieve peace in the region,” Waltz said.

Last week, Trump reportedly promised Arab and Muslim leaders at a closed-door UN meeting that the US will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank.

In Monday’s meeting, Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN’s deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, outlined the status of Resolution 2334, adopted in 2016, which calls for an end to Israeli settlement building in the Occupied Territories, among other stipulations.

This year, from June 18 to Sept. 19, Israeli planning authorities advanced or approved about 20,810 housing units in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, he said.

“Demolitions and seizures of Palestinian-owned structures also accelerated … Israeli authorities demolished, seized or forced people to demolish 455 structures in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, displacing 420 people, including 175 children and 118 women,” he added.

During the same period, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported the deaths of at least 7,579 Palestinians and at least 37,201 injured, mostly women and children, Alakbarov said.

Despite the world’s focus on events in Gaza, violence in the West Bank is continuing “at an alarming rate,” he added.

Alakbarov described a series of incidents across cities in the West Bank, notably Tulkarem and Jenin, in which large-scale operations by Israeli forces killed Palestinian children.

“After 23 months of fighting, the humanitarian situation in Gaza is beyond breaking point,” he added.

Alakbarov shared the views of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the implementation of Resolution 2334.

“Israeli settlement expansion continues to accelerate alongside the proliferation of outposts and steps in the Israeli Knesset (parliament) promoting the annexation of the West Bank,” Guterres said.

“Israeli settlements have no legal validity and constitute a flagrant violation of international law and UN resolutions.

“They’re systematically shrinking the territory of the Palestinian state and further entrenching Israel’s unlawful occupation.

“I’m appalled at the horrific humanitarian situation in Gaza, with unbearable levels of suffering and untenable living conditions. Famine in Gaza is a man-made disaster.”

The UNSC meeting included remarks from permanent and non-permanent states, including Russia, France, China and Slovenia.

The latter, which recognized Palestine last year, is serving as a non-permanent member of the council for 2024–2025.

Samuel Zbogar, Slovenia’s ambassador to the UN, said “the horrors of Gaza dominated all discussions” at the UN General Assembly over the past week, highlighting the almost unanimous message that “the suffering in Gaza must end.”

He said Slovenia supports the Palestinian Authority and the UN Relief and Works Agency as crucial bodies in any postwar governance of Gaza.

Zbogar described UNRWA as an “indispensable part of the fiber of Palestinian society that “must be protected.”

Each national recognition of Palestine over the past week — which included France, the UK, Canada and Australia — strengthens the “legitimacy of Palestine and moves us closer to a just settlement,” he said.

“I want to underline that we also hear voices for peace in Israel … We hear families of hostages calling for ceasefire,” Zbogar added.

“We hear voices of so many Israelis understanding that their safety and future is intertwined with the safety and future of Palestinians … We hear Jewish voices around the globe emphasizing that peace can’t be achieved through war.”

Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, told the council meeting that Israel continues to violate Resolution 2334 “with impunity.”

Israel’s use of “systematic military operations, illegal settlements and forced displacement” are aimed at “extinguishing the very prospect of a two-state solution,” he said.

“The people of Palestine can’t wait. The cause of peace, and the credibility of this council, depend on what we do in this moment.”