The UN’s top humanitarian official in Ukraine on Tuesday condemned “yet another attack" carried out by Russian forces in the eastern Donetsk region.
The urgency of deescalating tensions along the frontier that separates Lebanese and Israeli armed forces, “cannot be overstated”, a senior UN humanitarian official said on Tuesday.
Recent “unilateral acts” by rival sides in Libya have led to a rapid deterioration in political and economic stability coupled with rising insecurity, a senior UN official in the country told the Security Council on Tuesday.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on Monday for Houthi rebels in Yemen to immediately and unconditionally release UN staff, humanitarians, diplomatic personnel and others who have been detained for more than two months.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is closely following negotiations in Doha focused on trying to end the war in Gaza, where the situation continues to remain catastrophic after more than 10 months of unrelenting war.
On Monday, UN authorities in Sudan confirmed that truckloads of food and supplies have been approved to cross the border from Chad through the Adre crossing.
A surge in conflict combined with torrential rains and floods is deepening the crisis in Myanmar, leading to a surge in displacement, UN humanitarians have said.
Acute malnutrition is escalating among children in Government-controlled areas in Yemen, UN agencies and partners said in a report published on Sunday.
Safety at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine is deteriorating following a drone strike that hit the road near the site’s perimeter, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Saturday.
The perpetrators of a deadly rampage targeting a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank must face justice to deter future attacks, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, insisted on Friday.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on Friday for warring parties in Gaza to lay down their arms so that humanitarians can safely vaccinate more than half a million children against polio.
The UN humanitarian coordination office, OCHA, said on Friday that ongoing hostilities and daily exchanges of fire across Lebanon’s southern border were continuing to impact civilians on both sides of the Blue Line frontier with Israel.
Bombing which devastated a school and market in the Sudanese city of El Obeid on Wednesday has left five girls dead and 20 children injured according to the UN Children’s Fund’s Sudan Representative.
As the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza passes the dark milestone of 40,000, UN rights chief Volker Türk called on Thursday for an end to the killing “once and for all” and the release of all hostages while negotiators prepared to meet in Qatar to renew efforts to halt the conflict and avert a wider war.
Ansar Allah in Yemen must immediately release 13 UN staff and dozens of personnel from civil society, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other entities, who have been arbitrarily detained for more than two months, two senior officials told the Security Council on Thursday.
The UN continues to support an enabling environment for general elections in South Sudan, but the date remains elusive, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the country told the Security Council on Wednesday.
The risk of polio spreading in Gaza remains high unless there is an urgent and comprehensive response to the serious health threat, UN humanitarians said on Wednesday.
The killing, injury and displacement of Palestinians continues in the West Back against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, now in its 10th month, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in an update issued on Wednesday.
Mr. President, Members of the Security Council,
Once again, the Council is coming together to discuss alarming developments and increasing tensions in the Middle East. The devastating Israeli attack on the al-Tabeen school in Gaza City, which prompted this meeting, points once again to the desperate need to reach a ceasefire, free the hostages and scale up humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) airstrike in the al-Tabeen school compound took place early on 10 August. It killed dozens of Palestinians and wounded many others, including women and children, according to local Palestinian sources.
The Secretary-General condemned the continued loss of life in Gaza following another attack on a school sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinian families.
According to Israel, the IDF targeted a Hamas command centre in a mosque inside the school compound and killed at least 31 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters.
As the Secretary-General underlined yesterday, international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack, must be upheld at all times.
Also yesterday, Hamas announced the killing of a hostage and serious injury of two others by Hamas militants while in captivity in Gaza. Both sides have stated they are looking into the incidents.
Mr. President,
With hostilities continuing across the Strip, including in the north around Gaza City, in the middle area in Khan Younis, and in and around Rafah, the situation remains catastrophic for civilians.
No place is safe in Gaza, yet civilians continue to be ordered to evacuate to ever shrinking areas. My colleague, Director Doughten from OCHA, will brief you shortly in more detail regarding the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
Ten months since the start of the war, the threat of further regional escalation is more palpable, and chilling, than ever. Exchanges of fire across the Blue Line have continued nearly daily.
Since I last briefed on 31 July, numerous projectiles have been fired from Lebanon across the Blue Line, causing damage to buildings and bushfires in open areas. The IDF has responded with strikes across the Blue Line into southern Lebanon.
Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) crossing the Blue Line from southern Lebanon have also continued. An IDF base was hit across the Blue Line, while another base was hit near Nahariya in northern Israel. An open area in Nahariya City was also struck.
Mr. President,
I urge continued attention to the worsening situation and ongoing violence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. On 3 August, the IDF said it conducted two airstrikes on a Hamas cell in Tulkarem, killing nine Palestinians who the IDF said were planning to conduct an attack inside Israel.
Separate IDF operations in Jenin and Tubas early last week also killed another 16 Palestinians. On 11 August, a shooting attack claimed by Hamas killed one Israeli civilian and wounded another in the northern Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank.
Another Palestinian shooting attack near Qalqilia reportedly injured one Israeli and two Palestinians. The assailant, who was claimed by Hamas as an al-Qassam Brigades commander, was subsequently killed by ISF.
Mr. President,
If the slide towards an even greater catastrophe is to be halted, the parties must end all escalatory rhetoric and actions. I reiterate the Secretary General’s call for all to work vigorously towards regional de-escalation in the interest of long-term peace and stability.
I welcome efforts by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States to bring both sides to conclude a deal to bring about a ceasefire, the release of hostages, and desperately needed humanitarian relief.
As the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and the United States emphasized in their joint statement on 8 August, and I quote, “there is no further time to waste, nor excuses from any party for further delay” (end quote).
Their call for immediate relief to the people of Gaza and the hostages and their families must be heeded. I urge all parties to prioritize the protection of civilians and promptly conclude this deal as endorsed by the Security Council in resolution 2735 (2024).
The United Nations is committed to supporting all efforts towards this goal and remains in close contact with the relevant parties.
Mr. President,
The killing, destruction and suffering in Gaza must end. The hostages must be reunited with their families.
But even as efforts to achieve these goals continue, we cannot lose sight of what we consider indisputable: in the absence of a clear path towards a future in which Israelis see their legitimate needs for security materialize and Palestinians see their legitimate aspirations for a fully independent, viable and sovereign State realized, lasting peace in the Middle East will remain elusive.
Thank you, Mr. President.
The UN Secretary-General has welcomed efforts to restore calm and hold fresh parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, urging the interim Government to be inclusive as the country moves towards restoring democratic rule.
Sudan’s deepening humanitarian crisis caused by nearly 16 months of war has left countless women and girls subject to sexual violence and rape and tens of thousands of children at risk of death from hunger, UN aid teams said on Tuesday.
As civilian suffering intensifies in war-ravaged Gaza, senior UN officials on Tuesday called once more for an immediate ceasefire and conditions which would allow full humanitarian access, following Saturday’s deadly Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter.
The UN on Monday condemned the ongoing escalation of violence in Myanmar that has led to heavy civilian casualties in recent weeks, including children and families.
An attack on a UN facility for displaced people in Sudan has left two dead and at least eight others injured, humanitarians have reported.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has deplored a deadly weekend attack on a Gaza school-turned-shelter, his Office said on Monday.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday called for urgent reform of the Security Council, criticizing its outdated structure and lack of representation for Africa, which he argued undermines the body’s credibility and global legitimacy.
Secretary-General António Guterres expressed deep alarm at the evolving situation in El Fasher in North Darfur, Sudan, where fierce fighting in the famine-stricken area has been reported, his deputy spokesperson said late Sunday.
The UN Human Rights Office condemned on Saturday the increasing frequency of Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) strikes on schools, where hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced Palestinians have sought shelter, with the latest attacks killing dozens at a Gaza City school.
Millions of displaced people in Sudan, already suffering from the devastating impact of a nearly 16-month-long war, are now grappling with worsening conditions due to heavy seasonal rains and flooding, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday.
The outgoing UN senior humanitarian official in Ukraine condemned a deadly Russian attack on Friday that killed and injured dozens in the eastern town of Kostiantynivka, in the Donetsk region.
Islamic State (ISIL/Da’esh) and its affiliates have expanded their activities and finances in several parts of Africa, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, resulting in a major spike in attacks and civilian fatalities, a senior UN counter-terrorism official warned the Security Council on Thursday.
The recent surge in violence and attacks in the Middle East is taking a shocking toll on young lives in the region, a senior official with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday in an appeal for de-escalation.
Thousands of people in Gaza have been fleeing west toward Al Mawasi after the Israel military issued a new evacuation order on Thursday, UN humanitarian partners on the ground have reported.
As the UN Security Council meets on Thursday to discuss the threat the ISIL/Da’esh terrorist group poses, a specialised UN agency has been helping nations on the ground to prepare for chemical terrorism attacks.
