Israel strongly rejected accusations by South Africa of genocidal intent against Palestinians on Friday at the United Nations’ highest court, insisting that it was engaged “in a war it did not start and did not want” in Gaza.
Israel strongly rejected accusations by South Africa of genocidal intent against Palestinians on Friday at the United Nations’ highest court, insisting that it was engaged “in a war it did not start and did not want” in Gaza.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged countries to avoid an escalation in the situation in the Red Sea, where Houthi rebels in Yemen have been attacking commercial vessels amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
The UN Security Council met on Friday for briefings on the worsening situation across the Middle East, looking first at threats of forced displacement from Gaza and then the escalating conflict in and around the Red Sea – all as the war in Gaza approaches the 100-day mark.
South Africa addressed the UN's highest court on Thursday in a bid to end the mass killing of civilians in Gaza, accusing Israel of carrying out genocide against Palestinians there – a claim that Israel has strongly denied as "baseless".
Recent developments in Colombia have highlighted the need to move forward in implementing the 2016 peace agreement signed by the Government and the FARC-EP militia group, UN Special Representative Carlos Ruiz Massieu told the Security Council on Thursday.
Russian strikes have continued to “wreak havoc” on Ukrainian cities, causing death and destruction and leaving millions of civilians without access to vital services, the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) said on Thursday.
West Africa has seen shifting political sands throw up contrasting challenges over the past six months, revealing a stark contrast in the region’s journey towards democracy, the UN envoy for the region said on Thursday.
Recurring denials and severe access constraints continue to paralyze aid teams trying to respond to the immense needs in northern Gaza, the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, has warned.
Thank you, Mr. President,
The new year has brought no respite to Ukraine. On the contrary, in recent weeks, the country has been suffering some of the worst attacks since the beginning of the illegal war.
Over the holiday period, Russian missiles and drones targeted numerous locations across the country, including in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Cherkasy, Odesa and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine.
In Kherson, apartment buildings and a medical facility, as well as a railway station packed with more than a hundred civilians awaiting evacuation, were struck. Similarly, almost daily shelling has been reported across part of the Kharkiv region.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has verified 29,522 civilian casualties: 10,233 people killed, including 575 children, and 19,289 injured, including 1,260 children.
Just between 29 December and 2 January, OHCHR recorded 519 civilian casualties – 96 people killed and 423 injured.
On 29 December alone, 58 civilians were killed and 158 injured in country-wide Russian drone and missile strikes. This was the highest number of civilian casualties in a single day in all of 2023.
Meanwhile, on 30 December, in the city of Belgorod in the Russian Federation, at least 25 civilians were reportedly killed, and more than 100 others injured in strikes attributed to Ukraine. Cross-border attacks have reportedly continued in recent days prompting some civilians to evacuate from Belgorod.
On Saturday, 7 January, 11 civilians, including five children, were reportedly killed in a missile strike in the town of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities attributed the attack to Russian armed forces.
Civilians in frontline communities bear the heaviest burden of the missile, drone and artillery barrages. Sixty-nine per cent of all civilian casualties are recorded in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine.
The impact of the war on children is particularly appalling. Since the start of the war, nearly two-thirds of Ukrainian children were forced to flee their homes – some of them alone, making them even more vulnerable. An estimated 1.5 million children are at risk of post-traumatic stress and other mental health conditions.
Mr. President,
In addition to killing, maiming and displacing thousands of people, missile and drone strikes in densely populated urban areas are causing severe damage to civilian infrastructure.
Recent Russian attacks damaged or destroyed at least eight schools and ten healthcare facilities, including a maternity hospital. In total, seven thousand schools remain inaccessible to children, restricting their right to education.
My colleague from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will provide further details on the humanitarian situation in the country, emphasizing the urgent need for UN response to hundreds of thousands of people left without electricity and water supply in frigid weather.
We unequivocally condemn all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, wherever they occur and whoever carries them out.
Such acts violate international humanitarian law and must cease immediately.
Mr President,
Even as the fighting rages, Ukrainians are working on rebuilding their lives and homes, investing in areas less exposed to direct hostilities.
The UN, in coordination with government partners, continues to support local recovery efforts, including in the energy sector, striving for durable solutions.
As the number of refugees from Ukraine reaches 6.3 million globally, with 5.9 million across Europe, the UNHCR surveys indicate that nearly 80 per cent hope to return to Ukraine.
However, security concerns and access to basic services, housing, and livelihoods remain paramount. Therefore, continued support for refugees in countries hosting them is crucial.
Mr. President,
Amid the nearly unrelenting grim news from the war, one recent development stood out as positive.
On 3 January, a long-awaited exhange of more than 200 prisoners of war on each side took place between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. This was the largest such exchange since February 2022.
As the Secretary-General noted, we commend the efforts of both parties and the third-party facilitation by the United Arab Emirates.
While acknowledging this positive development, we remain gravely concerned about the situation of the remaining prisoners of war.
All concerned parties must uphold international law, particularly international humanitarian law, in their treatment of prisoners of war.
Accountability for all human rights violations remains paramount, requiring adherence to international standards and a survivor-centred approach.
In areas of Ukraine under Russian control, impunity for serious human rights violations, including killings, disappearances, and torture, feeds a climate of fear.
Also in occupied territory, Ukrainian nationals, including children, are under pressure to acquire Russian citizenship after a new law classified them as foreigners in their own country.
Without a Russian passport, these Ukrainians face limits in accessing health care, social services, and employment.
We also remain deeply concerned about the well-being of Ukrainian children taken to the Russian Federation. We emphasize the urgent need for their immediate return to their families in Ukraine.
Mr. President,
The situation in and around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) remains gravely worrying. Since August 2022, the Plant has suffered eight instances of complete loss of off-site power.
A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continues to monitor the situation at the Plant. However, despite repeated requests to the Russian authorities, IAEA experts have not been granted access to all parts of the site.
At the Rivne, Khmelnitsky and South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plants and the Chernobyl site, IAEA experts continue to report that nuclear safety and security is being maintained, despite wide-ranging missile attacks nearby.
Attacks between 29 December 2023 and 2 January this year forced experts at the Khmelnitsky Plant to take shelter three times.
The denial of full access to IAEA experts and the danger caused by repeated attacks around nuclear sites are worrying and should concern us all.
Mr. President,
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, this Council has met more than 100 times in various formats to discuss the harrowing consequences of the war.
We have heard numerous testimonies about the horrors endured by Ukrainian civilians. We have consistently voiced clear warnings about the risks of further escalation and spill-over outside Ukraine’s borders and even beyond.
And yet, here we are, on the brink of the third year of the gravest armed conflict in Europe since the Second World War -- with no end in sight. The toll of this senseless war - in death, destruction and destabilization – is already catastrophic. It is terrifying to contemplate where it could lead us. It must stop.
Our commitment remains steadfast to support all meaningful endeavours aimed at a just, sustainable, and comprehensive peace – in line with the UN Charter, international law and the resolutions of the General Assembly.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Repeated refusals by Israeli authorities to allow UN aid teams to deliver desperately needed humanitarian relief inside Gaza have effectively cut off five hospitals in the north from access to “lifesaving medical supplies and equipment”, the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) has warned.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday passed a resolution condemning “in the strongest terms” the multiple attacks by Houthi rebels off the coast of Yemen which have disrupted global trade and raised fears of further spillover from the war in Gaza.
The UN remains concerned about the fate of personnel travelling on one of its helicopters in Somalia that reportedly was seized on Wednesday by al-Shabaab militants, though no details were provided.
The new year has brought no respite to Ukraine, with recent weeks seeing some of the worst attacks of the nearly three-year war, the UN political affairs chief told the Security Council on Wednesday.
The European climate agency on Tuesday reported that record global heat last year showed an overall increase of 1.48°C above pre-industrial levels – just a fraction below the 1.5-degree threshold laid out by the historic Paris Agreement on climate change.
The immediate priority in Gaza must be saving civilian lives said the President of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, as Member States gathered to debate the use of the veto by the United States in the Security Council last month.
With no let-up in fighting across Gaza, the UN health agency pleaded on Tuesday for better access across the enclave, where relief is arriving “too little...too late” to help civilians caught up in the ongoing conflict.
The UN human rights chief on Monday called on the newly elected Government of Bangladesh to take steps to renew the country’s commitment to democracy and human rights.
On day 93 of the war in Gaza, amid reports of relentless and heavy Israeli bombardment, UN humanitarians issued new reports of “significant casualties, particularly among women and children”, and pleaded for overwhelmed medical teams to be allowed to continue their lifesaving work.
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Hospitals in Gaza and other vital medical infrastructure have been attacked nearly 600 times since war erupted in the enclave in response to the Hamas-led terror attack in southern Israel, the UN health agency said on Friday.
Hospitals and other vital medical infrastructure in Gaza and the West Bank have been attacked nearly 600 times since war erupted in the enclave in response to the Hamas-led terror attack in southern Israel, the UN health agency said on Friday.
The international community must take “decisive and immediate action” to bring nearly nine months of brutal civil war in Sudan to an end and boost humanitarian relief, the UN relief chief Martin Griffiths said on Thursday.
In Ukraine, there was no respite from war over the holiday period, neither for the country’s citizens, nor the UN workers attempting to deliver aid and support, a senior official for the UN migration agency (IOM) told UN News.
Amid reports of continued Israeli airstrikes overnight in southern and central Gaza and more rocket fire into Israel from the enclave, UN teams said on Thursday they have been unable to deliver urgently needed aid to civilians beyond central areas and further north for the past three days.
In Ukraine, there was no respite from war over the holiday period, neither for the country’s citizens, nor the UN workers attempting to deliver aid and support, a senior official for the UN migration agency (IOM) told UN News.
Thank you, Mr President,
There have been further alarming developments in the Red Sea since the last briefing on the subject on 18 December 2023.
The United Nations continues to warn against the adverse political, security, economic and humanitarian repercussions of military escalation in the Red Sea and the risk of exacerbating regional tensions. Continued Houthi threats to maritime navigation coupled with the risk of further military escalation remains of serious concern and could potentially impact millions in Yemen, the region and globally.
Since this issue was last on the Council’s agenda on 18 December, the Houthis claimed responsibility for two attacks using naval missiles on the MSC United on 26 December and on the Maersk Hangzhou on 31 December. There have been reports of other intercepted Houthi attacks as well.
On 31 December, an armed intervention by the US forces against the Houthis in response to two distress calls from the Maersk Hangzhou, a Singapore-flagged container vessel, reportedly resulted in 10 deaths or missing according to the Houthis. As a result, Maersk has halted Red Sea shipping again until further notice on 2 January. On the same day, Hapag-Lloyd said it will continue to avoid Red Sea transits and reroute vessels around the Cape of Good Hope until 9 January in response to recent attacks. This is only one example of the risks of continued escalation of attacks against seagoing merchant vessels and the impact on global supply chains particularly increasing freight costs and lengthening delivery times.
We continue to share the concerns of the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) with respect to the need for the protection of the freedom of maritime navigation, and also about the potential impact of current attacks and disruptions to sea traffic in the Red Sea and environs on international trade. We reaffirm the importance of ensuring safety and security of maritime navigation in the region. In that regard, we also call for the immediate release of the “Galaxy Leader” and her crew which was seized by the Houthis on 19 November.
We reiterate that such incidents originating from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen must stop. No cause or grievance can justify continuation of these attacks against the freedom of navigation.
As to the overall situation in the region, we encourage all concerned parties to avoid further escalation and de-escalate tensions and threats. This is critical so that traffic through the Red Sea can return to its normal state and the risk of Yemen being dragged into a regional conflagration be avoided.
The continued assistance of this Council in actively engaging with all concerned parties who may be able to push for restraint remains extremely valuable so that through our combined efforts we can prevent further escalation in the Red Sea from exacerbating regional tensions or undermining regional peace, security, or international trade.
Thank you.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday held its first open meeting on the continuing attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, which are becoming an increasing threat to global trade and the stability of the entire region as the intense fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza continues.
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday strongly condemned an attack in Iran which has reportedly killed more than 100 people taking part in a commemoration for a former top military general in the eastern city of Kerman.
Continuing airstrikes were reported across Gaza on Wednesday and “intense ground battles” between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters in refugee camps in central areas that have reportedly left many dead.
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday strongly condemned an attack in Iran which has reportedly killed more than 80 people taking part in a commemoration for a former top military general in the eastern city of Kerman.
UN humanitarians repeated dire concerns for civilians caught up in the war in Gaza on Tuesday, amid reports of continued Israeli bombardment of the southern towns of Deir al Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah, direct clashes on the ground and the firing of rockets overnight by Palestinian armed groups into Israel.
The UN peacekeeping operation in Mali is poised to complete its drawdown on Sunday following a decade of multifaceted efforts to support the West African nation and its people after Malian authorities requested earlier this year to end the mission by 31 December.
Mr. President, members of the Security Council,
As feared, the two-year cycle of death and destruction, on full display during the Russian Federation’s large-scale attack on Ukraine yesterday - which at the last count killed at least 39 Ukrainian civilians - has further escalated overnight.
According to the Russian authorities, as a result of Ukrainian missile and rocket strikes on the city of Belgorod - which lies 30 kilometres from the Ukrainian border - at least 14 civilians, including two children, were reportedly killed. At least 108 others, including 15 children, were reportedly injured.
Attacks on locations in the Belgorod city centre reportedly resulted in damage to civilian infrastructure, including the regional government office and the medical college of Belgorod State University. The strikes were reported as among the deadliest cross-border attacks on the Russian Federation since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, launched in violation of the UN Charter and international law.
The Russian military authorities also reported separate overnight Ukrainian drone attacks in the Bryansk, Oryol, Kursk and Moscow regions of the Russian Federation.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities reported new overnight Russian drone attacks targeting the Kherson region.
The United Nations is not in a position to independently verify the various reported attacks or casualty figures.
Mr. President,
As we meet again today, reports of new air raid alerts are also coming in from across Ukraine, including in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Cherkasy, Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Just a few hours ago, the city of Kharkiv was reportedly attacked, resulting in civilians injured and civilian infrastructure damaged. As the war continues, we will see more Ukrainian and Russian civilians killed and injured.
As we have repeatedly warned, the latest series of attacks is a stark and vivid reminder of the very real dangers of further escalation and spillover of this war. We reiterate the Secretary-General’s appeals for de-escalation of tensions and for an end to attacks on civilians, population centres, residential areas, civilian and energy infrastructure.
We unequivocally condemn all attacks on cities, town and villages, in Ukraine and in the Russian Federation. Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law, are unacceptable, and must end now.
Protection of civilians must be the main priority. The fighting and bloodshed must cease, the war must come to an end.
Thank you.
Read here the latest UNSOM Quarterly Newsletter.
A senior UN political affairs official condemned attacks against the Russian city of Belgorod, located near the Ukrainian border, as he briefed the Security Council at an emergency meeting convened on Saturday afternoon.
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ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GENERAL
MOHAMED KHALED KHIARI’S
REMARKS TO THE EMERGENCY SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING ON UKRAINE
New York, 29 DECEMBER 2023
Mr. President,
Overnight, the Russian Federation armed forces carried out a massive aerial attack on Ukraine, reportedly launching 158 missiles and drones in several waves targeting locations across the country, including in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Cherkasy, Odesa and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine.
Preliminary reports indicate that at least 30 civilians were killed and at least 160 injured. The strikes constituted some of the largest aerial assaults since the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, launched in violation of the UN Charter and international law.
According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the latest attacks resulted in extensive damage to a wide range of civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings, a maternity hospital, schools, kindergartens, parks, a metro station, and a shopping mall, as well as energy infrastructure. Electricity was cut in several regions, following damage to transmission lines.
Rescue groups are still searching for people trapped under the rubble of residential buildings.
Mr. President,
Regrettably, today’s appalling assaults were only the latest in a series of escalating attacks by the Russian Federation.
Since DPPA last briefed this Council on 6 December, we have continued to see daily reports of attacks on Ukrainian cities and towns, including on critical civilian and energy infrastructure, with many resulting civilian casualties. During the Christmas period alone, attacks on the city of Kherson reportedly killed several people and wounded many others. Apartment buildings and a medical facility, as well as a railway station packed with more than a hundred civilians awaiting evacuation, were struck. Similarly, almost daily shelling has been reported across part of the Kharkiv region.
According to OHCHR, in 2023, the war in Ukraine claimed the lives of 1,888 civilians and left 6,334 others injured, resulting in 8,222 civilian casualties. This brings the total of civilian casualties to 29,113 since the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The actual figures are likely considerably higher.
The Secretary-General unequivocally condemns, in the strongest possible terms, today’s appalling attacks on cities and towns across Ukraine. Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law, are unacceptable and must stop immediately.
Mr. President,
Tragically, 2023 is ending as it began – with devastating violence against the people of Ukraine. Once again, Ukrainians are forced to spend the holidays seeking shelter, clearing the rubble, and burying the dead, amidst freezing temperatures.
As we look to the New Year in the hope of avoiding further escalation, we recall the Secretary-General’s appeal to all concerned to do their part to help lay the foundations for sustainable peace in Ukraine – in accordance with the UN Charter, international law, and resolutions of the General Assembly.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. President.
The situation in the Middle East is alarming. This includes several interconnected theatres conflict.
In Gaza, Israeli intense ground operations and fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas and others continued in most areas. Hamas and other Palestinian factions continue to fire rockets from Gaza into Israel. Civilians from both sides, particularly in Gaza strip currently, continue to bear the brunt of this conflict.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate. I reiterate the Secretary-General’s call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. The implementation of the Security Council resolution 2712 will be reported next week pursuant Security Council resolution 2720.
The risk of regional spillover of this conflict with potential devastating consequences for the entire region remains high given also a multitude of actors involved.
The continued daily exchanges of fire across the Blue Line pose a grave risk to regional stability. Increasingly, there have been strikes on civilian areas, with civilian casualties, on both sides of the Blue Line, in addition to a rising number of fatalities among combatants. While most of these exchanges have been contained to areas within a few kilometres either side of the Blue Line, there have been several instances of strikes deeper into the territories of Lebanon and Israel, raising the spectre of an uncontained conflict, with potentially devastating consequences for the people of both countries.
With the risk of miscalculation and further escalation increasing as the conflict in Gaza continues, it is vital that all actors immediately de-escalate and return to a cessation of hostilities under the framework of resolution 1701(2006).
Attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria take place now on daily bases with US conducting some airstrikes against groups suspected of these actions in Iraq and Syria. There are also reported Israeli air strikes inside Syria.
The continued Houthi threat to maritime navigation in the Red Sea is of growing concern. It risks exacerbating regional tensions, and further escalation, and also has potentially grave political, economic, and humanitarian ramifications for millions in Yemen and the region. This threat also has potential ramifications at a global scale if regional and international shipping and supply chains are adversely impacted by further escalation in the Red Sea.
The United Nations continues to encourage de-escalation and a cessation of attacks and threats so that traffic through the Red Sea can return to its normal state and the risk of Yemen being dragged into a regional conflagration be avoided. The United Nations underscores the importance of ensuring that international law is respected in full in relation to maritime navigation.
We appeal to all members of the international community to do everything in their power to use their influence on the relevant parties to prevent an escalation of the situation in the region.
Across the occupied West Bank, heightened tensions between Israeli security forces and Palestinians, intensive violence and widespread movement restrictions have continued. Recent weeks have seen some of the most intensive Israeli operations in the West Bank since the Second Intifada. Many Palestinian casualties in the occupied West Bank occurred in the context of Israeli operations in Area A, including some during subsequent armed clashes.
Since 7 October, 304 Palestinians, including 79 children, have been killed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Additionally, two Palestinians from the West Bank were killed while carrying out an attack in Israel on 30 November. Over 70 per cent of the Palestinian fatalities in the West Bank since 7 October have occurred during ISF operations, including some – mainly in Jenin and Tulkarem governorates – involving exchanges of fire with Palestinians.
Since 7 October, four Israelis, including three members of the Israeli forces, have been killed in attacks by Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Another four Israelis were killed during an attack by Palestinians in West Jerusalem.
Earlier today, four Israelis were wounded in a reported car-ramming attack southwest of Hebron. The Palestinian driver of the vehicle was shot and killed by ISF. On 28 December, two Israeli security forces personnel were stabbed and injured by a Palestinian in a check point near Jerusalem. The perpetrator was shot and killed by the ISF. Also on 28 December, Israeli security forces killed a Palestinian man during an operation that involved an exchange of fire in Ramallah City. This incident took place in the context of a widespread ISF operations in Ramallah and other cities in the occupied West Bank targeting foreign exchange and money transfer agencies, which Israel said were being used to fund Hamas. On 27 December, ISF conducted an operation in Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem, which led to clashes, during which Palestinians used Improvised Explosive Device and ISF conducted drone strikes which killed six Palestinians, including two children. The IDF said the strike targeted an armed group of militants who had thrown explosive devices at ISF.
Settler violence remains a grave concern and continues at high levels. However, there has been a reduction in the settler attacks throughout November and December since the spike in violent settler attacks against Palestinians following 7 October.
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published on 28 December its reports on the deterioration of human rights situation in West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
To prevent the recurrence of war and endless cycle of violence, the current hostilities throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) must end with a plan to meaningfully advance the parties towards a negotiated solution.
We must restore a political horizon and move towards the only viable possibility for a peaceful future -- a two-State solution, with Gaza as an integral part of an independent Palestinian State, living side by side with Israel, in peace and security, based on the 1967 lines and with Jerusalem as the capital of both States, in line with the resolutions adopted by this Council and international law.
Thank you.
