UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday expressed deep concerns over the situation in Gaza, reiterating his call for an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday expressed deep concerns over the situation in Gaza, reiterating his call for an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages.
Israel’s reported attempt to create a “buffer zone” with Gaza could constitute a war crime, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned on Thursday.
Amid further fighting across Gaza on Thursday, including reports of deadly airstrikes in the Rafah governorate, the UN’s top aid official, Martin Griffiths, echoed widespread international fears about a further escalation of the conflict.
Trust building, not unilateral actions, are the linchpin in forging a peaceful path forward for Belgrade and Pristina, the UN’s top official in Kosovo told the Security Council on Thursday, as the body called an urgent meeting at Serbia’s request to debate new banking regulations that have triggered fresh tensions.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) this week undertook his fourth visit to the beleaguered Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in southern Ukraine, his office said on Thursday.
As the devastating Gaza-Israel war entered its fifth month on Wednesday leaving a reported 27,585 Palestinians dead and nearly 70,000 injured, the UN’s top humanitarian official welcomed early indications of a “potential breakthrough” in negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of all remaining hostages.
The top UN official in the Middle East underscored the importance of a ceasefire in Gaza during a briefing to journalists at UN Headquarters on Wednesday.
The UN’s top aid official in Ukraine has condemned a new wave of attacks on cities and towns early on Wednesday.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has strongly condemned Monday’s deadly airstrike on two schools in eastern Myanmar resulting in the deaths of at least four children and two teachers, with many more left injured.
Around the globe, “peace is the missing piece” as conflicts rage, divisions grow and polarization deepens, the UN Secretary-General said on Wednesday.
Madam President,
On Saturday, 3 February, 28 people, including a child, were reportedly killed, and dozens more injured, in the shelling of a building housing a bakery and a restaurant in the town of Lysychansk, in the Luhansk region of Ukraine. Lysychansk is currently under the control of the Russian Federation.
In regions under Ukrainian control, the last few weeks have seen a reported intensification of Russian strikes.
Yesterday, four civilians were reportedly killed in the city of Kherson, and one more in the Sumy region. Attacks resulting in civilian casualties were also reported in Donetsk and Kharkiv regions.
Last week there was a significant escalation in violence, with more than 570 settlements targeted, mainly in the Zaporizhzhia region. The attacks killed 12 civilians and left 60 others injured.
Today, it was reported that a two-month-old infant was killed and his mother wounded, when a missile hit a hotel in the village of Zolochiv in Kharkiv region. Two other women were injured.
The impact of these attacks is devastating, particularly for the communities near active conflict zones.
Since February 2022, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has recorded 30,041 civilian casualties, with 10,382 killed, including 579 children, and 19,659 people injured, including 1,285 children.
The number of civilian casualties in Ukraine significantly increased in December and January compared with previous months, reversing a trend of decreasing civilian casualties throughout 2023. OHCHR has verified that 158 civilians were killed and 483 injured in January.
I must underscore once again that attacks on civilians, and civilian infrastructure, wherever they occur are prohibited under international law. They are unacceptable and must stop immediately.
Madam President,
We acknowledge the tireless efforts of humanitarian organizations, including many local and women-led initiatives, to alleviate the suffering of those affected by the conflict. But the people of Ukraine need much more.
On 15 January, the United Nations and partners asked donors for a combined $4.2 billion to support war-affected communities in Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees and their host communities in the region throughout 2024.
Nearly two years since the invasion, 14.6 million people need humanitarian assistance in Ukraine, a staggering 40 per cent of the population. Some 6.3 million people have fled the country and remain refugees, mostly across Europe.
After almost two years of no, or very restricted, access to civilians in the areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine under Russian control, some 1.5 million people there are estimated to be in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
International humanitarian law requires the parties to allow access to all civilians in need, no matter where they live. Any obstructions that leave the civilian population without the essentials to survive run contrary to this obligation and must cease immediately.
Moreover, as the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, we are increasingly concerned about the safety and security of humanitarian aid workers.
The recent attack in Kherson region resulting in the loss of two French nationals, working for a Swiss NGO, highlights the dangers faced by those providing essential aid on the ground.
Last year, eleven aid workers were killed in the line of duty in Ukraine. In January of this year alone, five aid workers were injured.
Similar to attacks on other civilians, attacks on humanitarian aid workers are prohibited under international law. They too must be stopped.
Madam President,
In a positive development, last week saw a successful exchange of hundreds of prisoners of war (POWs), both Ukrainian and Russian service members.
We urge the parties to continue such exchanges.
At the same time, I must reiterate our concern regarding the treatment of the remaining prisoners of war. As I stressed at my last briefing, the parties must fulfil their obligations under the Geneva Conventions.
We continue to urge the Russian Federation to provide independent international monitors unfettered access to POWs.
Madam President,
A year after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the General Assembly adopted resolution (A/RES/ES-11/6), calling for increased support for diplomatic efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations.
Now, another year has passed, and we are no closer to the end of this illegal and unjustified war.
Instead, Ukrainians are mourning thousands more of their loved ones, millions remain displaced and more of the country has been laid waste.
In just over two weeks, we will enter the third year of the war. With each passing day, the damage the conflict has done - and is doing - to Ukraine but also to global peace and security as well as international law becomes increasingly clear.
Only a solution in line with the UN Charter, international law and UN General Assembly resolutions will achieve a just and lasting peace.
Thank you, Madam President.
Any move by Israel to extend its full-scale invasion of Gaza into the massively overcrowded southern city of Rafah could lead to war crimes which must be prevented at all costs, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said on Tuesday.
With the war in Ukraine about to enter its third year, the damage wrought by the conflict to the country and to global peace and security is becoming increasingly clear, the UN’s top political affairs official said on Tuesday.
Attacks originating both within and outside Iraq have the potential to unravel hard-won stability and other achievements if they continue, the head of the UN Mission in the country, UNAMI, warned the Security Council on Tuesday.
Thank you, Madam President.
As we are all too aware, the tensions that have engulfed multiple countries in the Middle East continue to rise. Tragically, this comes as no surprise. The Secretary-General has repeatedly warned about the risks of further escalation and miscalculation in the region since the horrific Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October and the devastating Israeli counteroffensive in Gaza.
Since mid-October 2023, we have witnessed near daily incidents in the region. These include some 165 attacks on United States facilities in Syria and Iraq, prompting US strikes in the two countries.
Then, on 28 January, a drone attack killed three US service members and injured 40 at a US base known as “Tower 22,” in northeast Jordan, near al-Tanf base in Syria. On 2 February, the US Central Command said it had carried out 85 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against reported Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Forces and affiliated groups.
Syria and Iraq condemned the 2 February strikes, with both governments claiming they had resulted in deaths and injured civilians. The US said it had targeted command and control operations, intelligence centers and weapons facilities, among other sites, and that it was not seeking conflict in the Middle East or elsewhere.
While the Iraqi Government has continued to repeat its commitment to protecting US and coalition forces inside Iraq, some armed factions linked to the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” have pledged to continue their attacks against US and coalition forces in the region.
Madam President,
The wave of violence since early October involves a large swath of the Middle East. The Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah, along with other non-State armed groups in Lebanon, have exchanged fire across the Blue Line on an almost daily basis since 8 October.
There has been repeated rocket fire over the occupied Golan between Israel and militias reportedly linked to Iran, as well as airstrikes attributed to Israel by the Government of Syria on multiple locations in Syria.
Ongoing Houthi drone and missile attacks and threats to navigation in the Red Sea are deeply worrying and risk both exacerbating the conflict and further impacting international trade, as companies divert ships away from critical maritime routes.
A report on Houthi attacks on merchant and commercial vessels in the Red Sea will be shortly before the Council in accordance with resolution 2722 (2024).
Since 11 January, the United States and the United Kingdom, with the backing of six other member states, have launched strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen.
They have occurred consecutively over the last three days. More than 36 targets across 13 locations were reportedly struck on 3 February, including what was described as underground storage facilities, command and control sites, missile systems, UAV storage and operations sites, radars, and helicopters.
An additional missile launch site was reportedly hit on 4 February. Today, sites in Hudaydah were also targeted, including some very close to United Nations offices on the ground.
Madam President,
I reiterate the Secretary-General’s call on all parties to step back from the brink and to consider the unbearable human and economic cost of a potential regional conflict.
It has been nearly four months since more than 1,200 Israelis were killed in the attacks by Hamas, with over 250 people taken hostage.
As the Secretary-General said, this has been a period of heartache and anguish for Israelis. I echo the Secretary-General’s call for the immediate and unconditional release of all the hostages.
The past four months have also been heartbreaking and catastrophic for Palestinians civilians in Gaza, where hunger is rampant, disease is spreading and shelter is squalid at best for a vast number of people.
The death toll in the Strip is reported to have surpassed 27,000, mostly women and children. Thousands more are reported missing. The civilian population of Gaza should not pay for the terror unleashed by Hamas.
I reiterate the Secretary-General’s call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
The risk of escalation in the Middle East, and its potential consequences, was obvious from 7 October.
A quick survey of the agenda of this Council explains why: The UN is supporting political and peace processes throughout the region, in countries emerging, or still suffering, from armed conflict.
The Middle East remains highly volatile. Long-term regional stability demands the implementation of a clear political roadmap in each of these situations.
The Secretary-General continues his extensive outreach to all key stakeholders to urge all parties to take concrete measures to de-escalate tensions, and to work towards sustainable political solutions that aim to resolve, rather than merely manage, longstanding conflicts.
I appeal to the Council to continue to actively engage all concerned parties to prevent further escalation and the worsening of tensions that undermine regional peace and security.
Thank you, Madam President.
UN humanitarians reported on Monday that a food convoy in Gaza had been hit by shelling after a deadly weekend of hostilities in Gaza in which at least 234 Palestinians were reportedly killed, stoking regional tensions in the Middle East.
The UN Security Council held an urgent meeting Monday afternoon at the request of Russia, as the war in Gaza continued to fan tensions across the Middle East, with potentially dramatic consequences for regional peace and security. The UN Political Affairs chief appealed for the Council to help prevent further escalation and ease tensions across the region.
The UN Interim Security Force in Abyei (UNISFA) has heightened ground and aerial patrols to deter further violence, after brutal fighting in the oil-rich region claimed dozens of lives over the weekend.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday appointed an independent panel to conduct an assessment of the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA, following accusations that several staff were involved in the 7 October attacks against Israel.
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The number of hungry people in Sudan has doubled over the past year, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday, adding that it is already receiving reports of people dying from starvation.
Thousands of Gazans have continued to flee intense hostilities in Khan Younis towards the massively overcrowded southern city of Rafah which UN humanitarians described as a “pressure cooker of despair” on Friday.
The UN and the Government of Ethiopia have appealed for urgent funding to respond to rising hunger in the northern highlands region, the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, reported on Friday.
The UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA) plays a “critical role” in delivering aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip and it is vital to restore international confidence in the agency, the United States Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Friday.
Lifesaving aid operations in Gaza are “in peril” amid ongoing Israeli bombardment because of the funding crisis impacting the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, top UN officials reiterated on Thursday.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk expressed his shock on Thursday at credible reports alleging that Malian armed forces and foreign military personnel executed at least 25 people last week.
It’s another day of intense activity across the UN as the crisis in the Middle East stemming from the war in Gaza continues, both in the region and at UN Headquarters in New York. The Security Council is due to meet at the top of the hour to review the world court’s provisional ruling on genocide allegations, and the UN chief will brief the top UN committee on Palestinian rights with the latest on the struggle to stop the fighting and provide lifesaving humanitarian relief in Gaza. Follow lives updates here…
Deadly clashes and shelling continued in Khan Younis in southern Gaza overnight into Wednesday as top UN humanitarians and NGO chiefs warned of the “catastrophic consequences” of defunding UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees facing allegations of collusion with Hamas.
Children in Gaza will likely lose at least a year of education, with the school year suspended, and classrooms closed or turned into shelters. Ziad Taleb, a correspondent for UN News, has been talking to teachers and children at a school in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, which is overflowing with displaced people who have fled their homes in a desperate attempt to find safety.
On the third anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced grave concern over the deteriorating situation in the country.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on Wednesday that Russia had violated global anti-terrorism and anti-racial discrimination treaties, but dismissed most of the charges Kyiv brought against Moscow stemming from its 2014 invasion of Ukraine.
Escalating armed violence in Haiti has triggered a profound humanitarian crisis, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, warned on Wednesday.
The war in Gaza has resulted in an unprecedented level of destruction to its economy which will take tens of billions of dollars and decades to reverse, UN trade and development body UNCTAD said in a new report on Wednesday.
It has been another day of intense activity across the UN as the crisis in the Middle East stemming from the war in Gaza continues, both in the region and at UN Headquarters in New York. The Security Council reviewed the world court’s (ICJ) provisional ruling on genocide allegations, and the UN chief briefed the top UN committee on Palestinian rights, stressing that the relief agency, UNRWA, is the "backbone" of humanitarian operations in Gaza.
Children in Gaza will likely lose at least a year of education, with the school year suspended and classrooms closed or turned into shelters. Ziad Taleb, a correspondent for UN News, has been talking to teachers and children at a school in the central Gaza city of Deir Al-Balah, which is overflowing with displaced people who have fled their homes in a desperate attempt to find safety.
As the UN chief prepares to meet representatives from countries who donate to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) late on Tuesday following allegations of collusion with Hamas, the UN health agency, WHO, reiterated that now was not the time to abandon the people of Gaza.
Donor funding cuts stemming from Israel’s allegations against a dozen staff members at the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, will be felt within weeks, the UN Spokesperson said on Tuesday, as fears grow that consequences on the ground could contradict recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) orders for temporary measures to prevent “genocidal acts” in Gaza.
Three years after the military deposed the elected Government in Myanmar, the ever-deteriorating human rights crisis in the country is now in freefall, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday, appealing for greater attention from the international community.
