UN refugee agency calls for greater investment in Syrian returnees
The estimates are from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, which on Friday called for increased funding to support Syrian returnees as needs intensify at a time when aid budgets globally are being slashed. “Since the fall of the Assad regime,…
Syria’s political transition at risk due to Israeli military action, Security Council hears
“Syria’s opportunity to stabilise after 14 years of conflict must be supported and protected, for Syrians and for Israelis,” said Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. “This is the only way regional peace and security can be…
Bombardment, deprivation and displacement continue in Gaza
OCHA said dozens of people, including at least eight children, were killed in Gaza City on Wednesday after an Israeli strike hit a residential building. Many others are still missing under the rubble. The agency stressed that civilians must be protected…
Fear and uncertainty are daily staples for Gaza’s most vulnerable
That’s the message from the UN World Health Organization, WHO, which said on Wednesday that mothers are going into labour amid dire conditions, putting their health and their babies’ lives at risk. It is now five weeks since Israeli authorities…
Gaza: Guterres calls on Israel to ensure life-saving aid reaches civilians
Speaking to journalists at UN Headquarters, António Guterres also repeated his call for a renewed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and the release of all hostages still being held inside the shattered enclave. No food, fuel, medicine and commercial items…
More than one million children in Gaza deprived of aid for over a month: UNICEF
No aid has been allowed into Gaza since 2 March, representing the longest period of aid blockage since the start of the war, resulting in shortages of food, safe water, shelter, and medical supplies. UNICEF said that without these essentials,…
UN rights office calls for end to Israel’s ‘illegal presence’ in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
The Palestinian co-director of the documentary, Basel Adra, delivered remarks to the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. Ambassador Riyad Mansour of the Observer State of Palestine and Israeli Human Rights lawyer Netta Amar…
Gaza: Paramedic still missing after aid worker killings, Palestinian Red Crescent Society calls for answers
Last Sunday, a joint PRCS and UN humanitarian coordination office (OCHA) mission uncovered a shallow grave in Rafah. The bodies of eight PRCS paramedics, six civil defence workers, and one UN staff member were found. They had been killed by the Israeli…
UN rights chief warns of increasing risk of atrocity crimes in Gaza
Ambassadors met for an emergency session to discuss the escalation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Rights chief Volker Türk said he was pained to brief the Council once again on the “catastrophic suffering of people in Gaza,” noting that “the…
UN condemns killing of 1,000 people in Gaza since ceasefire collapse
He condemned the reported killing of more than a thousand people, including women and children, since the collapse of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on 18 March. In his daily press briefing, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that large-scale…