‘Orphanage city’ helps children in Gaza as the war grinds on
The latest death toll has surpassed more than 41,000 people, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health – the majority of them women and children – while most of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have been forcibly displaced and trapped…
Lebanon: Medical aid arrives in Beirut amid intensifying Israeli strikes
“There were two strikes and a huge crater was created in the no-man’s land between the Syrian and the Lebanese side. It’s very hard for vehicles still to go through this road,” said Rula Amin, Senior Communications Advisor for the…
Lebanon: UN peacekeepers to stay the course amid escalating hostilities
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, expressed deep alarm over the escalation in southern Lebanon and the impact on civilians, reiterating the need for a cessation of hostilities and negotiations to restore calm. “UNIFIL peacekeepers feel duty-bound to the…
Victims of deadly Lebanon escalation describe fleeing ‘total destruction’
In the Lebanese capital, UN humanitarians reported “another night of strikes” and ongoing attacks, as aid workers continued trying to help all those in need. This was “despite their own families being displaced and searching for safety”, said the UN’s…
SECURITY COUNCIL LIVE: End ‘sickening cycle’ of escalation across the Middle East, Guterres urges
UN humanitarians launched a $426 million appeal for Lebanon on Tuesday to support one million people uprooted by widespread Israeli shelling amid what Israel has described as a “limited, localised and targeted” ground operation into Lebanon, across the UN-patrolled line…
UN rights chief adds voice to urgent calls for Middle East de-escalation
The development came as UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned “escalation after escalation” in the Middle East on Tuesday, as a report from his Office underscored the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Since the…
Guterres condemns ‘escalation after escalation’ in the Middle East
“I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict, with escalation after escalation,” he said in a tersely worded statement. “This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire.” Rising hostilities Iran fired waves of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday, just…
All-out war ‘must be avoided in Lebanon at all costs’: Guterres
Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric issued a statement saying that UN chief António Guterres was “extremely concerned” by the fast escalation of the conflict. “An all-out war must be avoided in Lebanon at all costs, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of…
Lebanon crisis: UN launches $426 million aid appeal with ‘limited’ Israeli ground incursion underway
From the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, spokesperson Jens Laerke described chaotic scenes across Lebanon as people continued to flee airstrikes that have killed more than 1,000 people in the past two weeks alone, according to the UN human rights…
Syrian Minister denounces Israel for its ‘seven-decade-long criminal record’
All of these, he told the UN General Assembly, are exacerbated by failures of multilateral diplomacy and the failure of the United Nations to achieve its founding objectives. “While we previously sought to promote preventive diplomacy and the peaceful settlement…