Top UN official appeals for calm following wave of attacks in Lebanon
The coordinated attacks reportedly targeted the Hezbollah militant group, with hundreds of electronic pagers belonging to its members blowing up at the same time, according to international media reports. ‘Extremely concerning escalation’ “The developments today mark an extremely concerning escalation…
UN rights expert calls for immediate release of all Israeli hostages
Alice Edwards, the UN Human Rights Council-appointed Special Rapporteur on Torture, also condemned the killing of six Israeli hostages earlier this month and called for an immediate end to hostilities on all fronts. Approximately 250 Israelis and foreign nationals were…
General Assembly resumes emergency special session on Palestine
Ambassadors in the UN General Assembly again discussed on Monday the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and the critical work of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, which is facing an existential threat, hearing a briefing by its Commissioner-General,…
How aid is (and is not) getting into Gaza
UN News looked at the needs triggered by the ongoing conflict through a lens of how much aid is getting into Gaza compared with what is required to address the grim situation on the ground, where 2.3 million Palestinians are…
More action on the ground needed to save civilian lives in Gaza, top UN official tells Security Council
Sigrid Kaag updated ambassadors on the implementation of resolution 2720, adopted last December, which established her mandate following the brutal 7 October Hamas-led attacks on Israel and the start of hostilities in Gaza. She was also tasked with establishing a…
Sanitary disaster in Gaza ‘worsening by the day’, warns UNRWA
In a new alert, UNRWA highlighted how Gazans’ shelters have become a target for insects and rodents after more than 11 months of war – echoing deep concerns among humanitarians about the lack of basic hygiene items that have left…
Biden meets UK’s Starmer to discuss Ukraine, Israel
US President Joe Biden met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House on Friday to discuss support for Ukraine amid a push by Kyiv for Western partners to lift restrictions on using their long-range missiles to attack…
Gaza: WHO chief hails ‘massive success’ of polio campaign amid tragic reality
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted that it had been “a massive success amidst a tragic daily reality of life” for more than two million Gazans who have been caught up in the intense fighting since last October’s terror attacks…
Iran summons 4 European envoys over accusations it supplied missiles to Russia
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s government on Thursday summoned the envoys of Britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands over their accusations that Tehran supplied short-range ballistic missiles to Russia to use against Ukraine. State-run IRNA news agency reported that the country’s…
UN warns of escalating conflict in Yemen amid humanitarian crisis, regional tensions
The crisis in Yemen, which worsened in 2014 after Houthi rebels (known officially as Ansar Allah) seized the capital, has been marked by complex political and military tensions. More than 18 million people – half the country’s population – remain…