UNICEF warns against escalating violence in the Middle East
“Children in many countries in the Middle East are facing a harsh reality today more than ever before: life shrouded by uncertainty and violence,” UNICEF Regional Director Adele Khodr said in a statement. Almost every report of an attack includes…
Nurturing hope and leadership among Gaza’s young people
A volunteer with Sharek Youth Forum, a local non-governmental organization (NGO) in war-torn Gaza, Ms. Al Shamali has currently been displaced for the ninth time and lives in a crowded refugee camp as the conflict with Israel enters its 10th…
WHO regional chief voices grave concern over Middle East escalation
The past two weeks have seen a variant of poliovirus type 2 detected in sewage samples in Gaza, deadly military strikes in several neighbouring countries, and the confirmation of famine in Sudan’s North Darfur state, among other challenges. Rebuild health…
UN rights office reports escalation in strikes on schools in Gaza
According to the office at least 17 schools have been hit, raising serious concerns about compliance with principles of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), including distinction, proportionality and precaution. OHCHR also pointed to an escalation in such attacks. Since last Monday,…
Nine UNRWA staff to be fired for potential role in 7 October attacks on Israel
The development follows the conclusion of an investigation by the UN Office of Oversight Services (OIOS), launched earlier this year after Israel alleged that several UNRWA personnel took part in the brutal assault on its territory in which some 1,200…
Israel: Amid reports of torture inside jails, rights experts call for end to impunity
“Israel’s widespread and systemic abuse of Palestinians in detention and arbitrary arrest practices over decades, coupled with the absence of any restraints by the Israeli State since 7 October 2023, paint a shocking picture enabled by absolute impunity,” the experts said….
Iran’s protest crackdown disproportionately targeting minorities: UN experts
The paper highlights several ways Iranian security forces violated the rights of minorities including through “extrajudicial executions, unnecessary use of lethal force, arbitrary arrests, torture, rape” and other crimes against humanity. The mission says this is the “direct result of…
Middle East: UN rights chief warns against wider war, appeals for urgent de-escalation
“I am deeply worried about the rising risk of a wider conflict in the Middle East and plead with all parties, along with those States with influence, to act urgently to de-escalate what has become a very precarious situation,” Volker…
UN envoy urges action to address ‘growing risk of a serious escalation’ in the Middle East
Tor Wennesland, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, issued a statement saying he has engaged in “critical discussions with the relevant parties and Member States in the region, including Lebanon, Egypt and Qatar, in support of regional de-escalation”….
Gaza: ‘Frightening increase’ in Hepatitis A cases
“People in Gaza are facing yet another peril: Hepatitis A is spreading including among children,” Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA, wrote on social media. Since the start of the war last October, UNRWA…