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Middle East

Gaza: No improvement in aid access to north, insists senior UN aid official

Jamie McGoldrick, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator overseeing crisis relief in Gaza, pushed back at Israeli claims that more than 1,000 trucks had entered Gaza in the last few days, but only around 800 had been collected on the Palestinian side….

Widespread destruction across Khan Younis as Gazans ‘struggle to survive’

“Humanitarians are working hard to support them, but we need security, access and reliable facilitation by Israeli forces, whose responsibilities don’t end when supplies are dropped off at the border,” said Jamie McGoldrick. Every building the team visited and most…

US restricts trade with companies tied to drones used by Russia, Houthis

WASHINGTON —  The United States restricted trade with five companies on Wednesday that it said help produce and procure drones for use by Russia in Ukraine and by Iran-backed Houthis in Red Sea shipping attacks. The companies from Russia and…

US top military leaders face Congress over Pentagon budget and questions on Israel, Ukraine support

Washington —  Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Charles Brown Jr. testified on Capitol Hill on Tuesday about the Pentagon’s $850 billion budget for 2025 as questions remained as to whether lawmakers will support current spending needs…

UN continues to face aid access denials in Gaza

Israeli authorities have not given a clear reason why, said OCHA Spokesperson Jens Laerke, speaking during the regular briefing by UN humanitarian agencies in Geneva.  “They very often deny and that is it, and it ends there. We do not…

Palestinian request for UN membership moves on to specialized committee

The proposal for the referral, made by Ambassador Vanessa Frazier of Malta, Security Council President for April, received no objections from the body’s 15 members. “Unless I hear a proposal to the contrary, I shall refer to the Committee of…

Security Council urged to ‘end the bloodshed’ in Gaza

Dennis Francis convened the UN’s most representative body, comprising all 193 Member States, following the Security Council’s failure to adopt a resolution put forward by the United States last month.   The debate was triggered by a 2022 Assembly resolution that…

Hope grows for UN mission to ‘flood’ Gaza with food, despite fears of imminent Rafah invasion

That’s according to the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Jamie McGoldrick, speaking in-depth to UN News exactly six months since hostilities began with the Hamas-led terror attack. He underlined that the entire UN aid effort is about saving…

Gaza: ‘Systematic dismantling of healthcare must end’ says WHO

That’s the assessment following a WHO-led multi-agency mission to  Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza on 5 April which examined the extent of destruction following a weeks-long Israeli offensive aimed at rooting out militant forces who were allegedly operating inside. The…

Planning the post-war reconstruction and recovery of Gaza

In a statement issued on Saturday marking six months of conflict, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths noted that each day the war claims more civilian victims, after the horror of 7 October and the death and devastation rained down…