Tag: crisis
Security Council meets over widening Middle East crisis
Video feed of the meeting, expected to start at 3 PM. The UN relief chief told ambassadors that any Gazans forced to flee the enclave must be allowed to return “as international law demands”, while a senior political affairs official warned that the cycle of violence over Red Sea shipping lanes risked major repercussions in…
Read MoreGaza crisis: another hospital facing dire shortages, warns WHO
In central Gaza, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Sunday that medics at the only functioning hospital in Deir al Balah governorate “had been forced to cease lifesaving and other critical activities…and leave” after an evacuation order issued amid “increasing” Israeli military activity. Only five doctors reportedly remain at Al-Aqsa Hospital in the…
Read MoreGaza crisis deepens as UN aid convoys face delays and obstacles
In its latest alert on the deteriorating situation for 1.9 million displaced people in the Strip, UN aid coordination office OCHA blamed “delays and denials” along with active conflict for the lack of distribution beyond Wadi Gaza. “This includes medicines that would have provided vital support to more than 100,000 people for 30 days, as well…
Read MoreSecurity Council discusses crisis in the Middle East; UN chief warns of conflict’s ‘further spillover’
Highlights Video feed of the Security Council meeting. Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East at the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) briefed the Security Council, expressing grave concern over Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank. He also reported increased tensions in the wider Middle East region, with continued…
Read MoreUN rights chief warns of ‘dehumanization’ of Palestinians amid West Bank violence as Gaza crisis deepens
Commenting on a new report on the West Bank released by his office, OHCHR, Mr. Türk expressed concern at the use of military means and weapons by law enforcement, movement restrictions affecting Palestinians and a sharp rise in settler violence resulting in the displacement of herding communities. “The dehumanization of Palestinians that characterizes many of the…
Read MoreGaza crisis: southern areas ‘bursting at seams’ amid new wave of bombing and displacement
Locations in the north and south of the enclave were hit as Israeli ground forces also reportedly pushed into central areas, along with the firing of rockets by Palestinian armed groups into Israel, prompting concerns from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, about the safety of civilians uprooted time and again. Rafah governorate in…
Read MoreGaza crisis: Starvation must never be allowed to happen, says UN rights chief
“Starvation must never be a means or result of warfare,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Türk said, responding to an alarming food security report released on Thursday that confirmed repeated warnings of catastrophic hunger levels in the besieged enclave amid ongoing fighting. In a tweet, Mr. Türk urged Israel to act immediately to ensure that all…
Read MoreExplainer: How Darfur became a ‘humanitarian calamity and catastrophic human rights crisis’
Close to nine million people need humanitarian assistance and reports suggest that some 4,000 people have been targeted and killed because of their ethnicity. There are now concerns that Darfur is returning to the years of brutal fighting and increasing atrocities last witnessed two decades ago that left some 300,000 people dead and millions of…
Read MoreWorld News in Brief: End e-cigarette boom urges WHO, measles surge in Europe, Central Asia; crisis for kids in Lebanon
WHO said that 88 countries have no minimum age at which e-cigarettes can be bought and 74 countries have not implemented any e-cigarette regulations. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on countries to ramp up prevention measures, saying that “kids are being recruited and trapped at an early age to use e-cigarettes and may get…
Read MoreGlobal Refugee Forum opens amid ‘crisis of humanity’
The world’s largest gathering dedicated to refugee issues, the Forum is co-hosted by UNHCR and Switzerland and convened by Colombia, France, Japan, Jordan and Uganda. It brings together Member States, civil society, financial institutions, private companies and more than 300 refugee advocates. Shattered dreams, disrupted lives Setting the tone for the discussion, Mr. Grandi said…
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