Issuing a warning that the children’s sense of stability and security has been eroded as key everyday services have collapsed, humanitarians insist that young Gazans will need “sustained, long-term efforts to recover”. According to child safety partner assessments conducted in September, shared by the UN aid coordination office (OCHA), 93...
“Our partners report that since the ceasefire, the Israeli authorities have rejected 107 requests for the entry of relief materials, including blankets, winter clothes, and tools and material to maintain and operate water, sanitation and hygiene services,” Deputy UN Spokesperson Farhan Haq told journalists in New York. He said almost...
Last month, hundreds of thousands of people returned to northern Gaza – where famine was declared at the end of August – but their access to food is “severely limited”, said Abeer Etefa, Senior Spokesperson at the World Food Programme (WFP). And while many returnees have found their homes in...
“Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that their partners continue their scale-up efforts, despite reported Israeli airstrikes across the Strip,” he said, noting that some strikes hit areas near the so-called ‘Yellow Line’ – a buffer zone marked by the Israeli military inside Gaza as part of the ceasefire agreement. “We...
“What we need now are notebooks, books, and pens. We want to get our lives back”, said one young Palestinian girl, Sham Al-Abd. She now attends the Deir al-Balah Joint Elementary School run by the UN Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA). Despite the old furniture and the few drawings that brighten...
“The Secretary-General strongly condemns the killings due to Israeli airstrikes of civilians in Gaza yesterday, including many children,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told correspondents in New York. “He condemns all actions that undermine the ceasefire and endanger civilian lives.” Reassurances given Mr. Dujarric said António Guterres noted “the importance of...
In a press briefing on Tuesday, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric described reports of Israeli military action as “extremely concerning,” stressing that “we don’t want civilians to be bombed again” or humanitarian operations “derailed again.” Hamas denied that it had any involvement in a reported attack on Israeli forces by Palestinian...
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the halt in hostilities but said “the crisis is far from over and the needs are immense.” He highlighted the toll of months of conflict: more than 170,000 people injured –including 5,000 amputees and 3,600 people with severe burns. At least 42,000 require long-term rehabilitation, and...
The Gaza ceasefire provides a rare opportunity to end one of the most destructive phases of the wider Israel-Palestine conflict, the UN’s deputy Middle East envoy told the Security Council on Thursday. Deputy Special Coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov warned that without decisive support for reconstruction and aid delivery, the region risks...
The UN World Court concluded that Israel must also protect relief and medical personnel, prohibit starvation as a method of war and cooperate with the United Nations, among other obligations. In remarks issued by the UN Spokesperson, Mr. Guterres urged Israel to comply with its obligations in relation to the UN...
The UN Security Council is meeting in New York to debate the Middle East. The session comes amid faltering progress on the fragile Gaza ceasefire and mounting humanitarian needs after two years of war, with famine still looming in parts of the territory. Ambassadors will likely discuss yesterday’s ICJ advisory...
Abeer Etefa, Senior Regional Communications Officer for the World Food Programme (WFP) told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that since the ceasefire took hold on 11 October the agency has been able to bring in over 6,700 metric tonnes of food – enough for close to half a million people...
