“We are witnessing a dangerous escalation in Gaza City, where Israeli forces have stepped up their operations and ordered everyone to move south,” said the Humanitarian Country Team in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. “Nearly one million people are now left with no safe or viable options – neither the north...
The report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and children’s agency (UNICEF) issued as World Water Week gets underway, highlights persistent gaps in access, with vulnerable communities facing the greatest disparities. Some 2.1 billion people still lack access to safely managed drinking water, while 106 million worldwide are forced to rely...
Deadly sectarian clashes erupted in the southern governorate, also known as As-Sweida, in July and early August and children and families continue to feel the impact. At least 22 children reportedly were killed and another 21 injured in the violence, which caused significant damage to civilian infrastructure. More than 190,000...
In his regular daily briefing, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric highlighted that ongoing delays, bottlenecks at holding points and interference in the loading process at crossing platforms are undermining efforts to collect and distribute supplies to those in need. “It is imperative that the UN and its humanitarian partners are enabled...
Keeping sea routes safe today while also addressing emerging challenges was the focus of a debate in the UN Security Council on Monday which was convened by Panama, president for the month of August. Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), told the Council that last year, a...
“Even when the guns fall silent, these remnants of war remain, lurking in fields and on pathways and roadways, threatening the lives of innocent civilians and the livelihoods of communities,” he described. From Afghanistan to Myanmar; from Sudan to Ukraine, Syria, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and beyond; these deadly devices...
The situation has deteriorated further following Israel’s decision on Sunday to cut power to the enclave – in a bid to increase pressure on Hamas over hostage releases – disrupting vital desalination operations. Rosalia Bollen, a UNICEF official in Gaza, reported that 600,000 people who had regained access to drinking...
“These cuts impact a wide range of critical programmes,” he told reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York, highlighting the potential disruption to lifesaving humanitarian work, development projects, counterterrorism efforts and initiatives to combat drug trafficking. He expressed the UN’s gratitude “for the leading role” the US has played...
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric reminded journalists in New York at the regular noon briefing that famine conditions have already been confirmed in the Zamzam camp for the displaced, just outside the city, “and we think that other camps in the area are likely to have famine conditions.” El Fasher is...
8:30 PM The US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield emerged from the closed door meeting telling reporters that after working hard over the past week, her country was ready to vote on a draft resolution, if compromises made remained in the latest draft. 7.15 PM Ambassadors are still locked in consultations over...
“Access to sufficient amounts of clean water is a matter of life and death…children in Gaza have barely a drop to drink,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Children and their families are having to use water from unsafe sources that are highly salinated or polluted. Without safe water, many more...
Speaking from the southern city of Rafah, Dr. Rick Peeperkorn, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, described further bloodshed after the resumption of Israeli bombing last Friday. “The situation is getting worse by the hour,” Dr. Peeperkorn told journalists in Geneva via video link. “I mean…there’s...