The 19 July truce followed weeks of sectarian clashes, Israeli airstrikes and grave human rights violations in the southern governorate, also known as As-Sweida. As a result, more than 190,000 people have been displaced there and in neighbouring Dar’a and Rural Damascus governorates. The fighting also caused severe damage to infrastructure and to livelihoods. Electricity […]
Meanwhile, on Thursday and again on Saturday, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas militants published disturbing videos of two emaciated Israeli hostages, sparking worldwide outrage and condemnation from UN leaders, including Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday. The hostages pictured, Rom Braslavsk and Evyatar David, are two of the 49 are still being held in Gaza, including […]
The displacement is the latest consequence of a cascade of overlapping emergencies in the country – including armed violence, climate shocks, disease outbreaks and a severe funding shortfall. Since January, over 95,000 people have fled insecurity in Cabo Delgado and humanitarian access is becoming increasingly fragile. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of […]
“Nowhere is safe in Ukraine,” said Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe at the UN Department of Political Affairs (UNDPPA). Citing figures from the UN human rights office, OHCHR, he said civilian casualties reached a three-year high in June, with 6,754 civilians killed or injured in the first half of 2025 alone. Russian forces launched […]
Deadly sectarian violence has displaced more than 145,000 people in the southern city, some of whom have fled to neighbouring Dar’a and Rural Damascus governorates. The convoy carried a range of critical support, including food, wheat flour, fuel, medicines and health supplies. OCHA coordinated with the SARC to prepare the convoy, which included supplies from UN […]
Ross Smith, director of emergency preparedness and response, briefed journalists in New York in the wake of a deadly incident on Sunday in which dozens of civilians were killed and injured while waiting to access food as a WFP convoy was entering northern Gaza. “Yesterday’s incident is one of the greatest tragedies we’ve seen for […]
Globally, $1.4 billion of the agency’s programmes are being shuttered or put on hold, UNHCR said in a new report. “We can’t stop water, you can’t stop sanitation, but we’re having to take decisions when it comes, for example, to shelter,” said UNHCR Director of External Relations, Dominique Hyde. “We’re have people arriving on a […]
The UN Security Council is meeting on the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where fresh Israeli evacuation orders have uprooted tens of thousands amid relentless bombardment claiming hundreds of civilian lives in recent weeks – many of them children. “Food is running out. Those seeking it risk being shot. People are dying trying to feed […]
“Fuel is the backbone of survival in Gaza,” said the statement. “Without fuel, these lifelines will vanish for 2.1 million people.” UN humanitarian workers stressed that fuel powers everything from hospitals and water systems to bakeries and ambulances. Without a steady supply, “maternity, neonatal and intensive care units are failing, and ambulances can no longer […]
Catherine Russell said she was appalled by the reported killing of 15 Palestinians, including nine children and four women, who were waiting in line for nutritional supplements provided by Project Hope, a UNICEF partner organization. The incident occurred in Deir Al-Balah. An additional 30 people were injured, including 19 children. News reports indicate that it […]
Multiple attacks in recent days have killed and injured scores of Palestinians at sites hosting displaced people and others attempting to access essential supplies, according to a statement from UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric on Thursday. “The Secretary-General strongly condemns the loss of civilian life,” Mr. Dujarric said. On just one day this week, nearly 30,000 […]
In a stark briefing to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk described a country gripped by war, repression and deepening suffering. Since the military coup in February 2021, nearly 6,800 civilians have been killed and over 22,000 remain arbitrarily detained, he said. Humanitarian needs have soared, with […]
Speaking from the Goma region, whose main city was overrun by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in January, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher explained that people had suffered “decades of trauma”. The last few months have been “particularly horrific for so many”, he added, referring to the lawless fall-out from heavy fighting this year between the […]
The alert comes nearly a month since the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) started operating on 27 May in select hubs, bypassing the UN and other established NGOs. Its food distribution points have been associated frequently with confusion and shooting as desperate and hungry Gazans rush to fetch supplies, said UN human rights office spokesperson […]
Speaking from Gaza City in the north of occupied territory, Olga Cherevko from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that water pumps had stopped at one site for displaced people there on Wednesday “because there’s no fuel”. “We are really – unless the situation changes – hours away from a catastrophic decline and a […]
Since the beginning of the year, Rwanda-backed M23 fighters have swept across eastern DRC, taking key cities including Goma and Bukavu. The violence has displaced more than one million people in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. Speaking from the village of Sake in North Kivu, UNDP Resident Representative Damien Mama described meeting a […]
The humanitarian network is currently at a standstill because the internet shut down earlier this week after the last fibre cable route serving central and southern areas was cut during heavy fighting. “As the outage continues, partners are unable to communicate or coordinate response activities, and people in need remain isolated and without the information […]
Only around 6,000 tonnes of wheat flour have entered the war-torn enclave since Israel began to allow limited supplies back in last month. However, 10,000 tonnes are urgently needed in the face of rising malnutrition, according to the UN aid coordination office OCHA. “The only way to address the situation on the ground is by […]
Ahead of a memorial service at Headquarters in New York, Secretary-General António Guterres told journalists that the men and women being honoured “were not just names on a list” but “extraordinary individuals – each one a story of courage, compassion, and service.” “They were driven by the pursuit of peace. By the urgency to ease […]
“We value the support of more and more Member States who are joining our call: Let us work,” Mr. Fletcher said, his comments coinciding with the announcement that the US and Israeli-backed aid hub in southern Gaza operating independently of the UN had been suspended on Wednesday. “The world is watching, day after day, horrifying […]