The announcement following an Israeli cabinet meeting “marks a dangerous escalation and risks deepening the already catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinians, and could further endanger more lives, including of the remaining hostages,” it said. The statement noted that Palestinians in Gaza continue to endure a humanitarian catastrophe of horrific proportions. More displacement, death and destruction The UN chief warned that this further escalation will […]
“A complete military takeover of the occupied Gaza Strip must be immediately halted,” insisted Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, after the Israeli security cabinet approved a plan for a full-scale Israeli military takeover in the battered enclave. The development runs contrary to international law, Mr. Türk continued, referring to a ruling of […]
In July alone, nearly 12,000 children under five were identified as acutely malnourished out of 136,000 screened, according to aid partners. Of these, more than 2,500 were found to suffer from severe acute malnutrition, the most life-threatening form, and 40 had to be hospitalized in stabilisation centres. More children affected The proportion of children with […]
Meanwhile, UN agencies confirmed the deaths of three Palestinians from Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), a rare auto-immune disease that can cause sudden muscle weakness and even paralysis. Before war erupted in Gaza in October 2023, only a handful of cases surfaced every year. Mass casualties now the norm “Hospitals are overwhelmed by mass casualty incidents, with […]
The development – which also applies to the occupied West Bank – is a result of the Israeli requirement introduced on 9 March impacting international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). “Unless urgent action is taken…most international NGO partners could be de-registered by 9 September or sooner – forcing them to withdraw all international staff and preventing them […]
Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča briefed a Security Council meeting on Tuesday called by Israel to discuss the plight of hostages still being held in the war-ravaged enclave. It comes after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad released images and videos of two emaciated hostages, Evaytar David and Rom Braslavsky, sparking outrage and condemnation. ‘An affront to […]
The Security Council is meeting to discuss rising concern in Israel and elsewhere over the dire conditions facing the hostages who remain in Gaza. It follows the release of recent videos by Hamas and other Palestinian militants showing emaciated captives, which the UN Secretary-General called “an unacceptable violation of human dignity.” A senior UN political […]
With 96 per cent of households lacking clean water, many malnourished children are not surviving long enough to receive hospital care. James Elder, Spokesperson for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), told at a news briefing in Geneva that it would be a mistake to assume the situation is improving. “There’s a sense through the world’s […]
Some 21 months have passed since the 7 October armed attacks on Israel which sparked the current brutal conflict. Thousands have died and much of Gaza has been laid to waste, but life must continue, according to the correspondent, who is remaining anonymous for security reasons. “Those who live here in Gaza don’t need long […]
“I used to easily receive aid distributed by the UN,” Abir Safi, a displaced person from the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, told UN News. “Now, we get nothing. I risk my life by going to the Zikim crossing and returning with an empty bag. All I want is to return to my children with […]
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 […]
Earning a living has become a daily struggle, and hundreds of men, women and children stand in endless queues, under the scorching sun, outside the few community kitchens that serve nothing but lentil soup. A community kitchen in western Gaza reveals a panorama of painful scenes amid displaced people suffering, their cries for help and […]
The months-long deprivation of most life-sustaining basic goods has led to a deepening of the crisis. More than 100 people were killed, and hundreds of others injured, along food convoy routes and near Israeli-militarised distribution hubs in the past two days alone. As one in three people currently going days without food, OCHA reiterated […]
Between 30 and 31 July alone, 105 Palestinians were killed and at least 680 more injured along the convoy routes in the Zikim area in North Gaza, southern Khan Younis, and in the vicinity of the GHF sites in Middle Gaza and Rafah, the office (OHCHR) said in a press release issued on Friday In […]
Of the 154 malnutrition-related deaths since October 2023 (including 89 children) reported by Gazan health authorities, the World Health Organization (WHO) said 63 occurred in July alone. These deaths follow a steep drop in food consumption: 81 per cent of households reported poor food consumption in July (up from 33 per cent in April), and […]
The High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution took place in New York from 28 to 30 July. The United States and Israel did not participate. France and Saudi Arabia, co-chairs of the Conference, called on all UN Member States to support a […]
Speaking at the regular news briefing in New York, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said that even four days into the announced pauses, “we are still seeing casualties among those seeking aid and more deaths due to hunger and malnutrition.” He added that parents are “struggling to save their starving children” and warned that the […]
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) platform, two out of three famine thresholds for food consumption have been breached across most of Gaza, with acute malnutrition levels in Gaza City confirming aid agencies’ repeated warnings. “Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths,” the […]
“It’s not a peace conference,” Bob Rae, Canada’s Ambassador to the UN, told UN News ahead of the event, mandated by the General Assembly, in which his country will play a leading role. “It’s a way of trying to maintain the debate and get beyond the sticking points to the solutions. We hope there’ll be […]
The development comes as UN Secretary-General António Guterres cautioned that conflict-driven hunger is spreading “from Gaza to Sudan and beyond”. “Hunger fuels instability and undermines peace. We must never accept hunger as a weapon of war,” he said in a video message to the UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake in Addis Ababa. Meanwhile, citing reports […]
