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 […]
But as starvation tightens its grip and “children are dying before our eyes,” UN officials and aid workers warn that the measures fall far short of the much-needed ceasefire and unfettered aid access that could help stem the spiralling humanitarian catastrophe. “Welcome announcement of humanitarian pauses in Gaza to allow our aid through,” UN Emergency […]
In an update on Friday, OCHA said that the starvation crisis is deepening across the enclave, with the local health authorities announcing that two more people had died from starvation the previous day. Hunger and malnutrition increase the risk of illnesses that weaken the immune system, particularly among women, children, older people and persons with […]
Recalling his own experience living under dictatorship in Portugal, Mr. Guterres told participants at the Global Assembly of the international rights charity Amnesty International on Friday that the fight for human rights is “more important than ever”. He called on States to uphold international law and defend human rights “consistently and universally, even or especially […]
Sonia Silva has been working in the embattled enclave since the beginning of November 2023, just one-month after the terror attack by Hamas and other armed groups in southern Israel that sparked the brutal conflict. She spoke to UN News about the misery people have experienced in recent days. “In my one year and eight […]
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), said that is what one of its workers told him on Thursday morning. This sobering comment comes amidst increasingly severe malnutrition for children and adults throughout the Gaza Strip. “When child malnutrition surges, coping mechanisms fail, access to food […]
Briefing the Security Council on Thursday, Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, said the OIC remains an “indispensable” partner in efforts to promote peace, uphold international law and deliver durable political solutions in a range of crisis contexts. Headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the OIC has 57 member states and five observers, representing […]
Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, told ministers and ambassadors that ongoing talks must lead to a permanent end to hostilities, the release of all hostages, unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid, and for recovery and reconstruction to begin. He painted a grim picture of conditions on the ground, citing expanded Israeli military operations, […]
In the first half of 2025, only 17,000 births were recorded, according to Gazan health authorities, representing a 41 per cent decline in Gaza’s birth rate over the past three years, the agency said. Additionally, 220 mothers died – more than 20 times the total number of maternal deaths in 2022 – while at […]
This is the only sustainable path to global security, he told ministers at a high-level open debate of the Security Council on Tuesday. The Secretary-General emphasised that the UN Charter’s tools – negotiation, mediation, conciliation, arbitration and more – remain a lifeline when tensions escalate, grievances fester and states lose trust in each other. These […]
“Doctors, nurses, journalists, humanitarians, among them UNRWA staff, are hungry…fainting due to hunger and exhaustion while performing their duties,” said Juliette Touma, Director of Communications with the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA. Speaking from Amman, she stressed that seeking food “has become as deadly as the bombardments.” The development comes as the UN human rights […]
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 […]
Stéphane Dujarric was speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York a day after dozens of Palestinians were killed seeking food aid. He said the Secretary-General deplored the growing reports of both children and adults suffering from malnutrition and strongly condemned the ongoing violence, including the shooting, killing and injuring of people attempting to […]