Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

**Secretary-General

Good afternoon.  Just an announcement that later today, the Secretary-General will go to Washington, D.C., where, on Thursday, he will attend the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter, and that is at the invitation of the former President’s family. The Secretary-General will be back here tomorrow afternoon.

**Syria

This morning, here in the Security Council, you heard from Geir Pedersen, our Special Envoy for Syria, who briefed via videoconference from Geneva.  He told Council members that we are ready to work with the caretaker authorities in Syria on how important ideas and steps so far articulated and initiated could be developed towards a credible and inclusive political transition.  The Syrian people, he said, and the international community need to get the next phase right, he said, and we stand ready to do everything we can to facilitate it, to help and to provide support.

He confirmed that we are already strengthening the presence and expertise of our political mission in Damascus.  And that there is active UN planning to ensure delivery as one across all themes of potential support for a credible and inclusive transition.

For his part, our Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, told Council members that in terms of the humanitarian situation in Syria, there are close to 13 million people that are still facing acute food insecurity and other challenges especially with the harsh winter upon us.

He announced the allocation of an additional $8 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).  This brings the CERF support for scaling up humanitarian operations in Syria to $20 million.  He told Council members also that we are doing all we can to assist those in need, and humanitarian operations are continuing at scale through border crossings with Türkiye.  Cross-line movements, however, remain a challenge in different parts of the north-east of Syria.  Both officials spoke about addressing sanctions, mainly to ensure efficient flow of support into and through Syria.

**Occupied Palestinian Territory

Turning to the situation in Gaza, our colleagues from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report that Palestinian civilians endure horrific levels of violence as hostilities continue across the Gaza Strip.  The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says that in the first seven days of this year alone, at least 74 children have reportedly been killed in Gaza.  The attack yesterday saw five children reportedly killed in Al Mawasi.  The agency’s Executive Director, Catherine Russell, said the new year has brought more death and suffering to the children of Gaza due to attacks, deprivation and growing exposure to the cold.  The continued lack of basic shelter amid winter temperatures pose serious threats, with more than a million children living in makeshift tents.

The UN and our partners are doing whatever we can with the supplies available to provide shelter support to displaced Palestinians. Between 22 December and this past Saturday, our partners assisted more than 2,000 families in Gaza, both with central and southern part of the Strip with tents and sealing-off material. We also assisted about 200 families in Gaza governorate itself.

Meanwhile, OCHA reports that Israeli authorities continue to deny UN-led efforts to reach North Gaza governorate, where Palestinians have been under siege for more than 90 days.  Another attempt to reach besieged areas yesterday to deliver critical humanitarian assistance was denied.

Across Gaza yesterday, Israeli authorities facilitated only four out of eight of our requests for coordinated humanitarian movements.  The rest were either denied or cancelled due to security or logistical challenges.  And a quick update from our colleagues with the World Health Organization (WHO), who say they and their partners support the medical evacuation of six child patients and five companions from Gaza to the United States, as well as four patients and five companions to Jordan.

**United Nations Relief and Works Agency

Meanwhile, Philippe Lazzarini, who is the Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said today that we are three weeks away from the deadline set by the Knesset on banning UNRWA’s operations.  He said that the decision would have a disastrous impact on the people that UNRWA supports — including education for 50,000 children who go to UNRWA schools in the occupied West Bank and the 650,000 children in Gaza who have been out of school for the second year in a row.  Other agencies have made clear that they cannot fill the void in delivering the humanitarian aid and providing healthcare that UNRWA currently does, he said.

**Volunteers

And one of your colleagues, I think it was Jordan, but he is not here, asked me about UN Volunteers working in the region, and I can tell you that we have 82 UN Volunteers working across Gaza, the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, and they work for six agencies, funds and programmes and Secretariat entities.

**Sudan

Moving to Sudan:  Our colleagues at the World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that food distributions in South Khartoum are now complete.  Despite the challenges, the insecurity and the numerous risks our colleagues have to endure in conflict zones, the distribution of vital food and nutrition began on 29 December, to help over 70,000 men, women, and children in Mayo and Alingaz districts.  These areas are at “risk of famine”.

In a breakthrough, the WFP-led convoy of 28 trucks arrived in Khartoum on 25 December — making it the largest convoy to reach the capital since the start of the conflict in April of 2023.  The convoy includes WFP food assistance, UNICEF supplies and aid for other partners.  The World Food Programme is working to gain access to all parts of Khartoum, taking advantage of brief lulls in fighting to deliver aid.  WFP is also supporting the community-run initiatives to deliver daily hot meals in Jebel Awlia locality that has endured intense fighting throughout the conflict.  And it’s a good opportunity again to remind the parties of their obligations under international law to facilitate humanitarian delivery.

**Great Lakes

Turning to the Great Lakes, the Democratic Republic of the Congo:  The Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region, Huang Xia, has expressed his concern at the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the eastern part of the country. He urges the parties to the conflict to prioritize dialogue within the framework of the Luanda and Nairobi regional peace processes, and to refrain from any acts likely to constitute violations of national and regional commitments made under the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the region.  To this end, he calls for the urgent convening of the Twelfth High-Level Meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework, to enable the Heads of State of the region to address the ongoing crisis in eastern DRC [Democratic Republic of the Congo].

**Democratic Republic of the Congo

And to give you a bit more granularity about that crisis, our humanitarian colleagues are telling us more about the impact of the violence in Masisi territory in North Kivu and the impact it’s having on civilians yet again. Between 1 and 5 January, over 100,000 people were forced to flee the fighting between the M23 and the Congolese army and their allies in Masisi territory.  As we mentioned yesterday, some civilians were killed and injured in the fighting.

In the final months of 2024, violent attacks by different armed groups have also increased in the eastern part of the DRC, resulting in population displacements.  At the end of December, more than 2.7 million people were displaced in North Kivu Province alone.

And between September and December 2024, partners reported at least 138 people killed and more than a hundred others kidnapped. People are constantly on the move as fighting stops or resumes, increasing their vulnerabilities of those trying to seek safety.  The conflict there also impacts humanitarian access.  Many organizations maintain a limited presence on the ground, and we are closely monitoring the security situation to adjust operations.  OCHA calls on all parties to the conflict, as well as those with influence over them, to ensure the safety of civilians and humanitarians and their assets, and to ensure unhindered and unimpeded humanitarian activities.

**Venezuela

And also I want to flag, regarding the situation in Venezuela, the Secretary-General is deeply concerned about reports of further arbitrary detentions and persecution against members of the opposition, as well as the relatives of members of the opposition; they include also human rights defenders and members of civil society organizations.  The Secretary-General calls for the respect of international human rights rules and standards in Venezuela.  He recalls that no one should be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention and that everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions without interference, as well as the right of peaceful assembly.

**Rohingya Refugees

And our colleagues at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today said that saving the lives of Rohingya refugees should be a priority and called on countries in the region to assist those refugees.  A total of 460 men, women and children have so far arrived by boat in countries in the region this year.  And that’s just in eight days.  They have fled increased fighting and have gone to Malaysia and Indonesia after weeks at sea.  Ten people have reportedly died during the journeys.  Just three weeks before, another 115 Rohingya landed in Sri Lanka after losing six people during what must have been a horrific trek.

UNHCR said there have also been reports of boats being pushed back to sea and added that while States have the legitimate right to control their borders and manage irregular movements, such measures must guarantee the rights of people to reach safety.

**Briefing Tomorrow

And just a programming note, after I brief you tomorrow, we will have our friends from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) to speak to you.  Under-Secretary-General, Li Junhua, along with other senior DESA colleagues, will be here to brief you on the launch of the World Economic Situation and Prospects report 2025.  The report will also be launched regionally in Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva, Mexico, Moscow and New Delhi, later in January.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Thank you, Steph.  So, President-elect Donald Trump has reiterated that his desire for the US to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal, and he did not rule out using military and economic force in order to take over the territories.  Any comment, please?

Spokesman:  I think that that question was asked yesterday, as well.  As I told your colleagues, we’re dealing with one US Administration at a time, and also, I think issues regarding sovereignty, territorial integrity are very well elaborated in the Charter that all Member States have signed on to.

Question:  Thank you.  You were asked that question yesterday as Trump’s press conference was an ongoing.

Spokesman:  Right.

Question:  It’s been 24 hours.  Have you spoken with the SG about it?  What was his reaction?

Spokesman:  His reaction is my reaction.  My reaction is his reaction.  Dezhi?

Question:  Well, first to follow-up also on that.  But yesterday, during the presser, President-elect Trump said he’s not ruling out military and economic coercion measures to get those things.  Do you think that would be a right thing to do, from the UN’s perspective?

Spokesman:  Far be it for me to advise any Administration or oncoming Administration. So, I think that’s a good question to ask analysts.  I…

Correspondent:  But… go ahead.

Spokesman:  Thank you, Dezhi.  As I said, one Administration at a time, and I’m also not going to get dragged in an Alice in Wonderland hole into speculative, comments.

Correspondent:  But… Okay.

Spokesman:  Go ahead.  Do you want to give it a try?

Question:  Thank you.  I’m just wondering.  You’ve been trying to set up a phone call with President-elect Trump.  Has that happened, maybe?

Spokesman:  As soon as I have something to share with you on that, I will.

Question:  So, he’s going to be at the funeral?

Spokesman:  Yeah.  I mean, they may… 

Question:  Or is there going to be a meeting?

Spokesman:  Very well… Yeah.  I mean there was… the Secretary-General’s activity is to attend the funeral of former President Carter.  Obviously, if he has conversations there with other people who are attendants, we will report back to you.

Question:  And did he know President Carter personally?  Did they ever work together…? 

Spokesman:  Yes.  They had met, notably on the work Mr. Carter did in his post-presidency work.

Question:  And any plans for the SG to go to Syria?

Spokesman:  Nothing to share with you at this point.  Stefano, I will come…

Correspondent:  It’s related…

Spokesman:  I’m sure everything is related.  Every bone in one’s body is related to a different bone.  Stefano, then Abdelhamid, who I both missed yesterday.

Question:  Yes, it’s a follow-up of what President-elect Trump said yesterday. Did I understand, you know, you deal with [Joseph] Biden Administration, but did any, I don’t know, the Danish Ambassador or the Panama’s Ambassador, did any of those official contact your office so that to… I mean, the Secretary-General office to have, you know, to exchange ideas about the issues?

Spokesman:  Valid question, and the answer is no.  At least not that I’m aware of, at the Secretary-General’s level. Abdelhamid?

Question:  Thank you, Stéphane.  The Syrian interim Government has been contacted by different country officials around the world.  Why the SG or his deputy, Ms. Amina Mohammed, did not contact any of those officials in the interim Government of Syria?

Spokesman:  Well, the Secretary-General is represented by Mr. Pedersen, his special envoy, who, you know, went to Damascus very soon after the change in regime. He’s been in touch with the leadership in Damascus on behalf of the Secretary-General.  Mr. Pedersen’s Deputy, Najat Nochdi, is in Damascus and remains in constant touch with the authorities there.

Question:  My second question, as you know, on 11 December, the GA (General Assembly) adopted a resolution on ceasefire, and it qualified the ceasefire as unconditional, immediate and permanent.  Are these the three terms now entering the lexicon of the Secretary-General?  Immediate, unconditional and permanent?

Spokesman:  I think the Secretary-General’s words are what they are. We’ve seen the [General Assembly] resolution.  Let’s be honest, I think the Secretary-General has been calling for a ceasefire in Gaza before any of the main legislative bodies in this building called for one.  Michelle, I will come back to you now, if you still want to talk to me.

Question:  Well, just on the issue of contact with the incoming US Administration, you said yesterday there’d been some contacts.  Can you elaborate on that?

Spokesman:  No, not at this point.  Dezhi?

Question:  Yes, on Syria.  This morning, Geir Pedersen said that he’s ready to continue work with the caretaker authorities in Syria, which still in… one of the composition is still HTS [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham].  I mean, how would this go so far?

Spokesman:  I mean it’s going.  I mean, as we have…

Question:  So, we don’t consider HTS a terrorist group now?

Spokesman:  No.  Let’s be clear here.  There is a new authority in Damascus, right, trying to assert its authority over the totality of Syrian territory.  It is only normal that we deal with them in order to help humanitarian delivery.  I mean, we, I think, have been very clear on the dire humanitarian needs in Syria to help with the political transition.  Mr. Pedersen and other UN officials are doing their work based on a mandate given to them by Member States.  It doesn’t imply recognition.  It doesn’t mean we’re violating any Security Council resolutions.

Question:  So, it doesn’t matter if they are still a terrorist organization?

Spokesman:  It’s not that it doesn’t matter.  It’s that we have a mandate to fulfil, and we’re fulfilling it.  There are other parts in the world where we have to talk to groups who may be on lists, as well.  And we do it because they’re the de facto authorities in a place and we have to do it to fulfil our mandate.  And it doesn’t stop us from condemning actions when those actions need to be condemned, wherever they occur in the world.

Question:  In the Security Council chamber today, the Chinese Ambassador particularly said that the de facto forces, they promoted militants from TIP, which is also a named and listed terrorist group, militants.  Do you feel concerned about this promotion?

Spokesman:  I think I would encourage you to read; Mr. Pedersen was very clear, right?  He talked about the fact that as they’re trying to unify the Defence Ministry, they are appointing some foreign fighters.  So that’s not a secret.  Right?  And he was also very clear what we want to help the Syrian people with, and that is to rebuild their country, to rebuild institutions that are accountable to the people, to rebuild institutions where all Syrians, regardless of faith, regarding of ethnicity, feel recognized and feel protected.  And we are doing this within the broad spirit of Security Council 2254 (2015), which was passed by the Security Council.

Question:  Which does not include in terrorists.  Right?

Spokesman:  Which was passed by the Security Council.  Ephrem, or no, Ibtisam, one of you had a question.

Question:  Sorry, Steph.  I don’t know if you’ve been asked this, but any reaction on the [United States] State Department’s announcement or determination that there’s a genocide happening in Sudan, that the RSF (Rapid Support Forces) is… [cross talk]

Spokesman:  Yeah.  I mean, I was asked yesterday.  I can repeat the answer.  You could check the transcript.

Question:  There have been calls for the UN to take a lead on this from now on like, including, for example, imposing sanctions and just take this matter…

Spokesman:  Well, I mean, listen.  We have, I think the Secretary-General has been extremely clear in condemning and calling out the violations of international human rights, being done by the warring parties in [Sudan], notably, most recently, I think as a few weeks ago, by the RSF.  Our colleagues, I mean, just to mention the World Food Programme today, are doing incredible work within a conflict zone, trying to help people.  It is incumbent on the two leaders in Sudan to find the political will to stop this conflict and to have the countries in the region, and away from the region, to support them in that process.  Ibtisam?

Question:  I want to go first to something I asked you yesterday about regarding attacks on UN convoys in Gaza by the Israeli army.  You said, the last one was, I think, last week at WFP, despite the fact that… [cross talk]

Spokesman:  Oh yeah, it was this week.

Correspondent:  This week.  Yeah.

Spokesman:  This week.  Yeah.

Question:  And so, you said that you didn’t get any answers regarding also other past attacks.  Could you elaborate on that?

Spokesman:  I mean let me put it this way.  No, I don’t think there are any acceptable answers.  Right?  Saying that it was a mistake is not really an acceptable answer to us.

Question:  Do you believe that it was a mistake, given the fact that you coordinate as you do in any conflict?  Your movement, your cars are marked very clearly as UN cars.  Do you believe that was a mistake?  I mean, how many mistake… I mean, it did happen several times?

Spokesman:  It’s a very good question.  It’s a very good question.  The processes are in place.  Right?  The contacts are in place.  It’s unacceptable that this continues to happen.

Correspondent:  Okay.  Sorry.

Spokesman:  Yeah.  Go ahead.

Correspondent:  No, go ahead.

Spokesman:  No.  No.  Go ahead.

Correspondent:  No.  Please, finish on.

Spokesman:  Please, please.  You go.

Question:  Okay.  I have another question regarding Dr. Abu Safiyya.  When I asked you yesterday who is reported that he was taken from the hospital by the Israeli forces, you said you don’t have any updates.  Could you… and today in a press conference by MedGlobal, about Gaza and the healthcare there, one of the doctors who briefed the press, Dr. Zaher Sahlal from MedGlobal, said that the mother of Dr. Abu Safiyya passed away this morning, and he believes, and she didn’t have any medical conditions, and he believed that it happened because of sadness and shock and also believed that probably he’s being tortured.  When you say you don’t have any updates, what…?

Spokesman:  I mean, my understanding is our colleagues of the World Health Organization (WHO) are trying to get information, and they have not had any.

Question:  And how worried are you when it comes to…?

Spokesman:  Of course, we’re worried for him and for all of the others who have been detained.  Abdelhamid, then we’ll go online.

Question:  Thank you.  Ibtisam asked about the mother of Dr. Safiyya.  But my question, is there any contingency plan for UNRWA once the Israeli decision go into effect by the end of the month?  Is there any plan, any preparation, any contingency?

Spokesman:  Look, obviously we’re preparing, but I think we’ve been very clear that there is no alternative within the UN for providing the services that UNRWA provides.  I mean, just, you know, in the West Bank alone, I think every year they provide about 900,000 medical consultations, about 600 healthcare workers staffing those medical, those medical centres; 2,000 teachers teaching in UNRWA schools.  The Secretary-General has been very clear in his comments that should UNRWA not be able to work anymore, it will be incumbent on the occupying Power, namely Israel, to provide those services.  We have been in… we’ve had contacts with Israeli authorities, different whether it’s UNRWA and others, and I don’t think we have any real clarity on how the laws will be applied.  But I can tell you that UNRWA will continue its work until it can’t.

Question:  So, does that mean, essentially, there is no contingency plan? You’ll just wait and see what happens?

Spokesman:  Well, I don’t… you know, it’s unclear to me what is the contingency plan to replace 2,000 teachers.  Two thousand Palestinian teachers.  So, are there another 2,000 Palestinian teachers waiting to be hired?  So, I mean, it’s a question that I don’t think has a clear answer.  But, obviously, you know, we are not ignoring the reality.

Question:  So, on a kind of practical level, obviously, in Gaza you know, kids haven’t been in school.  So, what would be the, you know, you said there’s no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza, but what does that mean for, like, the aid operation in Gaza, practically?

Spokesman:  You know, there are others… the UN system as a whole will continue to do whatever it can to continuously deliver humanitarian aid.  Now, obviously, in Gaza there’s WFP, there’s UNICEF. UNRWA provides some critical backbone to them, which will be challenging to replace.  One second.  Let me go online.  Mike?

Correspondent:  I’m sorry, Dezhi.  Steph, hope you’re doing well.

Spokesman:  Yeah.  Yeah.  Go ahead, Mike.

Question:  Question for you.  UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) …I actually have a few questions. UNIFIL released a statement earlier in the week.  I thought it was parody at first, and it turned out to be real.  They voiced condemnation of an Israeli destruction of a blue barrier along the line of withdrawal and the destruction of an LAF (Lebanese Armed Forces) observation tower nearby to UNIFIL observation post. UNIFIL has watched for years, literally, in front of their eyes, as Hizbullah built weapons depots and terror tunnels and an airport runway and missile launchers and scribbled it in their notebooks and passed it along to the Security Council.  Never said a word publicly, literally, never said a word publicly.  [cross talk] And now they’re voicing condemnation about the destruction of a blue barrier.  How can that be serious?

Spokesman:  Well, I mean, Mike, I think if you look at the statements that have been issued by UNIFIL, since this phase of the conflict, between Hizbullah and Israel started, I think, UNIFIL has been very clear in calling out and condemning the rocket attacks by Hizbullah and calling out things as they’ve seen it.  On your broader point, their mandate calls on them, whenever they see suspicious activities, and this is their mandate.  What they have to do is to alert the Lebanese authorities and report back to the Security Council, and they have been doing that.  I think, you know, I’m old enough to remember when, Miklos [Pinter], who was the cartographer, helped the Israelis and the Lebanese delineate the Blue Line.  It was a difficult task, and I think the markers on the Blue Line are very important, in order to keep peace or at least to dampen conflict along the Blue Line.  Your next question, sir?

Question:  You say it’s full-throated criticism of Hizbullah, and I brought this up before.  I did a search of UN press statements, UN website, UNIFIL’s own social media pages. It took 10 months into the conflict for the word Hizbullah to appear in any UNIFIL statement of any kind, 10 months.  So, when you say there’s been full-throated condemnation since the war began, that’s simply not… that’s not what UNIFIL has done.

Spokesman:  Mike, I will, Mike, I’m a great believer in freedom of the press, and as I’ve told you and others, you are free to analyse what we say and come to your own conclusions and that’s your job.

Correspondent:  Thinking of freedom of the press.  My last question.  I’m sorry, Dezhi.

Spokesman:  That’s tolerance of the press.  Yes.  Go ahead.

Question:  You mentioned, I believe it was yesterday, but I had to tune out, the UN Watch report on UNRWA.  And you had mentioned that you would rather see that play out on a direct level rather than through the media.  I know UN Watch tried to set up a number of meetings with Philippe Lazzarini and other UNRWA officials.  They were all either ignored or declined to one extent or another.  And as you know, because you’ve been included on emails from me, I’ve reached out to your counterparts in Geneva any number of times to get information on certain things that UN Watch has put forward, and they absolutely respond to… declined to respond to any of that.  So, when there’s no response from the UN on this what other option is there…?

Spokesman:  Well, I think misinterpreted or more likely I wasn’t clear enough.  What I was saying is that any information that the Israeli authorities may have on suspicion of UNRWA workers or anyone else in working for the UN being involved in acts that are not part of their official duties, to say the least, should be sent directly, and those dialogues should be had directly.  I didn’t mean UN Watch.  Sinan?

Question:  Thank you, Steph.  I have one or two questions.  We’ll see. The first question is, Mr. Geir Pedersen this morning said Türkiye has made a statement indicating a clear possibility that Turkish military operations could intensify in the north-east. Any comment on that?

Spokesman:  I’m not going to comment on what he said.  I think what he said was very clear.  And, obviously, any intensification of military activities is something that is of concern to us.

Question:  But, is it like a warning?

Spokesman:  I think it is what it is.  It is a reporting back to the Security Council of the facts on the ground.

Question:  And given a fact, this morning, Turkish drone attacks killed six civilians in Tishrin area in north Syria.  Any comment about that?

Spokesman:  Well, I mean, I would refer you back to my first answer to you is that any intensification of the conflict, especially when civilians pay the price, is of concern to us.  Okay.  Dezhi, Stefano, and then we’ll close it out.

Question:  Just very quickly about UNRWA.  Let me just ask you this question.  Is UNRWA ready to close its operation in Israel once Israel decided to implement the two bills passed by the Knesset?

Spokesman:  What does it mean, is it ready?

Question:  Will UNRWA follow the order?

Spokesman:  Let me put it… We fully understand, the laws were passed.  We’re still trying, you know, months after they were passed, trying to get clarification and clear clarification from the Israeli authorities as to what exactly the implementation is, because we’re not getting the same answers from different interlocutors.  Obviously, we will not… if we’re not, if we’re blocked from operating, we will be blocked from operating.  Stefano?

Question:  Yes, as a follow-up, are, I don’t know, WFP, UNICEF and other agencies ready to absorb some of the personnel of UNRWA in order to operate?

Spokesman:  It’s not… and we can… we’ve talked about this, the different structures under which UNRWA and UNICEF operates.  And frankly, if the issue is with the people, the Palestinians who work for UNRWA, wouldn’t those same issues apply if you stuck a different logo on them?  Thank you. No.  I’m done.  Thank you.