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.
**Guests
All right, good afternoon. Just a couple of programming notes.
On Monday, our Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed, will be here in this very room, and she will be accompanied by Ambassador Héctor Gómez Hernández, the Permanent Representative of Spain to these United Nations, and Ambassador Chola Milambo, the Permanent Representative of Zambia to these United Nations.
They will be here to brief you on expectations for the upcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, which will take place in Sevilla in Spain.
And there will be Spanish/English interpretation.
**Iran and Israel
Speaking to the Security Council this morning, the Secretary-General urged Israel and Iran to give peace a chance and warned Council members that we are not drifting toward crisis — we are racing toward it.
He said that the Non-Proliferation Treaty is a cornerstone of international security and Iran must respect it. The only way to bridge the trust gap with Iran, he added, is through diplomacy to establish a credible, comprehensive and verifiable solution — including full access to the inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Mr. [António] Guterres warned that the only thing that is predictable is that the consequences of continuing this conflict are unpredictable.
He was followed by Rosemary DiCarlo, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, and she told the Council that the scope and scale of attacks in Iran and Israel continue to widen, with grave consequences for the lives of civilians in both of these countries. The intensifying cycle of attacks and counter-attacks has resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties, including fatalities, in both Iran and Israel.
She added that we are teetering on the edge of a full-blown conflict and a humanitarian crisis. International humanitarian law must be respected, and that includes the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution in any attack.
Ms. DiCarlo said that we welcome the talks between the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, the UK and Iran that is taking place in Geneva, I believe, as we speak. We strongly encourage such efforts, she said. We must pursue every possible opportunity to de-escalate, to cease the hostilities, and to settle disputes by peaceful means, she said.
Also briefing was Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the IAEA, and he told the Council that attacks on nuclear sites in Iran have caused a sharp degradation in nuclear safety and security there. Though they have not so far led to a radiological release affecting the public, there is a danger this could occur, he told Council members.
Mr. Grossi said that he is ready to travel immediately and to engage with all relevant parties to help ensure the protection of nuclear facilities and the continued peaceful uses of nuclear technology in line with the Agency’s mandate, including by deploying Agency nuclear safety and security experts wherever and whenever necessary.
**Security Council
At 3 p.m., the Security Council will reconvene for a briefing on maintenance of peace and security related to Ukraine. Miroslav Jenča, the Assistant Secretary-General in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, will brief on behalf of the Secretariat. And also briefing will be the Director of Operations and Advocacy at OCHA [Edem Wosornu]. We will share those remarks with you as soon as we can.
**Ukraine
Staying in Ukraine. I can tell you that our humanitarian colleagues at the Office [for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] told us today that attacks in the cities of Kharkiv and Odesa killed and injured civilians, including children and first responders. That’s what local authorities are telling us. Homes, education facilities and utility pipelines were also damaged. Additional casualties were reported in the regions of Donetsk, Kherson, and Dnipro. In Odesa and Kharkiv, humanitarian organizations supported local responders, provided hot meals, emergency shelter and psychosocial support.
Meanwhile, an inter-agency humanitarian convoy today delivered vital aid to the community of Bilozerka in the region of Kherson, which is in the south of Ukraine. The supplies included hygiene items, bed linen, kitchen sets, first aid kits and a charging station. The area remains under constant shelling, and thousands of residents need humanitarian aid. This was the second such convoy to reach front-line areas of the Kherson region this week. Our humanitarian colleagues note that some 9.4 million Ukrainians are still displaced inside the country or abroad — more than four years since the full-scale invasion and over a decade into the war that began in 2014. This includes 5.6 million refugees globally; that’s what UNHCR (United Nations Refugee Agency) is telling us. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says that another 3.8 million people remain internally displaced.
**Occupied Palestinian Territory
Turning to the situation in Gaza, our colleagues at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs inform us that Israeli authorities issued another displacement order today in Gaza governorate, citing Palestinian rocket fire from that area. This has affected two neighbourhoods where hundreds of families are living.
Yesterday, out of 21 attempts by ourselves and our humanitarian partners to coordinate humanitarian movements inside Gaza, 12 of those attempts were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, including the dispatch of fuel to the north, the retrieval of solid waste and the distribution of medical supplies. Five other attempts, including water trucking and road repair, were denied, while the remaining four had to be cancelled by the organizers.
As a reminder, no fuel has entered the Strip for 16 weeks now. As I told you, we did manage to retrieve fuel from the At Tahreer station in Rafah on Wednesday, and a limited amount of that fuel was delivered yesterday to public utilities in southern Gaza. That allowed the continued operation of desalination plants, water trucking services and sewage pumping stations. However, fuel instability and fuel shortages continue to limit operations, resulting in reduced operating hours and capacity.
Regarding telecommunications, you’ll recall that central and southern Gaza have been experiencing a major telecommunications outage this week, due to the damage of a fibre-optic cable serving those areas. Today, one of the Palestinian service providers reported that they have started to restore fixed Internet and landline services in some parts of southern Gaza.
Despite major security risks and the difficult conditions on the ground, the team continues to work to get these services back up and running in central and southern Gaza.
Meanwhile, UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) warns that the number of malnourished children in Gaza is rising at an alarming rate, with more than 5,100 children between 6 months and 5 years of age admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition in May alone. The agency says this represents a nearly 50 per cent increase compared to April and a 150 per cent increase compared to February; as you will recall, during that time in February, a ceasefire was in effect and aid was entering the Strip in significant quantities, and it is of course not the case right now.
UNICEF says that in just 150 days, from the start of the year until the end of May, more than 16,700 children, which is an average of 112 per day, have been admitted for malnutrition treatment in Gaza.
Each one of these cases is preventable. The food, water and nutrition treatments these children so desperately need are being blocked from reaching them.
UNICEF called for Israel to urgently allow the large-scale delivery of life-saving aid through all border crossings. The agency says it is currently distributing what little nutrition supplies it is able to bring into Gaza. Meanwhile, the equivalent of 1,000 truckloads of health, nutrition and other supplies are outside the borders, ready to be delivered.
Over the last two days, more than 1,400 children and caregivers received critical services, including structured psychosocial support, case management and individual consultations, and that happened across 10 locations in Gaza City, Deir al Balah and Khan Younis.
Turning to the West Bank, our colleagues at OCHA are warning that more than 1,200 Palestinians in 13 communities in the Masafer Yatta area of southern Hebron are now at greater risk of forced displacement. This follows a new Israeli move to reject any pending and new planning-and-zoning requests in that area outright, including applications for building permits.
OCHA warns that this latest development could speed up the demolition of all structures in those communities. OCHA is calling for stepped-up protection for the herding communities who have remained in the area for decades, as they come under mounting pressure to leave.
**Lebanon and Syria
Our Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, arrived today in Damascus, where he is scheduled to meet officials.
Earlier today, he visited Camp Faouar, where he met members of UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) and was briefed on the latest developments in the mission area.
Prior to that, Mr. Lacroix, as you know, was in Lebanon. Throughout his engagements with the officials there, Mr. Lacroix reaffirmed the crucial role of the peacekeeping mission and the importance of the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701.
He also visited areas along the Blue Line and expressed his appreciation for the work of our blue helmets, operating under increasingly complex and challenging conditions.
And he also held a last official meeting with the outgoing Head of Mission at UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) and Force Commander, Lieutenant General Aroldo Lázaro, and he passed on to the General the Secretary-General’s deep thanks and appreciation for his work leading UNIFIL in these very challenging times.
**Switzerland
Earlier today, the Swiss Government announced a generous financial package of support to the United Nations presence in Geneva.
The Secretary-General is very much appreciative of the Swiss Federal Council for this decision. We are determined to continue working in partnership with Switzerland to advance the cause of multilateralism. Our presence in Geneva remains an integral part of the United Nations system. The Swiss support for that presence is crucial.
**Sudan
Turning to the dreadful humanitarian situation in Sudan, I can tell you that we echo the calls of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
Mr. Türk urged the parties to ensure civilians can safely leave the cities of El Fasher, Al Debibat, and El Obeid, as well as other places where civilians may be trapped because of the escalation of hostilities between the two sides.
He also called for thorough investigations into the violations and crimes committed and that those responsible be held to account.
**Sri Lanka
And just to note that Mr. Türk will visit Sri Lanka on 23 June. He will discuss with the officials there a wide range of issues related to human rights.
He will hold a press conference in Colombo at the end of his visit, which will be on 26 June.
**Children and Armed Conflict
Earlier today, you heard from Virginia Gamba as she launched the Secretary-General’s annual report on Children and Armed Conflict, and that report shows that the highest number of grave violations against children in armed conflict since the United Nations started monitoring this 30 years ago. In 2024, the Office on Children and Armed Conflict recorded 41,370 incidents of such violations — a 25 per cent increase over 2023. Nearly 12,000 children were verified to have been killed or maimed, with the likely toll being obviously far higher.
These places with the highest levels of violations in 2024 were Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, notably the Gaza Strip, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Nigeria and Haiti.
Ms. Gamba said that these findings should serve as a wake-up call, showing that we are at the point of no return. The full report is very much online.
**World Refugee Day
In his message for the World Refugee Day, which is today, the Secretary-General said that today, we recognize the millions of refugees forced to flee war, persecution and disaster. He noted that from Sudan to Ukraine, from Haiti to Myanmar, a record number of people are on the run for their lives, while support is dwindling. And host communities, the Secretary-General added, often in developing countries, are shouldering the greatest burden. This is unfair and unsustainable, he said, stressing that solidarity must go beyond words.
For his part, Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, who is spending the World Refugee Day in Syria with some of the 600,000 people who have returned from neighbouring countries, underscored that the day is also a moment to sound an alarm on the refugees’ behalf. Now more than ever, he stressed, we must stand with refugees to keep alive their hopes of a better future.
And on a related note, in Botswana, our UN team welcomes the complete relocation this week of more than 460 asylum-seekers, nearly half of them children, from a centre for illegal immigrants to a refugee settlement. Our UN colleagues said that this long-awaited move brings long-overdue relief to people held in detention since 2021 and marks an important step toward upholding the rights and dignity of refugees and asylum-seekers.
**International Days
Two more international days to flag, a bit on a lighter note.
I encourage you to do some stretching today, because tomorrow is the International Day of Yoga. And to celebrate this important day, the Permanent Mission of India is organizing a yoga event in collaboration with the UN Secretariat. At 5 p.m. here at the North Lawn Area, you can bring your mat and come practise some poses. I look forwards to seeing all of you there, in your yoga outfits.
[Question from a journalist: “Are you going?”] It depends on how many of you show up.
And tomorrow is the International Day of the Celebration of Solstice. The Solstice for some, including us here in New York, is the promise of warmer days! We do have them. Make sure to go out and enjoy the longest day of the year, because after that, it just gets shorter.
**Questions and Answers
Spokesman: This is the moment where you work. No question? Amelie, let’s go. Give it a try. [laughs]
Question: Sorry. Next week, on Thursday, the GA (General Assembly) is marking the eightieth anniversary of the adoption of the UN Charter. Will the SG participate in a context where the UN is under attack literally, verbally, and criticized a lot for not doing what it’s supposed to do? What is his message for the eightieth anniversary?
Spokesman: Well, yes, the Secretary-General will participate. The message is that the ideals of the Charter, the ideals reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are more important now than ever. The more they are attacked and flouted by Member States and others that we see, the more we need a global push to reaffirm their centrality in our efforts to build a better world.
Okay. Enjoy the day. Oh, Abdelhamid. Sorry. Sorry. […] Go ahead.
Question: Yeah. Today, again, 70 Palestinians were killed, 25 of them while waiting for food distribution. Do you have any information? Did you confirm?
Spokesman: We don’t… We have not gotten any information as of now. We’ve seen the press reports, which are horrendous. I mean, I don’t know how often we have to say that no one should die while trying to get food. Right?
Correspondent: Thank you.
Spokesman: We have humanitarian distribution networks that work at scale. All we’re asking is to be allowed to do our job, and we welcome efforts of others to also help with the humanitarian distribution, but to do it in ways which doesn’t increase the risk and literally kills people.
You, please.
Question: Thank you, Steph. Sorry to ask you. My question is about the UN80 because next week, on Tuesday, Mr. Guy Ryder will explain it to the Member States. So, is there any [possibility that] Mr. Guy Ryder or somebody will brief us?
Spokesman: Yes. I’ve spoken to Guy. We’re trying to find a time for him to come down here.
One question leads to another. Please go ahead, Dezhi.
Question: Okay. So today in the Security Council, the Iranian Ambassador actually accused IAEA, as well as the Security Council, of inaction. And especially for IAEA, they also, I think, released a statement accusing the inaction and said they will pursue legal actions against the IAEA Chief, Mr. Grossi. What’s the position from the Secretary-General on this, on IAEA’s role in this decision?
Spokesman: The IAEA is the technical agency that deals with nuclear safety and nuclear energy. They have the expertise. They have the know-how. They have the knowledge on how to deal and the experience in dealing with these, often in very challenging situations. I mean, we’ve seen the work that our IAEA colleagues have done in Zaporizhzhia in the middle of a war zone, trying to keep a nuclear centre safe. The Secretary-General fully supports their work. But it is very important to know, like other parts of the UN, UN agencies don’t exist on their own. They are a reflection of the collective will of the membership of this Organization, and they must be allowed to do their work.
Madame?
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. I would like to know if the document Israelis were speaking — Iran was so close to develop nuclear weapons in a very short term of a few days or a week — has been submitted to the United Nation and received by the Secretary-General? Thank you.
Spokesman: Who was referring to this document?
Correspondent: The Israelis.
Spokesman: I’m not aware. But, obviously, you should also check with our IAEA colleagues.
Yes, madame?
Question: Does the IAEA monitor the Israeli nuclear programme?
Spokesman: You should ask the IAEA. Yes?
Question: Thank you. Today, Israel attacks South Lebanon. Is Israeli attacks on Lebanon, Syria becoming no news for the Spokesman’ Office and the briefing? [cross talk]
Spokesman: Well, it’s not… I mean, we routinely report on the ones that we monitor. There have been attacks that we’re not… because of the way they’re conducted, we’re not monitoring. But I think every time there’s been a violation of Security Council resolution 1701, we report on it.
Okay. Enjoy the rest of your day. Now I’m actually leaving.