Security Council: Meetings Coverage

Sounding the alarm that “hell is breaking loose in Lebanon”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged the Security Council in an emergency meeting to call on Hizbullah and Israel to pull back from the brink of a potentially catastrophic regional war. Sounding the alarm that “hell is breaking loose in Lebanon”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged the Security Council in an emergency meeting to call on Hizbullah and Israel to pull back from the brink of a potentially catastrophic regional war.

Ahead of an all-day meeting, with 90 speakers expected to take the floor, the Security Council adopted a Presidential Statement (to be issued as S/PRST/2024/5) affirming the principles set forth in the Charter of the United Nations and underscoring that the need to strengthen resolve to maintain international peace and security, consistent with the Charter, is more pressing than ever.

“Let us intensify our efforts to seek peace in Ukraine,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged a ministerial-level Security Council meeting today, as speakers debated ways to stop the war in that country, with some offering mediation and pledging support and others calling for the cessation of weapon delivery to the Russian Federation.

Warning that the recent deadly explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon marked a dangerous turning point, senior United Nations officials called for immediate de-escalation and ceasefire between all parties before a devastating war engulfs the entire Middle East.

All key stakeholders in Syria’s 13-year conflict must engage with the United Nations in a single format as the country remains in “a profound state of high conflict and territorial division,” the Organization’s senior mediator told the Security Council today, rejecting “piecemeal” diplomacy conducted by different groups.

The relentless expansion of Israeli settlements and escalating violence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are deeply alarming, the top United Nations official for the Middle East told the Security Council today, as delegates urged the organ to enforce its own demand for the occupier to cease such illegal activities.

A new wave of large-scale fighting between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces broke out in the city of El Fasher on 12 September, a senior UN official told the Security Council today, reporting that hundreds of thousands of people trapped in the capital of North Darfur, Sudan, are now “at risk of the consequences of mass violence”.

The Security Council today examined the impacts of the Taliban’s new morality law on women and girls in Afghanistan, with speakers calling on the de facto authorities to reverse course and strengthen their engagement with the international community.

Underscoring that the only credible measure of progress is the actual condition on the ground in Gaza, the head of United Nations humanitarian efforts in the Strip told the Security Council today that sufficient political will is sorely needed to ensure effective humanitarian operations amid restrictions, security incidents and continued suffering.

Any transfer of weapons and ammunition must comply with the applicable international legal framework, the United Nations disarmament chief told the Security Council today, as delegates warned against such arms fuelling the Russian Federation’s war on Ukraine.