Following Israeli airstrikes on 1 April that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza, a senior United Nations official briefing the Security Council urged immediate concerted action to investigate, prosecute and stop such violations of international humanitarian law and to give humanitarian staff unimpeded access to those in need, as delegates raised concern about the imminent famine in the occupied territory.
Security Council
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Vanessa Frazier (Malta):
Bringing the multifaceted crisis in Myanmar to the fore, speakers urged the Security Council today to take decisive measures to end violence by that country’s military and address the deteriorating humanitarian situation, also calling for the swift appointment of a United Nations Special Envoy to enhance the Organization’s engagement on the matter.
Presented with data pointing to a spike in warring parties intentionally depriving life-saving humanitarian assistance to children living in conflict zones worldwide, speakers in the Security Council today proposed solutions to ensure aid reaches children in need, including in Gaza.
In a meeting urgently convened today following reports of Israeli attacks on Iran’s diplomatic premises in Syria, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council that the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises and personnel must be respected and further escalation must be avoided.
The Security Council’s programme for April features open debates on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, and on conflict-related sexual violence, its President for the month told a Headquarters press conference today.
The Security Council today failed to adopt a resolution that would have extended until 30 April 2025 the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the Sanctions Committee established pursuant to resolution 1718 (2006) on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea due to a veto cast by the Russian Federation — a permanent member of the Council — while numerous speakers underscored that Moscow’s veto fuels suspicion and weakens the global non-proliferation architecture.
While the elections recently held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were largely peaceful, the security and humanitarian situation in its east has further deteriorated, the Security Council heard today from the Head of the peacekeeping mission in that country, as it begins its phased withdrawal after 25 years.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Yamazaki Kazuyuki (Japan):
Ahead of the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of a resolution aiming to prevent non-State actors from acquiring weapons of mass destruction, the head of the Security Council Committee tasked with its implementation today briefed the organ on the work of that subsidiary body over the past year.