Recent escalation in the Middle East — particularly between Israel and Hizbullah along the Blue Line — is concerning, the head of United Nations peace efforts in the region told the Security Council today, as he also warned that ongoing hostilities in Gaza are further fuelling regional instability.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today said it is stepping up support to assist some 8,000 Rohingya refugees who were affected on Wednesday by landslides in the Cox’s Bazar refugee settlement in Bangladesh.
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, warns that the humanitarian nightmare in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, in Sudan, is worsening by the hour, stressing that civilians must be protected, aid must be able to reach them and the fighting must stop now.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the “Call for Action: Urgent Humanitarian Response for Gaza” conference, in Sweimeh, Jordan today:
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the number of people displaced in Haiti between March and June 2024 increased by 60 per cent, from 362,000 to more than 578,000 people.
After 247 days of war in Gaza, the Security Council today adopted by 14 votes in favour — with the Russian Federation abstaining — a resolution proposing a comprehensive three-phase ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza, urging both Israel and Hamas to implement it fully and without delay and condition.
In Sri Lanka, the United Nations is supporting the Government in assessing and meeting the immediate needs of over 250,000 people impacted by the ongoing severe floods and landslides since 2 June.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
In Ukraine, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that attacks on Kharkiv, in the east of the country, continued over the weekend and today. Local authorities report civilian casualties, including among children, and damage to civilian infrastructure.
In conflict-ridden Sudan, over 7 million people are now displaced and 2 million more have fled to neighbouring countries, the International Organization for Migration reports. World Food Programme convoys with 1,200 metric tons of food, for some 116,000 people in Darfur, are near their final destination, Darfur.
