With the converging Ramadan, Easter and Passover holidays now beginning, the senior United Nations official for Middle East peace urged Palestinians and Israelis to promptly crystalize agreements reached at two recent diplomatic meetings — their first direct talks in years — as he briefed the Security Council today about ongoing violence, expanded settlement activity and escalating rhetoric on both sides.
As news came in of an Israeli security forces operation in Nablus that killed 10 Palestinians, speakers at the first formal meeting of the Palestinian Rights Committee in 2023 appealed for an immediate end to the deadly cycle of violence.
The Security Council today adopted a presidential statement expressing its deep concern and dismay over Israel’s recent announcement of further construction and expansion of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as the “legalization” of settlement outposts, as United Nations senior officials briefed members on the latest developments on the ground.
The United Nations continues to mobilize emergency teams and relief operations in response to the earthquake that hit Türkiye and Syria. A Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team is supporting the coordination of the International Urban Search and Rescue Operations and assisting with situational and humanitarian needs analysis.
The following statement was issued today by the Bureau of the General Assembly’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People:
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR), together with 41 international and national partners, launched today the 2023 funding appeal for over $500 million to provide life-saving assistance to more than 900,000 refugees in Sudan, the second-largest asylum country in Africa.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) today released its newest survey on opium cultivation. The agency estimates that poppy cultivation in Myanmar has increased by 33 per cent in the first season since the military takeover.
The international community’s immediate priority in the Occupied Palestinian Territory must be reversing the trends that marked 2022 as one of the deadliest years in recent history, the United Nations senior official working to end the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict told the Security Council today as it held its regular open debate on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question.
In the Central African Republic, the United Nations peacekeeping mission there launched a countrywide campaign on 16 January to promote efforts to protect civilians and to build confidence between the internal security forces and the population.
