Israel

The following statement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres was issued today:

The UN Secretariat has received a letter from the Sudanese Government announcing its decision to immediately terminate the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan. The Government also communicated its commitment to engage constructively with the Security Council and the Secretariat on a new formula.

The UN is now seeking $173 million to support communities through March 2024 affected by the impact of three earthquakes that struck Herat province in west Afghanistan last month. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports 275,00 people have been affected, up from an initial estimate of 114,000 people.

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:

In a late-breaking meeting today, the Security Council adopted resolution 2712 (2023) by a vote of 12 in favour to none against, with 3 abstentions (Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States), by which it called for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors through the Gaza Strip to facilitate the provision of essential goods and services.

In Nepal, UN agencies continue to provide life-saving assistance to meet the most pressing humanitarian needs of thousands of people affected by the earthquake. The UN and its partners have now reached some 21,000 people with water, sanitation and hygiene supplies, and about 20,000 children with education materials.

Describing a health system that is on the verge of collapse, the head of the United Nations health agency urged the Security Council today to secure an immediate ceasefire and unfettered humanitarian access in Gaza where “nowhere and no one is safe” as the war between Israel and Hamas rages on.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that 65 trucks carrying food, medicines, water and health supplies entered Gaza yesterday through the Rafah crossing, but said the volume of aid entering Gaza remains wholly inadequate and more than one entry point is needed.

The United Nations has released $25 million to cope with the effects of once-in-a-century flooding in Somalia, including $10 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund and $15 million from the Somalia Humanitarian Fund, all which is supporting work to save lives, stem disease outbreaks and address food insecurity.

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) approved six draft resolutions today, all by recorded votes, relating to the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, as well as a decision regarding its programme of work, thus completing its work for the main part of the General Assembly’s seventy eighth session.