Lebanon

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.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council meeting on Lebanon, in New York today:

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

The Special Coordinator for Lebanon is in Israel where she is meeting with Israeli authorities to discuss the latest situation and the Head of the UN Peacekeeping Mission is in contact with both Lebanese and Israeli parties, stressing the urgent need for de-escalation. Efforts are ongoing to reduce tensions and halt shelling.

In Somalia, the Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator has allocated $3 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund for an urgent response to displacement in the country.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) issued a statement today — jointly with the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) — noting the presidency’s decision to extend the country’s transitional period by 24 months until February 2027.

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

The World Health Organization (WHO) just announced the first prequalification approval of a vaccine against mpox, stating that the MVA-BN vaccine is an important step to fight the disease in both current and future outbreaks. Now, urgent scale-up of procurement, donations and rollout are needed.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today that they are stepping up their support to the Government to protect the lives of children under 15, who account for about 60 per cent of the suspected cases of mpox and 80 per cent of the deaths in the country this year.

In Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs led an assessment team to Al Mawasi camp today to identify the most urgent needs of the population and to mobilize to meet those needs.