Middle East

The Security Council today failed to adopt a resolution aiming to ameliorate the plight of civilians in Gaza, as the United States vetoed the measure despite affirmative votes by the other 14 members of the 15-nation organ.

In Sudan, five members of a UN humanitarian convoy were killed on 2 June and several more were injured during an attack in North Darfur. The joint World Food Programme-UNICEF convoy was made up of 15 trucks, and they had travelled over 1,800 kilometres from Port Sudan, and they were carrying nutrition supplies and food.

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

In Nigeria, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and humanitarian partners continue to support the response to the devastating floods in the north-central part of the country. More than 500 households were impacted and over 3,000 people displaced.

UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo helped the country’s armed forces Wednesday respond to armed clashes in Ituri Province near a market in Fataki that caused civilians to flee. Earlier this week, they enrolled over 1,000 ex-combatants from the Zaire armed group into community reinsertion projects.

The two-State solution is on life support, the Security Council heard today from a senior United Nations official who called for urgent humanitarian assistance in Gaza while speakers for Israel and the State of Palestine accused each other of politicizing aid delivery.

A new World Meteorological Organization report forecast global temperatures will continue at or near record levels in the next five years, increasing climate risks and impacts on societies, economies and sustainable development, with an 86 per cent chance that at least one year will be over 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

The Secretary-General welcomes the signing of agreement between the United Kingdom and Mauritius concerning the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia. This agreement marks a significant step towards resolving a long-standing dispute in the Indian Ocean region.

Israeli authorities have temporarily allowed the UN to resume limited aid delivery into Gaza following 11 weeks of complete blockade, and amid a spike in the military offensive, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said today.

“We are doing this work because States are not,” civil society activists told the United Nations today at a special consultation on their initiatives to ensure accountability for Israel’s actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.