Middle East

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.

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.

In Niger, the UN Humanitarian Air Service has been given permission to resume domestic and humanitarian flights service, which will facilitate the uninterrupted and secure delivery of nearly 2.4 metric tons of cargo monthly, mostly essential medical supplies for people in need.

The Syrian Government has extended permission for the UN to use Bab al-Salam and Al Ra'ee crossings to deliver humanitarian from Türkiye to north-west Syria for three months, until 13 February 2024. Each month, about 2.5 million people are reached with critical assistance and protection services.

Against the backdrop of escalating violence in the Middle East, the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs today warned of a dangerous expansion of the conflict in the wider region during the opening of the fourth session of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction.

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 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.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the International Humanitarian Conference for the Civilian Population in Gaza, in Paris today:

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today launched its Production Gap Report, which reveals that Governments are on track to produce more than twice the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be needed to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C.