Eight months after a fragile ceasefire ended full-scale fighting in the Gaza Strip, the senior United Nations official for the Middle East peace process told the Security Council that the situation is once again characterized by daily clashes and rising tensions, as he warned delegates against piecemeal approaches and diplomatic “half measures” that will only let the conflict fester further.
The Security Council today renewed the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan for six months, until 30 June 2022, requesting the Secretary-General to ensure that the mission has the required capacity and resources to fulfil its mandate in a safe and secure way.
In Myanmar, the United Nations country team there remains deeply concerned over increasing internal displacement and more people needing humanitarian assistance as a result of conflict, political instability and COVID-19 since the military takeover on 1 February.
The Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, has appealed for $510 million to support 1.6 million of the most vulnerable people in Gaza and the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem in 2022. Forty per cent of Palestinians will require humanitarian assistance next year.
Expressing outrage over Israel’s continuing harassment of human rights activists in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the recent terrorist designation of six civil society groups, speakers urged the international community to take strong action in holding the country accountable for its conduct, as the Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People met today.
With reports that the Omicron variant has been detected in Botswana, the United Nations team is increasing its support for the Government’s COVID-19 response, including by providing medical and protective equipment. To date, 75 per cent of people in the country have received at least one dose, while 68 per cent are fully vaccinated.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
The second session of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction concluded today with the adoption of the Conference report and rules of procedure. The Conference also established a Working Committee for the intersessional period.
Osnat Lubrani, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, today launched the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan seeking $190 million in education, food, shelter, water and other aid to alleviate the suffering of 2.9 million conflict-weary people in the eastern part of the country.
To break the deadlock over the long-standing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the international community must focus less on political paradigms and more on what is happening on the ground, the representative of a leading think tank told the Security Council today, as members expressed grave concerns over rising tensions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
