Middle East

Today, the World Food Programme unveiled the “HungerMap LIVE”, a new tool that monitors food security in more than 90 countries and issues predictions for areas from which data is limited.  The HungerMap presents data collected on a continuous basis, as well as metrics on conflict, climate shocks, population and weather.

Negative trends continue to undermine prospects for a two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs told the Security Council today, citing a deadlocked political process, illegal settlement expansion and a pervasive hopelessness among young people that peace will ever be achieved.

Expressing concern that ongoing military activities have the potential to escalate tensions between Israel and Syria, the Security Council today decided to renew the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) for six months.

Reporting to the Security Council today that prospects for a two-State resolution of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians continue to fade, the Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace called for the international community to go beyond rhetoric when encouraging progress.

Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) prequalified its first biosimilar medicine, Trastuzumab, that could broaden access to this life-saving breast cancer treatment.  In 2018, 2.1 million women contracted breast cancer, and 630,000 of them died from it, many due to the lack of access to affordable treatment.

Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo will visit Ukraine from 12 to 13 December, holding talks with Ukrainian authorities, representatives of United Nations agencies and partner civil society organizations, including groups representing internally displaced persons, women and youth.

The General Assembly today adopted five resolutions on the question of Palestine and the Middle East, including one calling on Member States not to recognize any changes to the pre-1967 borders, including with regards to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations.

Speakers called on Israel to respect international law and halt its illegal settlement activities, amid strong objections from others to unilateral moves by the United States in the region, as the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People met today to observe the International Day of Solidarity.

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will hold a special meeting on 27 November in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

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