MOSCOW, 5 September — The 2018 International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East opened here today, with journalists, policymakers and other experts examining progress in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict almost 25 years after the signing of the first Oslo Accord, as well as issues related to media coverage of the conflict, Palestine refugee narratives and the protection of journalists.
Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, called today for urgent funding to restore depleted supplies of emergency fuel for essential services in the Gaza Strip. Within a week, Al Aqsa Hospital in the Middle Area of the Gaza Strip may have to shut down, and, without fuel, some 300,000 people will potentially be affected by serious public health concerns.
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message, delivered by Alison Smale, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, to the 2018 United Nations International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East, in Moscow today:
Despite emergency support from dozens of partners, the United Nations agency charged with providing health care, education and other basic services to some 5 million Palestine refugees will soon lose its ability to carry out much of its critical work, the director of the agency’s New York office told the Palestinian Rights Committee today.
In Gaza, Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick informed donors that the United Nations emergency fuel programme has run out of money. New funds are needed immediately to prevent a potentially catastrophic breakdown in service delivery at health centres, sewage treatment plants, water and sanitation facilities.
Warning that fuel and medicine are in “dangerously short supply” in the Gaza Strip, the senior United Nations political affairs official urged international donors today to boost their aid deliveries, while calling on Israelis and Palestinians to exercise maximum restraint amid the recent spate of violence.
The Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory called on donors to immediately provide funding for emergency fuel to prevent emergency services in the Gaza Strip from shutting down. To ensure that a minimum level of essential services continues through the end of the year, $4.5 million is required.
The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is providing logistical support and the World Health Organization is sending medical supplies and expertise to the Ministry of Health and its partners to facilitate ground operations in response to the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu Province.
Leading the response to the regional refugee crisis related to the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration have launched regional appeals of $46 million and $32 million respectively to help Governments and host communities.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary‑General António Guterres:
