Middle East

The World Food Programme (WFP) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) appealed today to donors after they were forced to reduce food rations and cash assistance for more than 100,000 refugees in Rwanda.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) reported that a patrol hit a suspected improvised explosive device in Kidal city, wounding one peacekeeper on 18 December.  The incident follows four separate attacks against peacekeeping personnel and premises in Kidal on 15 December.

Due to a veto cast by the United States today, the Security Council failed to adopt a draft resolution that would have called upon all States to refrain from establishing diplomatic missions in Jerusalem.

The Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process informed the Security Council today that he was particularly concerned as to the future of international collective efforts to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians, pointing to a growing risk that parties could revert to more unilateral actions.

The United Nations refugee agency evacuated 74 refugees, mostly children and women, from Libya to Niger.  In the Central African Republic, voluntary repatriation of Sudanese refugees has begun; since Tuesday, 230 refugees have arrived in Sudan.  Agency-chartered flights will bring some 1,500 refugees home by the end of 2017.

A draft Security Council resolution reiterating the special status of Jerusalem — and rejecting any attempts to declare Israel’s capital or to establish an embassy there — would likely be submitted as early as Monday, the Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine told the Palestinian Rights Committee today.

Following is the statement by the General Assembly’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People regarding the recognition by the United States of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel:

At the annual Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) Pledging Conference, the Secretary-General called for a $1 billion CERF to help bolster contingency financing, noting that, since 2005, humanitarian needs have increased from $5.2 billion to over $24 billion today, with more people than ever on the brink of disaster.

Following is UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ statement on the Middle East peace process today:

Concluding its annual debate on the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East, the General Assembly adopted six resolutions today — including two declaring Israel’s actions in the Syrian Golan and East Jerusalem “null and void” — as several delegates voiced concern that those texts perpetuated a one-sided view that isolated and targeted a single Member State.