In an emergency meeting, the General Assembly today adopted a resolution deploring the use of excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and particularly the Gaza Strip.
The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan condemned the attack today that killed and injured religious scholars gathered in Kabul who were there to promote peace in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released a study that found nearly half of Afghan children are missing out on school.
The Security Council today failed to adopt two competing draft resolutions on the recent spate of violence in the Middle East — put forward by the delegations of the United States and Kuwait on behalf of the Arab Group, respectively — capping a month of protests and escalating tension on the ground and within the 15‑member organ itself.
Staff of the Human Rights Office say they are appalled at the ongoing violence in Nicaragua, where at least 16 people are reported to have been killed this week and more than 100 injured amid anti-Government protests. They are also concerned at the reported arrest and detention of six human rights defenders.
The unemployment rate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is now the highest in the world, peaking at 27.4 per cent in 2017, according to a report released by the International Labour Organization (ILO). It says women and young people are particularly affected, with almost half of women being unemployed.
Events unfolding in and around Gaza marked the most serious escalation of violence since the 2014 conflict between Hamas and Israel, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today, as he called for intensified pressure on Israelis and Palestinians to advance a just and sustainable peace.
In Syria, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent is delivering United Nations humanitarian aid for more than 92,000 people to Talbiseh in northern rural Homs and Tlul Elhomor in southern Hama. This is the first convoy to northern rural Homs since a convoy reached Dar al‑Kabira and surrounding areas on 4 March.
Today marks International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, affecting an estimated 2 million women in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Arab region, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Because this injury is almost entirely preventable, the Day seeks to raise awareness of the importance of obstetric care for women around the world.
Calling on the Security Council to view the recent violence along the Gaza border as part of a larger picture — in which political stagnation, frustration and disillusionment were mounting across the wider Palestinian diaspora — the senior United Nations official in Jerusalem today urged all parties to the conflict to rein in provocations, address urgent humanitarian needs and support the resumption of peace talks aimed at ending the long-entrenched conflict.
Despite the increasingly dire circumstances in the territory occupied by Israel and in exile abroad, the Palestinian people would never abandon their struggle for peace, freedom and self-determination, the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine stressed in closing remarks as the United Nation Forum on the Question of Palestine concluded today.
