Calling for an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities, the General Assembly today demanded the unhindered provision of essential aid to civilians throughout the Gaza Strip, as the body continued its emergency session on the situation in the Middle East. The Assembly also failed to unequivocally reject and condemn the terrorist attacks by Hamas that took place in Israel starting on 7 October.

The Security Council discussed the transfer of arms supplies to Ukraine today, with some members voicing concern over potential unwarranted diversion of weaponry and calling for effective measures to prevent this, while speakers also said that the meeting’s call was a distraction from the Russian Federation’s own procurement of weapons from other countries.

As the Sixth Committee (Legal) concluded its review of the first cluster of topics from the International Law Commission’s annual report, many speakers highlighted the need for an international framework that protects States from being threatened by sea-level rise, especially in light of how climate change was not on the horizon when the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was put into force.

UN officials expressed grave concern over a sharp rise in hate speech and populism, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) began discussing racism and self-determination today, amid demands for colonization reparations and alarm over the threat of ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories of the Western Sahara, Palestine and Kashmir.

The following statement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres was issued today:

Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today laid out their intentions to ensure the United Nations can stage quality conferences — equally accessible to every Member State — at all four headquarters.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for World Tsunami Awareness Day: “Fighting Inequality for a Resilient Future”, observed 5 November:

In South Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that increasing violence and threats against aid workers and aid assets continues to hamper its efforts to reach some 6.8 million men, women and children who need assistance.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Felipe Paullier of Uruguay as the first Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs.

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, arrived in Cairo from China early on Thursday morning, 19 October, as part of a humanitarian mission at a moment of profound crisis in the Middle East region.