Palestinian issues

In Gaza, a senior United Nations official there said that heavy fighting near the remaining hospitals in Khan Younis, including Nasser and Al Amal, has effectively encircled these facilities, leaving terrified staff, patients and displaced people trapped inside.

In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that attacks have continued in the country today, while since yesterday morning, humanitarian organizations have been providing emergency assistance to civilians affected by the latest attacks in the Kharkiv and Dnipro regions.

Concluding the open debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which saw ministers and other national representatives meet into the evening of 23 January, speakers today urged the Security Council to act in the face of continuing violations of international law and its own resolutions in the Gaza Strip and beyond.

A lasting end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only come through a two-State solution, the United Nations chief told the Security Council today, following the reported rejection of such a formula by Israel’s leaders amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council open debate on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, in New York today:

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) today launched their Global Annual Appeal for 2024. They called for $7.9 billion to support their operations and help create a system that realizes migration’s promise as a force for good throughout the world.

The 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti released today seeks $674 million to help 3.6 million people across the country, where the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate.

The Commissioner General of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reports that makeshift structures of plastic sheeting have mushroomed everywhere around Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, as people are displaced by the hostilities.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that since 2023, 13 Eastern and Southern African countries, particularly Zimbabwe and Zambia, have battled one of the worst cholera outbreaks in years. As of 15 January 2024, more than 200,000 cases, including some 3,000 fatalities, have been reported.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General informed that the first phase of the disengagement of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from South Kivu has begun, with a plan to complete its withdrawal from the area by June 2024.