Palestinian issues

In Haiti, the United Nations and its partners are continuing to work to deliver life-saving assistance to people in need, despite the limited access and the very concerning security situation.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partners today launched a $852.4 million response plan for nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees and their Bangladeshi hosts. Ninety-five per cent of Rohingya households in Bangladesh are vulnerable and dependent on humanitarian aid.

In Lebanon, United Nations peacekeeping personnel report an escalation in the exchanges of fire across the Blue Line in recent days. Several fatalities were reported following Israeli strikes. At least five people were reported to have been killed in Sector West-Khirbet Silim on 9 March, and another person in Baalbek on 11 March.

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People met this morning to elect officers and hear remarks by the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, Riyad Mansour.

The use of the Security Council veto by the United States to block an Algerian draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza only emboldens Israel to continue its crimes against the Palestinian people, speakers warned the General Assembly today, stressing that the humanitarian situation in the enclave is catastrophic and worsening as a result.

In Abyei, the United Nations Interim Security Force there reported that they are continuing to patrol in order to protect civilians and are engaging with community leaders and local authorities to de-escalate intercommunal tensions.

Lamenting the Security Council’s inability to call for a ceasefire while the entire world demands one, speakers in the General Assembly today drew attention to the mounting death toll and famine in Gaza, while Israel condemned the United Nations for collaborating with terrorists.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Yamazaki Kazuyuki (Japan):

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

The following statement was issued today by the Bureau of the General Assembly’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People: