State of Palestine

The Security Council today decided to refer a renewed consideration of the State of Palestine’s 2011 application for United Nations membership to its Committee on the Admission of New Members, which would then meet at 3 p.m.

Following Israeli airstrikes on 1 April that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza, a senior United Nations official briefing the Security Council urged immediate concerted action to investigate, prosecute and stop such violations of international humanitarian law and to give humanitarian staff unimpeded access to those in need, as delegates raised concern about the imminent famine in the occupied territory.

In Madagascar, the United Nations and its partners are supporting the Government’s response to Tropical Cyclone Gamane. According to the Government, the tropical cyclone — which hit the country on 3 April — killed 19 people, injured 3 others and left some 22,000 people displaced.

Israel’s “live-streamed” genocide — supported by many Western States — must not go unpunished, participants heard in Geneva today during the second day of the two-day Conference of Civil Society Organizations working on the Question of Palestine — convened by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People — with speakers discussing best practices to ensure accountability and Israel’s compliance with the rulings of the International Court of Justice.

The response to the war in Gaza is the litmus test for the international justice system, participants heard in Geneva today, during the first day of the two-day Conference of Civil Society Organizations working on the Question of Palestine — convened by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People — with many highlighting the role of civil society in preserving international law and ensuring accountability.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) caution that the threat from explosive ordnance has increased significantly in the country since 2020. The Mission says that they recorded more than 190 incidents since 2020, including 78 last year alone.

In Haiti, the United Nations and its partners continue to provide emergency assistance to people impacted by the crisis in Port-au-Prince. Yesterday, the World Food Programme (WFP) supplied more than 30,000 hot meals to displaced people in the capital.

The United Nations is planning a mission to Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city to help people receive medical attention and to assess the state of the hospital. This comes following reports that the Israel Defense Forces have vacated the premises of the hospital.

In Malawi, the United Nations and its partners are supporting the Government to respond to severe drought, which has prompted national authorities to declare a state of emergency in 23 of the country’s 28 districts. Nearly 2 million farming families and over 40 per cent of Malawi’s agricultural land has been impacted.

In Cameroon, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned today that vital food assistance to refugees in the country’s far north, Adamawa, and east and north regions is at risk of grinding to a halt due to funding shortfalls.