Palestinian issues

In Syria, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that more than 670,000 people have been displaced since November 2024, while over 1 million people have returned to their areas of origin. Meanwhile, the UN and its partners continue to deliver aid across the country despite reduced funding.

In occupied East Jerusalem, heavily armed Israeli Forces entered three UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) schools in Shu’fat Camp this morning and forced out over 550 children, UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini reports. One UNRWA staff member has been detained.

In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that air strikes on 6 May and today resulted in further civilian casualties across the country. The attacks, in the cities of Sumy, Zaporizhzhia and Kyiv, killed 6 civilians and injured nearly 30 others, including 10 children, and damaged homes.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees is gravely concerned by the rapidly increasing number of Sudanese refugees crossing into eastern Chad due to escalating violence in Sudan’s North Darfur region, with nearly 20,000 people — mostly women and children — arriving in the past two weeks alone.

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:

In South Sudan, Acting Humanitarian Coordinator Marie-Helene Verney deplored the deadly air strike Saturday on a hospital in Old Fangak in Jonglei State that led to the suspension of critical medical care for over 100,000 people and destruction of medical supplies. The UN is airlifting vital medical supplies to replenish stocks.

In Myanmar, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called today on that country’s military to stop all attacks on civilians and civilian objects. He said the unremitting violence inflicted on civilians underscores the need for the parties to commit to a genuine and permanent nationwide halt to hostilities.

In Afghanistan, the United Nations today released a record $16.6 million to help vulnerable communities mitigate the effects of drought in the north and north-east of that country. This new financing includes $6.6 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund and $10 million from the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund.

In the Central African Republic, the Special Representative there welcomed the decision by the leaders of the two armed groups, Return, Reclamation and Rehabilitation (3R) and UPC — Unité pour la Paix en Centrafrique — to rejoin the Political Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation, signed in 2019.

At a critical juncture in Middle East history, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a stark warning to the Security Council: the prospect of a two-State solution — where Israel and Palestine live side by side in peace and security — is in grave danger of vanishing.