He called for more support so it can expand and reach its target of $1 billion. Speaking at the annual pledging event for the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), Mr. Guterres said it was a clear UN “success story”. “Year after year, CERF demonstrates its unique and irreplaceable role by getting funding quickly to people…
The latest update from UN aid coordination office OCHA indicated that two hospitals in Gaza City, Al Ahli and As Sahaba, had received a total of 10,500 litres of fuel, which is enough to operate their generators for about seven days. But humanitarians have warned that despite the pause in fighting, much more aid is…
According to media reports, ongoing negotiations over the Israel-Hamas agreement on a four-day humanitarian pause and the freeing of hostages held by the Palestinian armed group since its 7 October terror attacks indicated that the deal’s entry into force was believed to be unlikely before Friday. Amid rising hunger, UN World Food Programme (WFP) chief…
More than 1.5 million Gazans are displaced, 18 hospitals have shut down, and hundreds of thousands are living in fear and under continuing Israeli bombardment. “Casualties continue to mount, with the dead reportedly exceeding 11,000 people – the majority of them children and women,” said Emergency Relief Coordinator and Humanitarian Affairs chief, Martin Griffiths. “The…
The initiative from veteran aid chief Martin Griffiths, head of the UN aid coordination office OCHA, comes more than five weeks since Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took around 240 hostages. The full-scale Israeli siege and assault that followed has levelled thousands of buildings in Gaza and reportedly claimed more than 11,000…
In a statement, the Israeli military denied that it had targeted Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which they claim is above a Hamas command post, but have acknowledged that fighting is happening “around” the facility. UN relief chief Martin Griffiths, tweeted that in light of “horrific reports of attacks”, there could be “no justification for…
Echoing his remarks with French President Emmanuel Macron looking on, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, stressed the “heart-breaking” plight of children in the territory, whom he saw last week “pleading for a piece of bread and a sip of water”. Mass displacement has led to severe overcrowding in…
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Martin Griffiths described the supplies provided by the Egyptian Red Cross and the UN as “another glimmer of hope for the millions of people in dire need of humanitarian aid”, adding “but they need more, much more.” Saturday marked the first convoy to enter Gaza, where supplies of…
The 20-truck convoy that passed through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt includes life-saving supplies provided by the Egyptian Red Crescent and the UN. They were approved to cross and be received by the Palestinian Red Crescent, with UN support. “I am confident that this delivery will be the start of a sustainable effort to…
“History is watching,” Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths told UN News in Geneva, highlighting the desperate situation facing around one million Gazans uprooted in the last week, after the Israeli military warned of an imminent offensive following the deadly 7 October attacks on Israel by militant group Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza strip since…
