WHO’s Dr. Mike Ryan was briefing journalists at UN Headquarters and added that “so many children” remain in danger, as fighting between Palestinian militants and Israeli forces continues, from hostages to those living under bombardment with no safe place to shelter. Up to 1,500 children in Gaza remain missing – many likely under rubble –…
“What we do know is that the health system is on its knees,” said Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, World Health Organization Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in the wake of Hamas militants’ terror attack on Israel on 7 October that left 1,200 dead and the heavy bombardment of the enclave by the Israeli military in response. ‘Endless need’ Speaking from Jerusalem…
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…
More than 800 people have been reportedly killed by armed groups in Ardamata, West Darfur, an area which has so far been less affected by the conflict that erupted in April. Ardamata also housed a camp for internally displaced people, Close to 100 shelters have been razed to the ground, while extensive looting – including…
“The 2023 Production Gap report is a startling indictment of runaway climate carelessness,” the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message accompanying the landmark report. This hike in fuel extraction comes despite 151 national governments having pledged to achieve net-zero emissions. The latest forecasts suggest that global coal, oil, and gas demand will peak this decade, even without…
Israeli settler violence has increased significantly, from an already high average of three incidents per day in 2023 to seven a day now, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCA). During this period, OCHA recorded 171 settler attacks against Palestinians, resulting in 26 different casualty incidents, damage to 115 Palestinian…
Tipping points are reached when the systems we rely on stop functioning as designed, amplifying the risk of catastrophic impacts, according to new research published by the United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS). The Interconnected Disaster Risks report 2023 finds that the world is fast approaching risk tipping points on multiple fronts….
“Today the stakes for preventive diplomacy and dialogue could not be higher,” said Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific, in a meeting organized by the Brazilian presidency. Referring to the escalating situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, he warned that in the absence of a negotiated two-State solution,…
Mr. Wennesland told an emergency briefing of the Security Council that he “watched in horror and in real time” as reports of mass casualties emerged from Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday. “The circumstances of this catastrophe and responsibility remains and still needs to be clarified. And we will need a fact-based, full investigation…
Siobhán Mullally, UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, said unaccompanied children and children from poor families have reportedly been targeted by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia in the outskirts of the capital Khartoum and elsewhere. They’ve forcibly recruited women and children especially, she warned. Girls have also reportedly been abducted from Khartoum to…
