Despite progress in clearing debris, the city still wears a haunting emptiness that is slowly returning to community life, thanks to support from the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM). Emel and her family were lucky to survive. Yet, their survival came at the heavy cost of losing everything they held dear. “My husband and…
What’s an emergency special session? When the UN Security Council is unable to shoulder its primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security, as has thus far been the case following the 7 October outbreak of the latest Israel-Palestine crisis, the General Assembly can consider the matter immediately in an emergency special session. UN Member…
A UN inter-agency convoy reached the front-line community of Huliaipole, located in the Zaporizhzhia region, bringing medicine, shelter kits, hygiene items and other assistance to support some 2,000 people. The town has suffered large-scale destruction and remains without power, water and gas, said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, speaking from New York. “Today’s humanitarian convoy was…
His call came just hours before UN agencies reported that phone lines, internet and mobile service in Gaza went down. “Gaza has lost contact with the outside world amid reports of intensified bombardment,” Lynn Hastings, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Palestine, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. The World Health Organization (WHO) has “lost…
The resolution breaks the deadlock at the UN over a response to the Israel-Palestine crisis which erupted on 7 October, where Member States on the Security Council have failed to reach agreement on four draft resolutions. Voting result The breakdown of the recorded vote, conducted shortly before 4 PM (New York time), included 120 members…
Volker Türk’s appeal came as UN humanitarians continued to issue dire warnings about the full scale of the humanitarian crisis in the enclave. ‘Crumbs’ of aid The head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), said that the “few (aid) trucks” which have come in from Egypt since 21 October are “nothing more than…
Paulo Pinheiro spoke to UN News this week after presenting his latest report to the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, which examines a range of social, humanitarian affairs and human rights issues. The Syrian war, which began in March 2011, is at its “worst point” in four years, he said, while stressing that the escalating…
OHCHR is urging the authorities to halt deportations, which are set to begin on 1 November, Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told journalists in Geneva. Currently, more than two million undocumented Afghans are living in Pakistan, at least 600,000 of whom arrived after the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. ‘Grave risk’ of violations “We believe…
Harmful disinformation about the ongoing conflict in the wake of the 7 October attacks by Hamas against Israel continues to circulate online, with potentially dangerous consequences on the ground. While misinformation refers to the accidental spread of falsehoods, disinformation can be circulated intentionally by State or non-State actors, including during an armed conflict, to influence…
Reports of an overnight Israeli military incursion using tanks in northern Gaza followed another series of calls by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) for civilians in Gaza City to evacuate – warnings which “make no difference” because “people have nowhere to go or are unable to move”, according to the UN’s top humanitarian official in…
