World News

25 April 2024Humanitarian Aid Unexpected blistering temperatures across Gaza have added to the daily misery faced by the enclave’s people and sparked new fears of disease outbreaks amid a lack of sufficient clean water and waste disposal, UN humanitarians said on Thursday. The warning from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, came as some 1.2 million people continued to shelter in tents pitched in and around the enclave’s southernmost city, Rafah, with nowhere else to go...

Pehr Lodhammar, a senior officer from the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), said that the war has left an estimated 37 million tonnes of debris. He said it was impossible to determine the exact amount of unexploded ordnance in the enclave where formerly heavily built-up and densely populated neighbourhoods have been reduced to rubble, after nearly seven months of intense Israeli bombardment. Every square metre in Gaza impacted by the conflict contains some 200 kilogrammes of...

Today, more than ever amid the ongoing war in Gaza, this independent commission of inquiry has its work cut out. We took a closer look at its role, speaking to its chair, former UN Human Rights Commissioner and judge Navi Pillay, who provided fresh insight into the developing situation and what’s happening in the field of international law. “Every country and every member of the United Nations is equal in terms of their obligations to observe international law,” she told UN News. An...

The current situation has reached an “unprecedented emergency level”, he said, and the most recent evacuation order by Israel has forced tens of thousands to flee. As part of the contingency effort, WHO and partners have been establishing field hospitals and supporting restoration of the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, which will be used as a main referral hospital and with the aim of re-establishing basic health services. “We have installed a large warehouse in Deir Al Balah and...

1 April 2024Humanitarian Aid Israeli forces are blocking aid deliveries into famine-stricken northern Gaza as the five-month-long war grinds on despite recent strong demands from the top UN court and the Security Council for unfettered access for lifesaving food shipments into the enclave and for a temporary ceasefire and the return of all hostages taken in October. More than a dozen Palestinians have been killed related to airdrops by multiple nations who are trying to deliver...

Francesca Albanese was speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, where she presented her latest report, entitled ‘Anatomy of a Genocide’, during an interactive dialogue with Member States. “Following nearly six months of unrelenting Israeli assault on occupied Gaza, it is my solemn duty to report on the worst of what humanity is capable of, and to present my findings,” she said. “There are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of the crime of...

On the heels of Israel’s announcement on Sunday that it would no longer approve aid shipments into northern Gaza by the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, UN Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick cautioned of current catastrophic food shortages and growing hunger across the enclave while offering swift solutions to averting a looming famine. “Any interruption to a food supply that’s already very fragile is a wrong move,” he told UN News. “We’ve seen a 70 per cent decrease in people’s ability...

“As of today, UNRWA, the main lifeline for Palestine refugees, is denied from providing lifesaving assistance to northern Gaza,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote in a social media post on X. He called the decision “outrageous”, saying it was made to intentionally obstruct lifesaving aid deliveries during a man-made famine in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. He underlined the need to lift this ban, adding that UNRWA – the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza...

21 March 2024Humanitarian Aid After thirteen years of conflict in Syria, a continuing political stalemate threatens to prolong the suffering of millions and hinder efforts to bring about peace, the UN Special Envoy for the country said on Thursday. Briefing ambassadors at the UN Security Council, Geir Pedersen said that recent spike in violence, including airstrikes, rocket attacks and clashes between armed groups, underscored the urgent need for a political resolution. In addition...

Global perspective Human stories File photo of Catherine Colonna, Chair of the Independent Review Group on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). 20 March 2024UN Affairs UN Secretary-General António Guterres has received the interim findings of an independent panel conducting an assessment of UNRWA, the UN agency that assists Palestinians, his office said on Wednesday in a note to correspondents. The review follows serious allegations regarding the alleged...