Middle East

The massive humanitarian needs of over 2 million people in Gaza risk deepening, and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) will likely be forced to close operations by the end of the month if donor funding remains suspended, UNRWA Head Philippe Lazzarini warned today.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is the beating heart of all humanitarian efforts in Gaza, and decisions to withhold funds from the Agency must be revoked, the United Nations humanitarian chief told the Security Council today, underscoring that an investigation into the alleged involvement of some UNRWA employees in the 7 October attack on Israel are under way.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the opening of the 2024 session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, in New York today:

The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is strengthening its presence near the borders with Sudan, and peacekeepers are intensifying their patrols in Abiemnom County in Ruweng State and in Mayom County. A priority is to enhance security along the main supply route, which is vital for the transport of humanitarian aid.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) today said that nearly 100 people have died or disappeared in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean since the beginning of 2024. The toll is over twice as high as the figure for the same period of 2023.

The 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan for Mali was launched Thursday in Bamako. The United Nations and its humanitarian partners will need over $700 million to assist more than 4.1 million people across the country this year to complement response activities implemented by national authorities.

The following General Statement issued today is attributable to the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres on the Order of the International Court of Justice in the case of South Africa against Israel on the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip:

In Gaza, a senior United Nations official there said that heavy fighting near the remaining hospitals in Khan Younis, including Nasser and Al Amal, has effectively encircled these facilities, leaving terrified staff, patients and displaced people trapped inside.

In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that attacks have continued in the country today, while since yesterday morning, humanitarian organizations have been providing emergency assistance to civilians affected by the latest attacks in the Kharkiv and Dnipro regions.

Concluding the open debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which saw ministers and other national representatives meet into the evening of 23 January, speakers today urged the Security Council to act in the face of continuing violations of international law and its own resolutions in the Gaza Strip and beyond.