HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 11 AUGUST 2025
JOURNALISTS/GAZA
The Secretary-General condemns the killing of six Palestinian journalists in the Israeli strike in Gaza City on 10 August. These latest killings highlight the extreme risks journalists continue to face when covering the ongoing war. The Secretary-General calls for an independent and impartial investigation into these latest killings.
At least 242 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began. The Secretary-General underscores that journalists and media workers must be respected and protected and allowed to carry out their work free from intimidation or harm.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
OCHA reports that in an especially disturbing update today, the Ministry of Health confirmed that the number of children who have died from malnutrition [since October 2023] has now surpassed 100.
The World Food Programme said that more than a third of the population is not eating for days at a time and acute malnutrition is spiking with over 300,000 children at severe risk. Additionally, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization warned last week that a mere 1.5 per cent of cropland in Gaza is both accessible and undamaged, signaling a near-total collapse of the local food system.
Yesterday, we and partners collected food and hygiene kits from the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing.
However, supplies were offloaded directly from these trucks before reaching their destination given the extreme desperation pervasive in Gaza today.
People need a predictable lifeline, not a trickle of aid. WFP says that just to cover basic humanitarian food assistance needs, more than 62,000 metric tons are required to enter Gaza every month, and so far, humanitarians have not been permitted to bring in enough supplies to support the survival of Palestinians there.
We can confirm that we collected fuel from the Kerem Shalom crossing yesterday. The Israeli authorities are allowing, on average, the entry of about 150,000 litres of fuel daily. However, this remains far below the minimum required to sustain life-saving operations.
For example, the Palestine Civil Defense warned yesterday that more than half of their ambulances have stopped operating across Gaza, due to the shortage of fuel and spare parts.
Israeli authorities must allow aid to enter through all crossings and via all available corridors so that we can deliver, at scale in a safe and dignified manner, to reach the most vulnerable, including women, children and older people.
A ceasefire is urgently needed to save lives. This would allow and speed up delivery of food for the hungry, health services for the sick and wounded, and shelter materials for displaced people, who have been forced to flee repeatedly since the onset of hostilities and that would also allow for the release of the remaining hostages who are being held in Gaza.
SECURITY COUNCIL/GAZA
Yesterday, a briefing was held here at the Security Council to discuss the current situation in Gaza. Our UN officials briefing the Council members expressed their extreme concern following Israel’s decision to expand military operations there. Miroslav Jenča, the Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, said that if these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza. He underscored the need for a full, immediate, and permanent ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups.
For his part, Ramesh Rajasingham, the Director of Coordination Division at OCHA spoke about the horrific humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
LEBANON / ISRAEL
Moving north, to Southern Lebanon.
The UN Peacekeepers located there tell us that they continue to observe Israel Defense Forces military activities in southern Lebanon, including air violations by drones and shelling from south of the Blue Line with three impacts in Sector West yesterday.
UNIFIL also continues to find unauthorized weapons and ammunition caches. Yesterday UNIFIL peacekeepers found a cache in Sector East containing approximately 120 rockets and mortar shells, anti-tank mines, anti-personnel mines and fuses. The day before, UNIFIL discovered another cache also in Sector East, with mortar rounds, mines, rifles and ammunition. As per usual practice, all of these were referred to the Lebanese Army.
The work of the peacekeepers and the Lebanese Armed Forces is dangerous.
On Saturday, six Lebanese Armed Forces soldiers were killed and several others injured during inspection and retrieving of explosives near Zibqin in southern Lebanon. We express our deepest condolences to the Lebanese Armed Forces and to the families of the soldiers. We wish for a full and swift recovery for the injured.
In a statement following the tragic incident, UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Abagnara stressed that peacekeepers will continue to support the Lebanese Armed Forces and their work to restore stability.
SUDAN
Turning to the extremely dire situation in Sudan, where civilians are enduring a deepening crisis with ongoing attacks, acute hunger and starvation. The Director of Operations and Advocacy at OCHA, Edem Wosornu, today expressed alarm over reports from the besieged city of El Fasher in North Darfur State that more than 60 people died from malnutrition in just one week, and most of them as one can imagine, belong to vulnerable groups such as women and children.
Ms. Wosornu is going to visit West Darfur State this week, and we expect to hear more from her upon her return.
As you are aware, famine was first detected in North Darfur State in the Zamzam displacement camp about a year ago and is expected to have expanded to other areas since.
Meanwhile, we are gravely concerned by ongoing violence in the Kordofan region, including reports last week [on August 7th] of attacks on some villages in North Kordofan State. Eighteen civilians were reportedly killed, with dozens more wounded. We once again underscore that civilians must never be targeted, and all parties must uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law.
On the health front, we and our humanitarian partners continue to scale up the response to the cholera outbreak in Sudan, where nearly 100,000 cases have been recorded since July of last year.
In Khartoum State, a new vaccination campaign began yesterday, targeting 1.1 million people, with support from our colleagues at the World Health Organization.
In North Darfur State, more than 5,300 suspected and confirmed cases, with 84 related deaths, have been reported by local partners since June 21st, most of them in Tawila locality, where 330,000 people displaced from Zamzam and El Fasher are sheltering in dire conditions.
Our partners on the ground are responding through cholera treatment centres, but overcrowding, poor sanitation, limited access and the ongoing rainy season are accelerating the spread of the disease and hampering the delivery of aid.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
The peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo says that yesterday, in Ituri, the Mission’s Temporary Operating Base in Gina, located approximately 30 kilometers northeast of Bunia, responded to gunfire from the town center by dispatching a patrol.
Upon arrival, the patrol encountered an incursion by CODECO armed elements and fired 16 deterrent rounds, prompting the assailants to retreat. In coordination with a second patrol, the UN Mission secured the Gina town center and market area, where six civilians, three women, two men, and one child, were reportedly killed, five of them inside a shop. Four others were injured.
UN peacekeepers provided first aid and evacuated the wounded to a local health center. Following the attack, civilians gathered at the Temporary Operating Base seeking protection.
The UN Mission has since intensified patrols in the area to deter further violence and reassure the population.
UKRAINE
Turning to Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that this morning and also over the weekend, hostilities in front-line regions killed and injured several civilians, including children. That’s according to local authorities.
In the Kherson Region, a drone strike on a public bus on Saturday reportedly killed two people and injured 16. Across the region, dozens of casualties were also reported, along with damage to multiple residential buildings. In the Zaporizhzhia Region, casualties were reported after a glide bomb strike damaged a central bus station, a health facility and apartment blocks. In the Kharkiv Region, civilians, including children, were injured when a preschool and multiple homes were hit.
And in the Dnipro Region, attacks caused casualties, damaged multiple houses, a school and other civilian facilities.
Authorities also said that mine incidents in the Odesa, Kharkiv and Sumy regions killed and injured civilians, underscoring the ongoing threat that mines continue to pose across Ukraine, including in coastal areas.
ARMENIA/AZERBAIJAN
The Secretary-General welcomed the comprehensive “Joint Declaration” signed on Friday by President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia together with President Donald Trump of the United States as an important milestone in the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The Secretary-General applauded the commitment of President Aliyev and Prime Minister Pashinyan to sustained dialogue and confidence-building, and recognized the efforts of President Trump in facilitating progress. He reaffirmed the strong support of the UN for all efforts to advance lasting peace in the South Caucasus.
AFGHANISTAN
Turning to Afghanistan. The latest update on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, covering the period from April to June 2025, points out that the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has received various reports of the de facto authorities impeding women’s right to work, despite publicly affirming that Islam permits women to work and to be entrepreneurs.
Based on monitoring by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan’s Human Rights Service, the update also notes that in May, dozens of UN female national staff were subjected to explicit death threats from unidentified individuals in relation to their work with the UN Mission and other UN agencies, funds and programmes. This required the UN to implement interim measures to protect their safety.
According to the update, in subsequent engagements with the de facto authorities, they informed the UN Mission that their personnel were not responsible, however an investigation by the de facto Ministry of Interior is underway.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan also noted that the de facto authorities’ monitoring of women’s adherence to the hijab instruction appeared to have intensified in some parts of the country. The update also mentioned recorded incidents of gender-based violence against women and girls, including cases in which officials of the de facto authorities were accused of being both perpetrators of forced marriage and enforcing forced marriages.
SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Security Council held a High-Level Open Debate on Maritime Security: "Prevention, innovation and international cooperation to address emerging challenges.” Briefing Council members via VTC, the Secretary-General of the International Maritime, Organization, Arsenio Dominguez, stressed that the safety and security of the maritime sector is fundamental to economic stability, sustainable maritime development and to livelihoods.
STEELPAN DAY
Today is World Steelpan Day. The steelpan is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. It possesses cultural and historical significance and correlates to cultural, social and economic development.
GUEST TOMORROW
Tomorrow, Ulrika Richardson, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Haiti will be the noon briefing guest.
