HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 28 JULY 2025
SECRETARY-GENERAL/PALESTINE
The Secretary-General will speak this afternoon at the opening session of the international conference on the implementation of the two-State solution.
He will say that the only realistic, just and sustainable solution for Israelis and Palestinians is two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, within recognized borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the capital of both.
But he will warn that time is running out, with trust slipping every passing day while institutions are weakened and hopes are dashed.
At an earlier meeting this morning, he said that the wholesale destruction of Gaza is intolerable and must stop and that unilateral actions that would forever undermine the two-state solution are unacceptable.
The Secretary-General said that today’s conference is a rare and indispensable opportunity. We must ensure that it does not become another exercise in well-meaning rhetoric, Mr. Guterres added. It can and must serve as a decisive turning point – one that catalyzes irreversible progress towards ending the occupation and realizing our shared aspiration for a viable two-State solution.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Tom Fletcher, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, yesterday welcomed Israel’s decision to support a one-week scale-up of aid, including lifting customs barriers on food, medicine and fuel from Egypt and the reported designation of secure routes for UN humanitarian convoys. Some movement restrictions appear to have been eased on Sunday, he said, with initial reports indicating that over 100 truckloads were collected.
This is progress, Mr. Fletcher said, but vast amounts of aid are needed to stave off famine and a catastrophic health crisis. He said that we need sustained action, and fast, including quicker clearances for convoys going to the crossing and dispatching into Gaza; multiple trips per day to the crossings so we and our partners can pick up the cargo; safe routes that avoid crowded areas; and no more attacks on people gathering for food.
UN agencies and our partners have welcomed these measures. Yesterday, the World Food Programme(WFP) said that it has enough food in the region or on the way there to feed the starving population for about three months. The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) says that some 6,000 trucks in Jordan and Egypt are waiting for the green light to enter.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that July was the worst month of deaths linked to malnutrition, with more than 85 per cent of malnutrition related deaths recorded in 2025. Nearly one in five children under five in Gaza City is now acutely malnourished.
UN partners say that in July, more than 5,000 children under five have already been admitted for outpatient treatment of malnutrition. The only four specialized treatment centres in Gaza are overwhelmed, pushing an already fragile health system closer to collapse.
The UN and its partners stress the need for unimpeded access of humanitarian aid through all crossings and corridors to allow large-scale delivery of aid to the starving and exhausted population.
Yesterday, the Israeli authorities announced simplified movement procedures both from the crossings and within Gaza. Out of 17 missions requiring coordination with the Israeli authorities, eight were facilitated, including the collection of fuel and supplies from Kerem Shalom, while three have been denied, and two cancelled. Four missions, including the uplift of food cargo, were impeded but accomplished.
The long-standing restrictions on the entry of aid have created an unpredictable environment with a lack of confidence by communities that aid will reach them. This has resulted in many of our convoys being offloaded directly by starving, desperate people. Yesterday, hungry people offloaded food supplies before they could reach their intended destination.
As we have said before, the only way to mitigate for this situation is by having a sustained flow of aid over a period of time. This was evident during the ceasefire, when such incidents did not occur.
Meanwhile, airdrops have resumed in Gaza yesterday. While the UN welcomes all efforts to provide aid to the people who desperately need it, UN agencies and partners remind that airdrops are the last resort measure and carry risks for people on the ground. Injuries were reported yesterday when packages fell on tents.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that modest quantities of fuel have entered Gaza last week. Fuel must be allowed in, consistently and at the volume needed to keep aid operations running, including operating the trucks to collect and distribute cargo.
FOOD SYSTEMS SUMMIT
This morning, the Secretary-General delivered remarks, via a pre-recorded video message, to the Food Systems summit in Addis Ababa.
He said we have seen progress since the first Summit four years ago, but progress is not fast or fair enough.
Global hunger is rising, he said. One-third of the world's people cannot afford a healthy diet, while one-third of the world's food is lost or wasted.
The Secretary-General highlighted three urgent priorities:
First, he said, we need integrated policies and a global framework that connects agriculture to people: their health, climate, trade and finance.
Second, we must address power imbalances, govern food systems fairly, tackle inequality and deliver on the right to food for all.
And finally, Mr. Guterres said we must unlock and connect finance at scale.
But above all, he concluded, we need peace, so that investments can take root and farmers can look to the future with confidence.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL
The Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, attending the Second UN Food Systems Summit Stocktaking Moment (UNFSS+4) on behalf of the Secretary-General.
At the opening press conference, Ms. Mohammed highlighted the importance of the Summit in sharing progress on food systems transformation, strengthening multistakeholder collaboration, unlocking financing and investment and building momentum toward 2030 and beyond.
In the margins of the Summit, the Deputy Secretary-General met with senior government officials, civil society representatives, youth and other key stakeholders to discuss priority actions to advance food systems transformation and accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.
SECURITY COUNCIL/SYRIA
This morning, Security Council members held an open meeting on Syria. Geir Pedersen, our Special Envoy for Syria, briefed via video conference from Geneva. Among other issues, he spoke about the violence that we witnessed in Sweida this past month. He underscored that a sovereign Syria must ultimately hold the monopoly on the legitimate use of force and operate under the rule of law.
For her part, OCHA’s Director for Operations and Advocacy, Edem Wosornu, highlighted three key asks for the Council’s attention: First, protection of civilians, second is a continued investment in the humanitarian operations in Syria and lastly mobilizing resources for Syria’s reconstruction and development.
SYRIA/HUMANITARIAN
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that a third convoy made its way to Sweida Governorate today. This assistance, including from the UN, continues to be provided through the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society. But sustained access for more assistance is needed.
Meanwhile, over the past three days, OCHA led two interagency missions to assess the situation of families displaced by recent violence in Rural Damascus and Dar’a Governorates. In the town of Sayyeda Zeinab in Rural Damascus, some 3,000 people are sheltering in hotels. Displaced families reported trauma, injuries during fighting, and loss of homes and documentation. Health access is limited, with only one public hospital functioning and the nearest health centre 6 km away. In Dar’a, the mission assessed the Tal Shihab reception centre in Izra’ District as a potential site to accommodate displaced families.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed five attacks on healthcare in Sweida Governorate during the recent escalation of violence, including the killing of two doctors, obstruction and targeting of ambulances. WHO-supported mobile medical teams have been deployed to areas of displacement, providing urgent outpatient consultations, maternal and child health services, mental health support and essential medicines
The UN and its humanitarian partners have scaled up support across Dar’a and Rural Damascus Governorates. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and its partners provided more than 1,800 kits of household items, reaching over 9,000 people. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and its partners continue to deliver psychosocial services and distribute dignity kits to displaced women and girls.
UN partners have also delivered 90,000 bottles of water; provided 12,000 litres of fuel to operate essential water, sanitation and hygiene facilities; and supplied dozens of plastic water tanks to displaced families in Dar’a and Sweida Governorates. Additional water tanks are being dispatched to reception centres across the affected areas to enhance access to safe water.
LEBANON/ISRAEL
Peacekeepers from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) report continued Israel Defence Forces’ presence and military activities in the mission’s area of operations, including an air attack by a drone on Saturday in Sector West.
Yesterday, the peacekeepers found two unauthorized ammunition and weapons caches in Sector East, containing mortar and rocket shells, rocket launchers and unexploded ordnance. These were referred to the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Meanwhile, incidents of unfriendly behaviour and obstructions to UNIFIL’s movement continue. On Saturday, a UNIFIL patrol was blocked by local individuals from accessing a public location in Sector West. The patrol was able to continue its movement following an intervention by the Lebanese Armed Forces. Separately, on Friday, a quadcopter drone hovered above a UNIFIL patrol for several minutes in Sector West, before returning south of the Blue Line.
The UN reiterates the critical importance of the mission’s unhindered freedom of movement. Any intimidation and obstruction of UNIFIL’s work must stop.
UKRAINE
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that attacks over the weekend continued to damage hospitals, homes and critical infrastructure across the country. According to authorities, at least 20 people were killed, and more than 120 others were injured across the country from Friday to the early hours of today.
The most severe impact occurred in the north-east, in the Sumy region, where attacks hit a civilian bus and disrupted electricity services across the region. In the neighbouring Kharkiv region, a hospital was struck last Friday, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Attacks and hostilities also caused civilian casualties and damaged residential buildings, schools and shops in the regions of Dnipro, Donetsk, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia. Meanwhile, aid workers continue to coordinate with local organizations to support the most vulnerable people in the Sumy Region.
Today, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, visited several border communities with Andrea De Domenico, the Head of OCHA’s office in the country, and Richard Ragan, Country Director for the World Food Programme, to assess the most urgent needs of people affected by intense hostilities.
Following the strikes in the regions of Kharkiv and Dnipro, aid workers delivered shelter materials and other supplies, assisted with repairs and provided psychosocial assistance to impacted families. So far in 2025, more than 30 convoys have reached nearly 40,000 people in front lines areas.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) condemns the attack that took place over the weekend in the Ituri province. According to official reports, at least 49 civilians were killed by members of the ADF armed group. Most of them were reportedly killed inside a place of worship. Several people were abducted. Homes and shops were also set on fire, worsening an already extremely concerning humanitarian situation in the province.
The Mission expresses its deep outrage at these heinous acts of violence, which constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and infringements on human rights.
In coordination with local authorities, our peacekeeping colleagues have provided support for the response, including the organization of burials and the provision of medical care for the wounded. At the same time, MONUSCO has intensified its security efforts, in and around the site of the attack, by increasing the frequency of patrols in the area.
The mission remains fully committed to working alongside the Congolese authorities and local communities to help prevent future attacks, protect civilians, reduce tensions, and contribute to the stabilization of areas affected by armed violence.
SUDAN
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is alarmed by escalating health and food crises across the country. In the locality of Tawila, in North Darfur State, cholera cases continue to rise, with more than 1,500 suspected and confirmed infections reported since June. Over 500 people are currently receiving treatment. Local authorities have introduced emergency measures, including market closures and a ban on public gatherings.
As mentioned during a noon briefing last week, humanitarian organizations urgently require $120 million to scale up life-saving support in Tawila over the next three months. This funding is essential to contain the outbreak and sustain critical services.
Meanwhile, food insecurity continues to worsen across Sudan. In North Darfur State, low cereal supply, poor harvests and a prolonged food deficit have severely affected food availability. In Abu Shouk camp, displaced families are facing acute shortages of food and medicine, with local sources reporting four hunger-related deaths last week.
Food prices continue to rise to alarming levels in El Fasher, the state capital. In May, the average cost of the local food basket there was more than six times the national average. The city recorded the highest prices for nearly all essential items among assessed localities. Some of the most staggering price hikes included sugar, which rose by some 960 per cent, and sorghum by 160 per cent. Even liquid dish soap increased by 150 per cent in just one month.
As you’ll recall, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, has identified famine conditions in multiple areas in North Darfur and the eastern Nuba Mountains, with more locations at risk. An IPC alert earlier this month noted that the food security and nutrition situation will further deteriorate over the lean season from July to October, particularly in areas of active conflict with limited access and experiencing high levels of displacement.
Despite these challenges, we and our partners continue to provide assistance. Last week, the UN and our partners distributed shelter material, blankets, cooking sets and hygiene items to 2,000 newly-displaced families in North Darfur State. However, nearly 60 per cent of displaced families still lack adequate shelter support.
WORLD HEPATITIS DAY
Today is World Hepatitis Day. It is observed to raise awareness of viral hepatitis, which is an inflammation of the liver that causes severe liver disease and liver cancer. And this year’s theme is “Let’s Break it Down.”
