HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2023
SECRETARY-GENERAL
Since last night, the Secretary-General and his team have been working the phones, and he is in constant contact with Israeli authorities, urging them to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.
He has also had phone contacts with Permanent Representatives, here in New York, and other officials in the region.
Our efforts at headquarters and in the field are focused on the following main points:
We need to ensure full support for opening humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip to prevent a further loss of civilian lives. It is vital that Israeli Authorities protect all civilians in UNRWA shelters including schools and protect all civilians, full stop. UN facilities must be protected at all times and must never come under attack, in accordance with international humanitarian law.
We are also continuing to do our utmost to mobilize life-saving humanitarian assistance. Our colleagues at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs have launched a flash appeal – and I will have a bit more on that in a second and our colleagues at the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which desperately needed financial help before this crisis and needs it even more now. And we want to thank the Government of Jordan for its generous donation.
We must ensure the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages being held in Gaza and we need of course to avoid a spillover of this conflict to the West Bank and to the wider region.
GAZA
UNRWA has relocated its central operations and international staff to a location in the southern Gaza strip, to continue its humanitarian operations and support to staff and of course the Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip.
UNRWA urges the Israeli authorities to protect everyone. UNRWA also notes that since the 7th of October, over 423,000 people have already been displaced. Of them, more than 270,000 have taken refuge in UNRWA shelters, and those numbers are of last night. We have not been able to get updated numbers due to the current situation, but they are likely to be exponentially higher. In those shelters, basic food, medicine and support is being provided to retain dignity and a glimmer of hope for those who have sought shelter.
We urge all parties and those with influence over them to put an end to this tragedy.
Also, since Wednesday, Gaza has been experiencing a full electricity blackout, which has brought essential health and water and sanitation services to the brink of collapse. Hospitals only have a few hours of electricity each day as they are forced to ration depleting fuel reserves. That is according to the World Health Organization. They also face severe shortages of medicine and blood.
The lack of electricity, as one can easily imagine, is impacting food security as well, disrupting refrigeration and irrigation.
No aid is currently getting into the Gaza Strip as border crossings remain closed. And colleagues on the ground say the UN’s own supplies in Gaza have now hit the bottom of the barrel.
UN Women reports that Gaza is home to 50,000 pregnant women who are struggling to access essential health services as healthcare workers, hospitals and clinics come under attack. Some 5,500 of these women are due to give birth in the coming month.
And as a reminder, team leaders of the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Department of Safety and Security in Gaza were informed by the Israeli liaison officers in the Israeli military that the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within 24 hours. That was as of midnight, local time, last night. This amounts to approximately 1.1 million people. The same order applied to all UN staff and those sheltered in UN facilities – including schools, health centres and clinics.
We consider it is impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences.
We strongly appeal for any such order to be rescinded. It could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.
LEBANON
In Lebanon, the UN is very concerned by reports of renewed explosions in UNIFIL’s Area of Operations.
The Mission is also receiving very distressing reports about one journalist being killed and others being wounded, including severely wounded. UNIFIL leadership is actively engaging with authorities on both sides of the Blue Line to try to de-escalate the situation and avoid any serious miscalculations. Peacekeepers are continuing their essential work and remain on task, in order to avoid any spillover in that particular area.
SYRIA
Turning to Syria, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that the UN has completed a mission to the country’s north-west yesterday, to assess the ongoing humanitarian response, in the wake of increased hostilities in Idlib over the past week – which is the most significant since 2019.
Our humanitarian partners and local health authorities say the fighting has killed more than 50 people – including 15 children – with more than 300 injured. Three aid workers are among the dead.
The inter-agency team – led by the Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, David Carden – visited a reception centre and the Sham Surgical Hospital, which has treated some three dozen patients injured in the latest fighting. The team also spoke with health workers and displaced families.
Nearly 70,000 men, women and children have reportedly been displaced due to the hostilities, with some two dozen health facilities and 17 education facilities also affected.
We and our partners are stepping up the response efforts – reaching some 17,000 people with food assistance and more than 800 families with shelter and other essential supplies.
SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Security Council heard from Adedeji Ebo, the Director and Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, briefing the Council on the provision of military assistance to the armed forces of Ukraine, he said, has continued in the context of the full-scale invasion of that country. He said the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs also takes note of reports related to the transfer of depleted-uranium tank ammunition to the Ukrainian forces.
In addition, Mr. Ebo said that there have been reports of States transferring, or planning to transfer, weapons such as uncrewed aerial vehicles and ammunition to the Russian armed forces, including for possible use in Ukraine. He added that reports related to the use of anti-personnel landmines and the use and transfer of cluster munitions in Ukraine is deeply concerning.
On behalf of the High Representative, Mr. Ebo called for an immediate end to the use of these inhumane and indiscriminate weapons, which have severe and lasting humanitarian impacts.
AFGHANISTAN
The UN Mission in Afghanistan today expressedits deep sorrow and condolences to all those killed and wounded in this afternoon’s explosion in a Shi’a Mosque in Pul-e Khumri.
UNAMA said it is working on the ground to establish facts about the incident.
AFGHANISTAN/UN REFUGEE AGENCY
UNHCR today launched an appeal for $14.4 million to scale up its assistance for those impacted by the tragic recent earthquakes in western Afghanistan.
SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT
Today, the Secretary-General appointed Volker Perthes of Germany as the Head of the Independent Strategic Review of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), which is mandated by Security Council resolution 2682 (2023).
Mr. Perthes brings to this position three decades of experience in academia, research, international relations and diplomacy, including with the UN, and as you all know, he recently served at the Head of Mission in Sudan.
