Highlights of the noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General António Guterres (18 June 2024)

18 June 2024

(excerpt of the press briefing focusing on Gaza conflict)

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OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY 

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that displaced families in Gaza continue to face dire conditions and significant challenges in accessing basic services. Additionally, according to recent assessments led by OCHA and humanitarian partners on 7 June, critically low access to water was reported as a key concern.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that it remains concerned about the escalating health crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory, including the West Bank, where attacks on health infrastructure and increased restrictions on movement are obstructing access to health care.

As of 28 May, WHO has documented 480 attacks on health care in the West Bank since 7 October 2023. These include attacks on health infrastructure and ambulances, detention of health workers and patients, obstruction of their access to health facilities, use of force on health workers and militarized searches of ambulances and staff.

Meanwhile in the West Bank, the closure of checkpoints, arbitrary obstructions, and detentions of health workers, rising insecurity, as well as the siege and closure of entire towns and communities has made movement within the West Bank increasingly restricted, impeding access to health facilities.

And a preliminary assessment released by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) finds that the environmental impacts of the war in Gaza are unprecedented, exposing the community to rapidly growing soil, water and air pollution and risks of irreversible damage to its natural ecosystems. UNEP reiterates the call for an immediate ceasefire to protect lives and eventually help mitigate the conflict’s environmental impacts. The authors find that resolving immediate and chronic environmental challenges in Gaza is key for its people’s health and must be integrated into recovery and reconstruction plans.

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