UN Secretary-General’s statement on the Middle East Crisis and Palestine updates, Highlights of the noon briefing by Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General – 31 July 2024

31 July 2024

(Excerpt)

MIDDLE EAST (Secretary-General’s statement)

Good afternoon, I will start off with a statement on the situation in the Middle East.

The Secretary-General believes that the attacks we have seen in South Beirut and Teheran represent a dangerous escalation at a moment in which all efforts should instead be leading to a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all Israeli hostages, a massive increase of humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza and a return to calm in Lebanon and across the Blue Line.

Rather than that, what we are seeing are efforts to undermine these goals.

The Secretary-General has consistently called for maximum restraint by all. It is increasingly clear, however, that restraint alone is insufficient at this extremely sensitive time. The Secretary-General urges all to vigorously work towards regional de-escalation in the interest of long-term peace and stability for all.

The international community must work together to urgently prevent any actions that could push the entire Middle East over the edge, with a devastating impact on civilians. The way to do so is by advancing comprehensive diplomatic action for regional de-escalation.

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OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

Turning to the situation in Gaza, our colleagues from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us that once again, today, they observed the return of thousands of people to parts of Khan Younis. This includes central and eastern neighbourhoods in the city, as well as the adjacent area of Bani Suhaila. Their return follows the announced completion of ground operations by Israeli forces in those areas earlier this week.

Meanwhile, you may have seen that, yesterday, the World Health Organization supported a complex joint effort to evacuate 85 sick and severely injured patients from Gaza to Abu Dhabi. The medical evacuation – which was the largest from Gaza since October – was a partnership with the Emirati Government and other organizations.

The patients included 35 children, with more than 60 caregivers and family members accompanying the patients. The group was transferred from Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing.

More than 10,000 people still desperately need to be medically evacuated from Gaza.

Dr. Tedros at WHO said he hopes this will pave the way for the establishment of evacuation corridors via all possible routes. He also called for evacuations to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to be restored.

As for the West Bank, our colleagues at OCHA say that attacks by Israeli forces and settlers are continuing to have a devastating impact on Palestinians there. According to their regular update and latest figures, nearly 80 Palestinians – including almost two dozen children – were injured by Israeli forces or settlers in incidents across the West Bank in just a single week, between 23 and 29 July.

Following the sad news today of the killing of two Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza, I want to extend our condolences to our colleagues from Al Jazeera.

I would also like to stress once again: it is clear that journalists must be protected. These and other similar incidents must be fully and transparently investigated and there must be accountability. And we of course condemn clearly the killing of journalists.

Also tomorrow, a briefing that should interest you, OCHA’s Head of Office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Andrea De Domenico, will be our guest here and he will brief remotely from East Jerusalem.

PALESTINIAN PRISONERS

Also want to flag that our colleagues at the UN Human Rights Office today published a report on arbitrary, prolonged and incommunicado detention by Israeli authorities, impacting thousands of Palestinians since last October, including UNRWA staff.

The report also covers allegations of torture and other forms of cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, including sexual abuse of women and men.

According to the report, at least 53 Palestinian detainees are known to have died in Israeli military facilities and prisons since the horrific terror attacks by Hamas on 7 October on Israeli civilians.

Also just want to say that we’ve taken note of the detention by the Israeli Defense Forces of a number of these soldiers, suspected of abuse in detention centers.

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