Tag: Humanitarian aid

‘People are scared and desperate’

“This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on Gaza,” said the Director of UNRWA Affairs in the Gaza Strip, Thomas White, who added: “People are scared, frustrated and desperate”.

He went on to say that the tensions and fear were made worse by the cuts in the phones and internet communication lines.

“They feel that they are on their own, cut off from their families inside Gaza and the rest of the world,” said Mr. White, who noted that massive displacement of people from the north of the Gaza Strip southward has placed enormous pressure on those communities, adding further burden on crumbling public services.

Some families received up to 50 relatives taking shelter in one household.

“Supplies on the market are running out while the humanitarian aid coming into the Gaza Strip on trucks from Egypt is insufficient. The needs of the communities are immense, if only for basic survival, while the aid we receive is meager and inconsistent,” added Mr. White.

‘Set up to fail’

The UNRWA official reported that to date, just over 80 trucks of aid crossed into Gaza in one week.

On Saturday, 28 October, there was no convoy due to the blackout in communications. UNRWA, which is the main actor for the reception and storage of aid in the Gaza Strip, was not able to communicate with the different parties to coordinate the passage of the convoy.

“The current system of convoys is geared to fail,” said Mr. White, explaining that very few trucks, slow processes, strict inspections, supplies that do not match the requirements of UNRWA and the other aid organizations, and mostly the ongoing ban on fuel, “are all a recipe for a failed system.”

“We call for a regular and steady flow line of humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip to respond to the needs especially as tensions and frustrations grow,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, UNRWA teams in Gaza have reported that internet services and connections were restored, and they will reassess the situation with the aim of resuming convoys and distribution of assistance.

‘Trickle of supplies’ in not enough

Samer Abdeljaber, WFP Representative and Country Director in Palestine, made a similar plea: “We need a humanitarian pause to be able to reach the people in need with food, water and basic necessities safely and effectively. Much more access is urgently needed, and the trickle of supplies needs to become a flow.”

The storming of the supply warehouses in Gaza was “a sign of people losing hope and becoming more desperate by the minute. They are hungry, isolated, and have been suffering violence and immense distress for three weeks.”

Adding to the overall concerns, WFP said that fuel shortages and loss of connectivity also threaten to bring humanitarian operations to a halt. Without additional fuel supplies, bakeries working with WFP in Gaza are no longer operational and transporters cannot deliver food where it’s needed.

WFP reported that it plans to provide food lifeline to over one million people who are going hungry now and the agency needs a steady supply of food with at least 40 FP trucks to cross daily into Gaza to be able to meet the escalating needs.

Honouring fallen colleagues

Also on Sunday, in the Jordanian capital, Amman, UNRWA, led by Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, organized a ceremony to honor the memory of its 59 staff members who have lost their lives in Gaza since the crisis erupted on 7 October.

“Every day becomes darker for the United Nations and UNRWA as the number of our colleagues being killed increases. Talk of indescribable suffering flows from Gaza hourly,” the agency said.

Secretary-General António Guterres said on X, formerly Twitter: “I reiterate my appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, together with the unconditional release of hostages and the delivery of relief at a level corresponding to the dramatic needs of the people in Gaza, where a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in front of our eyes.”

The UN chief is on his way to Nepal but is following the situation closely. His spokesman in NY said that at a stopover in Doha, Qatar, Mr. Guterres spoke by phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and the two discussed the current situation in the Middle East and spoke about the coordination of humanitarian efforts for civilians in Gaza.

‘Communications blackout’

Volker Türk’s appeal came as UN humanitarians continued to issue dire warnings about the full scale of the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

‘Crumbs’ of aid

The head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), said that the “few (aid) trucks” which have come in from Egypt since 21 October are “nothing more than crumbs that will not make a difference for two million people”.

“What is needed is meaningful and uninterrupted aid flow. To succeed we need a humanitarian ceasefire to ensure this aid reaches those in need,” he insisted.

UN human rights office (OHCHR) Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told journalists in Geneva about the “harrowing testimonies” of parents writing children’s names on their arms to be able to identify their remains.

Staff on the ground tell her that each night they make calculations on whether to sleep in the open or indoors, weighing the risks of being killed by a falling ceiling or shrapnel.

A living ‘nightmare’

UN World Food Programme (WFP) Representative in Palestine Samer Abdeljaber said that people in Gaza described the situation as a “nightmare – and we have no way to wake up from it”. He highlighted the dire conditions in UNRWA-designated shelters which are almost three times over capacity.

“In the room the size of a classroom 70 people sleep, eat, drink and take care of their families”, he said, and there are eight toilets for 25,000 people.

‘Terrible choices’

Speaking from Jerusalem, the UN’s top humanitarian official in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, stressed that “all humanitarian assistance and humanitarian issues have to be unconditional”.

The 224 hostages held in Gaza need to be released “immediately and unconditionally”, she said, reiterating calls from the UN chief António Guterres.

Humanitarian aid also has to be able to reach people in Gaza “unconditionally”, she said.

Ms. Hastings highlighted the “terrible choices” which the aid community is confronted with, given the very small trickle of aid that has been coming in, the fuel shortage and the security situation.

She deplored the need for humanitarians to decide “which communities do you send the items to, which bakeries, which desalination plant should be turned on or off, which hospital do you send medication to”.

Services collapse due to fuel crisis

Ms. Hastings said that in normal times more than 780 trucks with fuel would have crossed into Gaza since 7 October. In the absence of deliveries UNRWA has been relying on a sole fuel pump situated close to the Rafah border but access has been “sporadic” and supplies were dwindling very fast.

Forced to ration fuel, bakeries in the Strip will only be able to bake bread for a million people for another 11 days, Ms. Hastings warned, while UNRWA warned that some are already going hungry.

WFP’s Samer Abdeljaber said that only two WFP-contracted bakeries are working, compared to 23 at the start of the operation.

Fuel is also critical for to power water desalination plants so that they can produce drinking water, and pumping stations.

Ms. Hastings flagged that with sanitation backed up, raw sewage is being pumped into the sea in Gaza but once fuel runs out, “whether it’s tomorrow or Monday”, sewage pumping will become impossible and wastewater will be “overflowing in the streets”.

Babies in incubators at risk

Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, UN health agency (WHO) representative in the occupied Palestinian territory told journalists that a minimum of 94,000 litres of fuel per day are needed to “keep critical functions running” at 12 major hospitals in Gaza.

Two in three hospitals in the enclave are “partially functional” Dr. Peeperkorn said. He underscored that power and medical supplies shortages were putting at risk 1,000 kidney patients in need of dialysis, 130 premature babies in incubators, 2,000 cancer patients and scores of others on ventilators in intensive care units.

Aid ‘a drop in the ocean’

Humanitarians stressed that the lack of fuel is also compromising the ability of aid trucks entering through the Rafah crossing to distribute the supplies across Gaza.

Ms. Hastings underscored the difficulty in getting aid to the north, which is under evacuation orders, but has seen displaced people move back from the south due to airstrikes and “untenable” living conditions there.

She also reiterated that the 74 aid trucks which have been allowed in through Rafah since 21 October, with another eight or so expected today, were very little compared to the 450 trucks entering Gaza daily prior to the crisis – “a drop in the ocean”, according to WHO’s Dr. Peeperkorn.

WFP’s Samer Abdeljaber said that his agency has only been able to bring in under two per cent of the food required. WFP has delivered fresh bread and canned tuna to half a million people in shelters in Gaza but “for every person receiving assistance, six more are in need”.

Some 39 WFP trucks are at or near the Egyptian border with Gaza awaiting entry, Mr. Abdeljaber said, and other agencies have also pre-positioned supplies there.

If sustained access and fuel are granted, the agency plans to bring life-saving food to more than one million people within the next two months, he said.

His call came just hours before UN agencies reported that phone lines, internet and mobile service in Gaza went down.

“Gaza has lost contact with the outside world amid reports of intensified bombardment,” Lynn Hastings, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Palestine, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has “lost touch with our staff in Gaza, with health facilities, health workers and the rest of our humanitarian partners on the ground,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also wrote on the social media platorm.

“This siege makes me gravely concerned for their safety and the immediate health risks of vulnerable patients,” he said. “We urge immediate protection of all civilians and full humanitarian access.”

Catherine Russell, head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), voiced concern over the safety of colleagues and the one million children in Gaza, saying that “All humanitarians and the children and families they serve MUST be protected.”

Fuel supply critical

In his statement, the Secretary-General said that life-saving humanitarian aid – food, water, medicine, fuel – must be allowed to reach all civilians in Gaza “swiftly, safely and at scale.”

He noted that about 500 trucks per day were crossing into Gaza before the hostilities began, compared to the recent average of 12 trucks per day “despite needs being far greater than at any time before.”

However, the supplies that have trickled in do not include fuel for UN operations – essential to power hospitals, water desalination plants, food production and aid distribution.

“Given the desperate and dramatic situation, the United Nations will not be able to continue to deliver inside Gaza without an immediate and fundamental shift in how aid is going in,” he warned.

Mr. Guterres called for the verification system for the movement of goods through the Rafah crossing from Egypt to be adjusted to allow many more trucks in without delay.

“We must meet the expectations and core needs of civilians in Gaza,” he said.

‘A moment of truth’

The Secretary-General has welcomed the growing global consensus for a humanitarian pause in the conflict.

“I repeat my call for a humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and the delivery of lifesaving supplies at the scale needed,” he said.

He warned that without a fundamental change, the people of Gaza will face an unprecedented avalanche of human suffering

“Everyone must assume their responsibilities. This is a moment of truth. History is judging us all.”

Meeting with Iran

In related developments, the UN chief met with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, on Friday afternoon.

“The Secretary-General expressed to the Foreign Minister the importance of the Iranian contribution towards the unconditional and immediate release of hostages held in Gaza, and for the efforts being made to avoid a regional spill-over of the conflict and, in particular, in relation to Lebanon,” according to a readout from his Office.

No fuel, no bread: WFP

The World Food Programme (WFP) also highlighted how severe fuel shortages threaten humanitarian operations in Gaza.

“Without additional fuel supplies, bakeries working with WFP will no longer be able to produce bread. Only two of our contracted bakeries have fuel to produce bread at the moment and tomorrow there might be none,” WFP Representative in Palestine Samer Abdeljaber said on Friday.

“This would be a terrible blow to the thousands of families living in shelters who have been relying on the daily bread deliveries.”

WFP echoed the Secretary-General’s call for a humanitarian ceasefire, underlining the need for continuous aid delivery to Gaza.

$80 million health appeal

Meanwhile, WHO is seeking $80 million to respond to needs in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), particularly Gaza, and for contingency planning for Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

The funding will be used to scale-up trauma and emergency care services, maintain access to essential health services and treatment of chronic conditions, establish disease surveillance and outbreak control measures, and ensure coordination of response.

WHO issued a statement noting that the conflict in Israel and the oPt has caused a large number of civilian deaths and injuries.

Fear of outbreaks, spillover

Hospitals in Gaza have been operating far beyond capacity due to a rise in the number of patients as well as displaced persons seeking shelter. The situation is unfolding amid airstrikes and a lack of medical supplies, food, water and fuel.

Overall, 1.4 million people have been uprooted and “massive displacement to shelters with inadequate resources will result in disease outbreaks,” WHO said.

Furthermore, there have been 171 attacks on healthcare in the oPt since the start of hostilities on 7 October, leading to 493 deaths and 387 injuries, with 56 attacks impacting health facilities and 130 impacting health personnel.

“The escalation of hostilities has already spread to the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Lebanon Israel border and Syrian Arab Republic, with a risk of spilling over to other countries in the region, including Jordan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Iraq,” the agency warned.

Explosions in Lebanon

Separately, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported hearing explosions on Friday in several parts of the south, and peacekeepers observed two mortar rounds landing at sea.

UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the Mission also observed multiple flares and shells being fired in UNIFIL’s area of operations on Thursday.

“As we have been reporting, over the past few days, our firefighters are continuing to support the Lebanese authorities in extinguishing fires burning near Alma ash-Shaab and Naqoura,” he told journalists in New York.

The fires have threatened UN positions and civilian properties and were a result of exchanges of fire along the Blue Line, the unofficial frontier between Israel and south Lebanon. UNIFIL continues to monitor the situation.

Reports of an overnight Israeli military incursion using tanks in northern Gaza followed another series of calls by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) for civilians in Gaza City to evacuate – warnings which “make no difference” because “people have nowhere to go or are unable to move”, according to the UN’s top humanitarian official in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings.

‘Nowhere is safe’

“When the evacuation routes are bombed, when people north as well as south are caught up in hostilities, when the essentials for survival are lacking, and when there are no assurances for return, people are left with nothing but impossible choices”, she said, insisting that “nowhere is safe in Gaza”.

Ms. Hastings appealed for the protection of civilians in armed conflict and reiterated calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the more than 220 people held captive by Hamas since the group’s deadly incursion into Israel on 7 October.

That terror attack left more than 1,400 dead, drawing widespread and immediate condemnation from top UN officials including UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Medical support for hostages: Tedros

Little is known about the status of the captives, and after meeting with some of their families on Wednesday UN health agency WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that “there is an urgent need for the captors of the hostages to provide signs of life, proof of provision of health care and the immediate release, on humanitarian and health grounds, of all those abducted”.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) should be granted immediate access to the hostages to understand their health status, and WHO stands ready to provide the ICRC with health support for the hostages, he said.

“I committed, on behalf of WHO, to do all we can to support the health and humanitarian needs of those being held captive,” Tedros insisted.

Record death toll

Meanwhile the heaviest death toll yet from Gaza was reported on Wednesday by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, which said that 756 were killed, including 344 children, bringing total fatalities in the territory to 6,547 since the start of Israel’s retaliation for Hamas’ attacks on 7 October.

With bombardments continuing, according to Gaza’s de facto authorities, some 1,600 people including 900 children have been reported missing and may be under the rubble.

Bodies in tents

UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA said that while visiting a hospital in Gaza, UN personnel saw hundreds of wounded men, women and children.

“Many of them were unconscious, with open wounds – lying on beds, stretchers and on the floor – with limited medical attendance,” while tens of dead bodies were being kept in a tent in the yard because morgues are full, the UN office said.

The ongoing fuel blockade and lack of water, medical supplies and personnel are forcing hospitals to wind down operations, OCHA said. Humanitarians also warned that people were resorting to drinking saltwater which posed “immediate health risks”.

As of Wednesday the UN World Food Programme (WFP) estimated that “current supplies of essential food in Gaza are sufficient for about 12 days”.

Inaction on Security Council

On Wednesday night in New York, the Security Councilfailed once again to find consensus over even a unified call for a humanitarian ceasefire.

The head of UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, whose agency has now lost at least 35 staff members during the ongoing Israeli bombardment, said in an opinion piece published on Thursday morning that “history will ask why the world did not have the courage to act decisively and stop this hell on Earth.”

UN refugee agency (UNHCR) chief Filippo Grandi tweeted that the work aid workers are doing in Gaza “is nothing short of heroic”, calling for UNRWA to get the resources it needs “because not only is it a lifeline for thousands but it also represents one of the last shreds of humanity amidst the devastation.”

More to come…

An alert from Gaza’s main hospital in the south of the enclave that lifesaving operations would stop on Wednesday evening because of fuel shortages followed an appeal from UN chief António Guterres for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

A truce was needed, he told the Security Council on Tuesday, “to ease epic suffering, make the delivery of aid easier and safer and facilitate the release of hostages”.

He said although nothing could justify the appalling attacks by Hamas of 7 October, it was important to recognize they “did not happen in a vacuum” and did not justify the collective punishment of Palestinians.

Following the Secretary-General’s comments, Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan announced that visas would be denied to UN officials, arguing that Mr. Guterres’s speech sought to justify Hamas’s brutal assault which left some 1,400 dead.

An Israeli visa has already been refused for UN emergency relief chief Martin Griffiths, Mr. Erdan said in a media interview.

Israel in deep trauma

The trauma of survivors and the “collective psychological burden” brought on by the hostage crisis in which over 220 Israelis and foreign nationals were still being held captive in Gaza has sent mental health needs soaring, UN health agency WHO’s Special Representative in Israel Dr. Michel Thieren said.

When visiting a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon which is treating many of the 4,600 people wounded in the attacks, Dr. Thieren said that “almost every one of those survivors had seen someone else die before they themselves were injured”.

‘Ghost towns’ in the south

The WHO official underscored that the mental health of doctors and nurses he met in Israel had been strongly affected by survivors’ accounts and the wounds they were treating.

He also visited military bases where the mutilated bodies of many of the 1,400 victims of the Hamas attacks are stored in refrigerated containers and spoke about the impact on the doctors and forensic experts struggling to identify them.

“I have visited ghost towns in the south whose populations have been evacuated. There is still the terrible stench of death. […] The shadow of national shock and grief has plunged this country into night. When mental health perishes, so does physical health,” Dr Thieren said.

Fuel critically low

Meanwhile in Gaza, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, which is the largest humanitarian provider in the enclave, warned that unless fuel is allowed in, it will be forced to halt all operations as of Wednesday night.

Gaza has been under a full electricity blackout since 11 October and fuel shortages have compromised essential services from ambulances to bakeries and water facilities.

According to media reports, a fourth humanitarian aid convoy arrived in the enclave through the Rafah border crossing late on Tuesday, consisting of eight trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent.

Tuesday also saw the highest fatality toll reported in a single day in Gaza during this round of hostilities, the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) said.

Some 704 Palestinians including 305 children were killed, bringing the total death toll in the territory to 5,791 according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

Plight of women and girls

Joining its voice to the UN chief’s calls for a humanitarian ceasefire, UN Women has highlighted the plight of women and girls in the Gaza Strip amid the escalation.

Speaking to UN News, UN Women Deputy Executive Director Sarah Hendriks stressed the urgent need for women and girls in Gaza to access safe shelter, protection and maternal healthcare. She said that according to UNFPA, the UN Population Fund, some 50,000 women in Gaza are currently pregnant and over 5,500 are expected to give birth just in the next month.

Access to healthcare is tightening by the hour in Gaza. WHO said on Tuesday that a third of hospitals and nearly two thirds of primary health care clinics in the territory have shut down.

Ms. Hendriks also said that “the violence has produced close to 900 new female headed households” and highlighted the struggle of widows to provide for their families. She warned about the ever-present threat of gender-based violence compounded by mass displacement and conditions in overcrowded shelters.

“We will continue to remain on the ground listening to the voices of women and girls, hearing their perspectives and translating those to the international community so that their needs can be prioritized even as the solutions to the overall conflict are being addressed,” Ms. Hendriks said.

Doctors have been performing surgeries without anaesthesia or other basic surgical supplies, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said in an update, noting that fuel has become the “most vital commodity” in Gaza.

Without it, “trucks can’t move and generators can’t produce electricity for hospitals, bakeries and water desalination plants,” said Tamara Alrifai, spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA).

To date, fuel has been absent from the aid convoys allowed in so far.

“We are on our knees asking for sustained, scaled up, protected humanitarian operations”, UN health agency (WHO) Emergencies Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region Dr. Rick Brennan said.

Briefing reporters from Cairo, he appealed “to all those in a situation to make a decision or influence decision makers, to give us the humanitarian space to address this human catastrophe”.

Diligence system for aid

The 54 trucks which have crossed into Gaza from Egypt as part of three convoys since Saturday contained a mix of food, medical supplies and non-food items, Ms. Alrifai said.

In comparison, she underscored that before the conflict, 500 trucks used to enter Gaza every day – those included commercial trucks and at least 100 aid trucks, some 45 of them bringing fuel.

Ms. Alrifai stressed that the logistics, coordination, transport and warehousing of the three convoys from Rafah were organized on the Gaza Strip side by UNRWA. Asked about the security risk of any fuel deliveries falling into the wrong hands, Ms. Alrifai explained that as with other equipment UNRWA would be responsible for receiving and handling the fuel, and having it delivered to hospitals and water desalination plants.

“We have in place a very sturdy diligence system to make sure that anything we receive is only used for humanitarian purposes,” she insisted.

Outbreaks ‘just a matter of time’

WHO’s Dr. Brennan highlighted the dire consequences of a lack of access to clean water, compounded by overcrowding. Between one and three litres per person per day were available in Gaza while the absolute minimum was 15 litres, he said.

People were being pushed to consume contaminated water and the spread of infectious diseases was “just a matter of time”.

Dr Brennan also said that WHO was working with UNRWA to establish a system of disease surveillance with daily reports. The most common infectious diseases were respiratory tract infections and diarrhoea, but chicken pox and skin infections like scabies and head lice were also to be expected.

Health facilities overwhelmed

WHO highlighted the extreme gravity of the health situation in the Gaza Strip under Israeli bombardment for over two weeks.

One in three hospitals and two in three clinics were not functioning, and health facilities and workers were overwhelmed with a massive load of trauma cases, many of them complex injuries due to explosions. Dr Brennan cited the example of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which had 1.5 patients for each bed.

With 1.4 million displaced people across the territory, overcrowding was a major challenge to the health system.

“I’ve been working in humanitarian assistance for 30 years and can’t remember that number of people displaced over such a short period of time,” Dr Brennan said.

Medicines boost

Some of the WHO medicines and supplies from the three convoys allowed into the enclave have already been delivered to three key referral hospitals in southern Gaza and to the Palestine Red Crescent Society for distribution to its two health facilities and ambulance crews.

“Health staff were so relieved to have replenishments, they took boxes of medicines off the trucks and straight into operating theatres,” WHO said.

Up to 200 women per day are having babies in Gaza and have trouble finding a safe place to deliver, Dr Brennan warned. More than half of them can be expected to experience complications and risk not getting the care they need.

Furthermore, under constant bombardment, the mental health needs of the population are “enormous”, he said.

‘Mortality will increase’

Dr. Brennan highlighted the plight of Gazans with chronic conditions, including kidney disease and diabetes, who have more and more difficulty in accessing services. He warned that they will experience complications and that “mortality will increase”.

Across the border in Egypt, WHO said that it has additional medicines and medical equipment on standby that are enough to provide surgical interventions for 3,700 trauma patients, essential health services for 110,000 people and care for 20,000 chronic diseases patients.

Lives on the line

Dr. Brennan stressed however that even once supplies get across the border, delivery to hospitals is compromised not only because of the lack of fuel, but also due to the “huge security risks” to UN personnel and partners trying to bring aid to hospitals in an active war zone.

UNRWA’s Ms. Alrifai recalled that the agency was mourning the loss of 35 staff so far, most of whom were themselves displaced and were working inside the agency’s shelters and facilities to assist the 400,000 or so people who have sought safety there.

A total of 40 UNRWA installations have been damaged since 7 October.

Asked about accountability for the deaths and destruction, Ms. Alrifai reiterated the importance of respecting the principles of international humanitarian law in wartime.

“Whatever happened to our colleagues and our buildings is unacceptable – no matter who did it,” she said.

LIVE DEVELOPMENTS:

State of Palestine

10:45: Riyad al-Maliki, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Palestine, stated that the Security Council and the international community has a duty and an obligation to save lives.

“Continued failure at this [Security] Council is inexcusable,” he stressed.

He emphasized that only “international law and peace” were worthy of unconditional support by countries, adding that “more injustice and more killing, will not make Israel safer.”

“No amount of weapons, no alliance, will bring it security – only peace will, peace with Palestine and its people,” he said, stating: “the fate of the Palestinian people cannot continue to be dispossession, displacement, denial of rights and death. Our freedom is the condition of share peace and security.”

Mr. al-Maliki stressed that avoiding an even greater humanitarian catastrophe and regional spillover, “it must be clear that this can only be achieved by putting an immediate end to the Israeli war launched against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Stop the bloodshed.”

‘Humanity can prevail’

Briefing the Council, Lynn Hastings, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said agreement on the resumption of aid deliveries through the Rafah, Egypt, crossing and the release of a small number of hostages over the past few days “shows that through diplomacy and negotiation, humanity can prevail, and we can find humanitarian solutions, even in the depths of conflict”.

The world is looking to the Member States around this Council to play its part – Lynn Hastings

Urging all countries with influence to exert it and ensure respect for international humanitarian law, she said civilians must have the essentials to survive. As such, the passage of rapid and unimpeded humanitarian relief must be facilitated, and water and electricity connections resumed, she added.

She said that 20 more trucks are due to move over the Rafah crossing today “although they are currently delayed.” She said the UN was dtermined “to do our part to ensure these deliveries continue.”

She paid tribute to the 35 UN Palestine relief agency (UNRWA) colleagues who have tragically been killed during the Israeli bombardment.

Parties on all sides “must take constant care, to spare civilians”, with water and electricity connections resumed, in accordance with the rules of war.

10.38: “If we are to prevent any further descent into this humanitarian catastrophe, dialogue must continue – to ensure essential supplies can get into Gaza at the scale needed, to spare civilians and the infrastructure they depend on, to release hostages, and to avoid any further escalation and spillover,” she said. “The world is looking to the Member States around this Council to play its part in leading the way.”

‘The stakes are astronomically high’: Wennesland

Echoing that the current situation risks expanding to the wider region, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, said he and the UN Secretary-General have been pursuing “any and every opportunity” to address the situation on the ground and to prevent further civilian death and misery.

10.28: “It is critical, that we, as a united international community, employ all our collective efforts to end the bloodletting and prevent the further expansion of hostilities, including in the region,” he said. “The stakes are astronomically high, and I appeal for all relevant actors to act responsibly.”

Any miscalculation could have “immeasurable consequences”, he warned, adding that these devasting events were not divorced from the broader context in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Israel, and the region.

For a generation, hope has been lost, he underlined.

“Only a political solution will move us forward,” he said. “The steps we take to address this crisis must be implemented in a way that ultimately advances a negotiated peace that fulfils the legitimate national aspirations of Palestinians and Israelis – the long-held vision of two-States, in line with UN resolutions, international law, and previous agreements.”

‘More dire by the hour’: Guterres

10.11: Mr. Guterres gave what he termed an introduction to the current crisis, saying the situation in the Middle East is “growing more dire by the hour“.

“Divisions are splintering societies and tensions threaten to boil over.”, he said.

“It is vital to be clear on principles” he added, starting with the protection of civilians.

Secretary-General Guterres underscored the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, “to ease epic suffering, make the delivery of aid easier and safer and facilitate the release of hostages”.

Watch the UN chief’s full remarks here:

He also emphasized that the world cannot lose sight of the only realistic foundation for peace and stability in the Middle East – a two-State solution.

“Israelis must see their legitimate need for security materialized and Palestinians must see their legitimate need for an independent State realized, in line with UN resolutions, international law and previous agreements.”

What’s at stake

It marks the fourth time the 15 ambassadors of the UN’s premier peace and security body will convene since the intense cycle of violence began.

You can follow all the proceedings live on X broadcast by our colleagues at UN Web TV – click on the tweet here on the page, or click on the video embedded in the main photo area of this story.

So far, there has no agreement on any action, to alleviate the suffering of civilians caught up in the spiralling conflict between Hamas militants, who control the enclave of over two million Palestinians.

The Council failed to adopt two previous draft resolutions addressing the escalation. The first from Russia calling for an immediate ceasefire, failed to get enough votes, while a Brazilian draft was vetoed by the United States. Although it called for humanitarian pauses for aid access, the US determined objected to the fact it did not mention Israel’s right to self defence.

The UN chief António Guterres is due to brief today along with the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Lynn Hastings is also down to brief. She’s also been given the brief of deputy special coordinator.

Foreign ministers from several countries are also due to take part.

So far, 92 different countries have signed up to speak.

Today is also United Nations Day, marking 78 years since the UN Charter entered into force. In a statement the UN chief said that “at this critical hour, I appeal to all to pull back from the brink before the violence claims even more lives and spreads even further.”

10.02: The Council chamber is abuzz with diplomats exchanging views and awaiting the start of the meeting, which will be chaired by Brazil, which holds the presidency for the month of October.

10.07: The 9451st meeting of the Council is called to order…