Middle East

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…

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,”…

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…

Echoing that message, UN health agency (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued a new appeal on Monday for “sustained safe passage” for medical essentials and fuel to keep health facilities open. “Lives depend on these decisions,” he insisted on social platform X. Latest media reports citing the Gaza Ministry of…

“Without fuel, there will be no water, no functioning hospitals and bakeries. Without fuel, aid will not reach those in desperate need. Without fuel, there will be no humanitarian assistance. No fuel will further strangle the children, women and people of Gaza,” he said in a statement. UNRWA is the…

The 20-truck convoy that passed through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt carried life-saving supplies provided by the Egyptian Red Crescent and the UN, including enough water for 22,000 people but only for one day. The items were approved to cross and be received by the Palestinian Red Crescent, with…

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi convened leaders from the region and around the world in efforts to de-escalate hostilities following the Hamas incursion into Israel on 7 October, and Israel’s bombing of Gaza and complete siege of the enclave. The Summit took place one day after the UN chief travelled…

“Let me be clear: protecting civilians in times of conflict is not an aspiration or an ideal; it is an obligation and a commitment to our shared humanity,” UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement. Relentless air strikes and bombardments, coupled with evacuation orders from Israel, have displaced…

“Gaza was a desperate humanitarian situation before the most recent hostilities. It is now catastrophic. The world must do more,” they said. The statement was issued by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World…