Middle East

The latest round of a large-scale polio vaccination campaign in Gaza targeting nearly 600,000 young children got underway on Saturday.

Aid operations in the Gaza Strip continue to reach people from north to south with critical assistance, including cash, the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Friday. 

The UN Secretary-General on Thursday condemned the “parading” of coffins earlier in the day containing the bodies of dead Israeli hostages by their Hamas captors, describing the manner of the handover in Gaza as abhorrent.

Accelerating economic recovery is critical to reverse Syria’s decline and restore stability, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said in a report published on Thursday. 

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday that the mass polio vaccination campaign in Gaza which began successfully last year, will continue in the coming days.

The UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, condemned efforts by Israeli officials on Tuesday to shut down an UNRWA-run training centre in occupied East Jerusalem.

The reconstruction of Gaza and the occupied West Bank will require an estimated $53.2 billion over the next ten years, according to the latest Damage and Needs Assessment from the UN and partners. 

Explosive ordnance continues to claim lives across Syria, with more than 430 deaths and injuries reported since December, nearly a third of them children, according to Stéphane Dujarric, the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.  

As the UN and partners continue to deliver life-saving assistance across the Gaza Strip, the scale of needs remains overwhelming, requiring urgent and sustained support, UN aid coordination office OCHA said on Monday. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the latest round of hostage releases in Gaza and the continued implementation of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday condemned the intensifying Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank, warning that nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced already amid an “alarming wave” of violence and destruction.

Lifesaving aid continued to reach Gaza on Thursday while UN humanitarians warned that needs remain enormous after 15 months of constant Israeli bombardment.

A lasting peace is still possible in Yemen but requires commitment, courage, and action from all sides, the UN Special Envoy for the country told the Security Council on Thursday. 

The UN is leading a surge of humanitarian relief and preparing for the monumental task of rebuilding Gaza, as a fragile ceasefire holds but tensions loom over a potential resumption of fighting.

More than 825,000 people who were displaced within Syria have returned to their areas of origin since December, the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Thursday.