Middle East

Amid reports that Israeli strikes across Gaza overnight into Friday killed at least 64 people, aid teams once again pushed back strongly at allegations that aid is being diverted to Hamas, demanding an end to Israel’s blockade.

The UN human rights office (OHCHR) called on Friday for an end to senseless killings in the occupied West Bank, where a pregnant Israeli woman was among the latest victims. 

Between 2016 and 2024, the number of Egyptians with a bank account – which experts say is essential for financial inclusion - tripled, from 17.1 million to over 51 million.

Intensified hostilities continue in the Gaza Strip, bringing further death, displacement and destruction as the weeks-long aid blockade grinds on, the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA) said on Thursday. 

The ceasefire between the United States and Houthi rebels in Yemen provides an opportunity to revitalize the peace process in the Middle Eastern country, the UN Security Council heard on Wednesday. 

The UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, underlined the need to protect civilians and healthcare facilities in the Gaza Strip in a renewed appeal on Wednesday. 

The Security Council met in New York to discuss the horror unfolding in Gaza, where humanitarians warn of “a critical risk of famine” and aid shipments have been blocked by Israel for over 70 days. UN relief chief Tom Fletcher briefed the Security Council, asking ambassadors if they will finally act decisively "to prevent genocide" and ensure respect for international law. He also called on Hamas to release all hostages and stop putting civilians at risk. App users can follow the coverage here.

No aid has entered Gaza for more than 10 weeks and every single one of the 2.1 million people there faces famine conditions, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said on Tuesday in a briefing to the Security Council in New York.

Gazans remain at “critical risk of famine,” UN-backed food security experts warned on Monday, a full 19 months since war began with Israel and 70 days since deliveries stopped of all aid and commercial supplies.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the release of a hostage held in Gaza on Monday and renewed his call for a permanent ceasefire and greater humanitarian access to the war-torn enclave. 

Every summer in Ma’rib, Yemen, a place marked by loss and uncertainty, a football tournament offers a rare kind of hope. For hundreds of displaced youth living across more than a dozen sites, it’s a chance to unite, to belong, and to dream.

Israel’s plan to take control of relief assistance in Gaza would put civilian lives in danger and cause mass displacement while using aid as “bait”, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

The UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, has strongly condemned the forced entry by Israeli security forces into three of its schools in occupied East Jerusalem, describing it as a violation of children’s right to education and safety.

Grim details emerged on Wednesday of Israeli airstrikes on a UN-run school in Gaza sheltering 2,000 displaced people, which reportedly killed 30 Palestinians sheltering there.

Students displaced by the war in Gaza have been channeling their anguish into art in psychosocial support sessions provided by the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA.