Middle East

The UN Secretary-General is “appalled” by the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as civilians face yet another wave of mass displacement with few safe places to go.

A key water reservoir serving Khan Younis in southern Gaza has become inaccessible following new Israeli displacement orders, sparking fears of a collapse in the city’s water distribution network and worsening already dire humanitarian conditions, the United Nations warned on Wednesday.

Conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa in the last two years reportedly killed, maimed, or displaced over 12 million children across the region, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

A clearer picture of needs across Iran is beginning to emerge after the conflict this month with Israel, which left hundreds dead, several hospitals hit and a spike in Afghan refugees returning home, the UN’s top official in Tehran said on Tuesday.

The United Nations on Tuesday reported that humanitarian operations in Gaza are facing escalating strain, as ongoing fuel shortages, access restrictions and military activity continue to undermine aid delivery and essential services. 

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is deepening at an alarming rate, a senior United Nations official warned on Monday, as Israeli military operations and attacks on civilians seeking aid continue to exact a devastating toll on lives and infrastructure.

The crisis in Gaza is worsening, UN humanitarians warned on Monday, as ongoing hostilities and access restrictions drive displaced communities deeper into despair.

The first delivery earlier this week of urgently needed medical goods to enter Gaza in months will provide scant relief to the enclave’s people, who continue to be shot and killed in their search for food, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, warning that the humanitarian crisis has reached “horrific proportions” and that the world must not let the suffering of Palestinians be overshadowed by other regional conflicts.

The head of UN Peacekeeping affirmed the critical role played by the “blue helmets” in Lebanon and Syria during a press conference at Headquarters in New York on Friday.

The interim authorities in Syria have taken important steps in recent weeks to address past violations, the Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the country said on Friday in an update to  the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

When Bashar Al-Assad ruled Syria, his regime was widely accused of profiting from the production and trafficking of Captagon, an illicit synthetic drug that is most commonly abused by users in the Middle East. 

Most families in the Gaza Strip are surviving on one meal a day and one-third go entire days without eating as a result of Israel’s continued bombardment of the enclave, according to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and partners.

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are increasingly being subjected to forced displacement and land seizures, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, reported on Thursday. 

The rapid depletion of the remaining fuel stocks in the Gaza Strip is threatening efforts to keep critical lifelines up and running, the UN reported on Wednesday.