The conflict in the Middle East is adding further strain and instability to Afghanistan, with commodity prices already rising in the “already fragile economy,” according to Georgette Gagnon, Officer-in-Charge of the UN mission in the country (UNAMA), whose mandate is up for renewal later this month in the Security Council.

Meanwhile, the trade route through Iran is now “increasingly uncertain due to the ongoing conflict” and adds further pressures as the border with Pakistan is closed, she said in her briefing to the 15-member Council.

In this context, Ms. Gagnon stressed that the country’s alienation from the international community is preventing it from addressing issues such as economic self-sufficiency, security cooperation, counter-terrorism commitments, human rights concerns and the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

“If these issues are not dealt with, Afghanistan could again become a driver of regional and global instability in the form of out-migration, terrorism, narcotics and more.”

Border clashes with Pakistan

The unresolved issue between Afghanistan and Pakistan has led to an active conflict on the border between the two countries, which has included airstrikes in Afghan cities.

Warning of the “punishing human and economic costs,” she called for an immediate cessation to hostilities to ensure the free flow of humanitarian assistance, adding that “the de facto authorities also have a way to go to convince the world they are serious about meeting their counter-terrorism commitments.”

Deepening humanitarian crisis

Afghanistan has absorbed five and a half million Afghans returning from neighboring countries since September 2023, with declining international assistance and without evident social breakdown.

“The humanitarian crisis is worsened by significant funding cuts, growing needs, including due to large-scale return of refugees, and policies of the de-facto authorities that prioritize ideological rigidity over the well-being of the Afghan people,” she said. 

Meanwhile, years of economic deterioration and recurrent climate shocks have left families with less ability to cope and are driving new outmigration and secondary displacement, with these challenges being further compounded by the current restrictions on women and girls.

Indeed, the absence of women from the workforce has had “the effect of depleting the country’s substantial human capital over the medium and long term,” Ms. Gagnon said.

Aid shortfalls

In 2026, humanitarian partners plan to reach 17.5 million Afghans through a humanitarian appeal of $1.71 billion. This places Afghanistan second globally in terms of people targeted and sixth globally on total funding requirements, but this appeal is only 10 percent funded at present.

The United Nations ability to deliver assistance and reach Afghan women is impeded by a now-six-month ban on UN female national personnel. “We again urge the de-facto authorities to lift these restrictions and allow United Nations’ female national staff to return to their offices,”  Ms. Gagnon stressed.

However, the international community has shared concerns over decisions of the de-facto authorities that undermines their declared efforts to achieve economic self-sufficiency.

Council members raise grave concerns

Many Council members raised concerns about the status of women in Afghanistan and their rights as well as about humanitarian assistance in the face of reality on the ground.

The “intransigence” of the Taliban, which came to power in 2021, in ignoring the need of the Afghan people means that the international community “must carefully evaluate the utility of international assistance and engagement in Afghanistan,” the United States ambassador, whose country holds the rotating Council presidency for March, said in his national capacity. 

Afghanistan’s ambassador, who does not represent the de-facto authorities, told the Security Council that “after five years, the status quo in Afghanistan is neither acceptable nor sustainable.”

“This reality will not bring peace, stability or prosperity,” he said.

Aid ‘must never be politicized’

Iran’s ambassador said that “humanitarian assistance must never be politicized.”

He urged donors to provide increased predictable and flexible funding to the sustained lifesaving humanitarian operations. In concluding her remarks, Ms. Gagnon reminded the Council of their commitment to an Afghanistan “at peace with itself and its neighbors, reintegrated into the international system and meeting its international obligations for the benefit of the Afghan people.” (UN News)

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Thousands on the move

Fighting across the Kordofans has intensified as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continue their battle for control of the country. Humanitarians report that people have also been arriving in White Nile from parts of West Kordofan state that have seen intense clashes this month, including the towns of Babanusa and Heglig. Some 1,600 people—mainly women and children—arrived in the city of Kosti in White Nile state on Dec. 16, according to local authorities.  

Tough journey to safety

Many of the arrivals endured journeys lasting over a week—often through neighboring South Sudan—and showed clear signs of trauma, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told journalists in New York. “While our humanitarian partners are providing them with basic shelter, health, water, sanitation, food and protection assistance, needs are outstripping available resources,” he said.

“At the same time, our partners report that more than 3,000 people have crossed from the Kordofan region into Yida in South Sudan in recent days, with further displacement expected.”

More arrivals expected

Meanwhile, people from the Kordofan and Darfur regions in Sudan are fleeing farther east in Gedaref State. Around 2,500 people recently arrived in the locality of Al Fao, authorities reported on Dec. 15, with more expected in the coming days.

Displacement also continues to rise in the town of Ad Dabbah in Northern state, where more than 15,000 people from the Kordofan and Darfur regions are already sheltering in Al Afad camp. “Assistance is being scaled up, but efforts to support food security and livelihoods and provide cash assistance remain critically underfunded,” Mr. Haq said.

Millions displaced nationwide

The UN migration agency, IOM, estimates that more than 9.3 million people remain internally displaced across Sudan’s 18 states, alongside over three million returnees in nine states.  More than half are children.

“Nearly one third of displaced families and one fifth of returnee households have reported going a full day and night without food in the past month, while access to healthcare and sanitation remains severely limited,” Mr. Haq said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is also sounding the alarm over reports that more than 70 health workers and some 5,000 civilians have been forcibly detained in Nyala, capital of South Darfur state, he added.

Protect civilians, allow aid

delivery

As the war grinds on, the UN continues to call for the protection of civilians and safe humanitarian access across Sudan. This past Saturday (Dec. 13), six peacekeepers from Bangladesh were killed in drone attacks targeting a UN logistics base in Kadugli. They were deployed with the UN force in Abyei, the disputed region on the border with South Sudan.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk noted that at least 104 civilians have been killed in drone attacks across the Kordofan region since Dec. 4, including in a strike that hit a kindergarten and a hospital. 

(UN News)

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Since the powerful paramilitary group made a major incursion into the city last week, the UN human rights office has received “horrendous accounts of summary executions, mass killings, rapes, attacks against humanitarian workers, looting, abductions and forced displacement,” said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the UN human rights office (OHCHR).

Speaking from Nairobi to journalists in Geneva, Mr. Magango said numerous testimonies had been received from residents who had fled in terror as the city fell, then “survived the threatening journey to Tawila, approximately 70 kilometers away”—a journey that takes three to four days on foot.

Crowded camps in Tawila

More than 36,000 people have fled since Oct. 25, mostly on foot, to Tawila—a town west of El Fasher that is already sheltering more than 652,000 displaced people, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The RSF militia, which grew out of the genocidal violence of the Darfur conflict 20 years ago, has been locked in a brutal conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since April 2023.

Sudan has become the site of the world’s largest humanitarian and displacement crisis on record, with about 14 million people displaced out of a population of 51 million. Famine is widespread, and outbreaks of cholera and other deadly diseases are increasing.

The RSF seized control of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, following more than 500 days of siege, after forcing Sudan’s army to withdraw earlier this week.

Distressing reports indicate the killing of sick and wounded individuals inside the Saudi Maternity Hospital and in buildings in the Dara Jawila and Al-Matar neighborhoods, which were being used as temporary medical centers.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 460 patients and companions were killed during the alleged massacre.

“These extremely grave allegations raise urgent questions as to the circumstances of these killings in what should be places of safety,” Mr. Magango said.

He called for an independent, transparent and prompt investigation to ensure justice.

OHCHR has also received alarming reports of sexual violence from humanitarian partners on the ground. “At least 25 women were gang raped when RSF’s forces entered a shelter for displaced people near El Fasher University. Witnesses confirm RSF’s personnel selected women and girls and raped them at gunpoint,” Mr. Magango said.

The pattern of violence has also targeted humanitarian workers and local volunteers supporting vulnerable communities in El Fasher.

Attacks on medics

The World Health Organization (WHO) has corroborated reports of attacks on health facilities and personnel, condemning the abduction of six health workers—four doctors, a nurse and a pharmacist. The Saudi Maternity hospital has been attacked five times in October alone.

Following the fall of El Fasher, the UN health agency is currently “unable to assist those who have been impacted, the injuries that have occurred from the multiple attacks against civilians,” explained Dr. Teresa Zakaria, head of WHO’s Humanitarian Operations Unit.

WHO confirmed that 189 attacks have been verified in Sudan this year, resulting in 1,670 deaths and 419 injuries. “Eighty-six percent of all these attack-related deaths have occurred this year alone and this indicates that attacks are getting deadlier,” Dr. Zakaria said.

Massive funding shortfall

“The Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan to date is only 27.4 percent funded—a very, very big gap,” Dr Zakaria added. “For the health sector itself, funding stands at 37 percent, so, we are struggling very much with resources.

That’s why we are calling on the international community not to abandon the people of Sudan, because the main actors are our Sudanese organizations, who continue to be present and deliver assistance.”

With the capture of El Fasher, the RSF’s territorial control now extends across Darfur and parts of Sudan’s south, while the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) control the capital, Khartoum, and much of the country’s north and center. (UN News)

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At the heart of the emergency are the Rohingya Muslims, denied Burmese citizenship, driven from their homes and forced into camps or exile.

More than a million now live as refugees in Bangladesh, while countless more remain displaced or trapped—alongside other minorities—inside Myanmar under conditions UN leaders described as “dire” and “unsustainable.”

The conference at UN headquarters in New York brought together top UN officials, heads of state and governments, to galvanize action alongside Rohingya activists.

Briefings and reports laid bare the daily realities since the February 2021 military coup: forced recruitment, sexual violence, airstrikes, starvation and mass displacement.

Humanitarian agencies warn that resources are running out, leaving refugees malnourished and pushing more people into taking dangerous sea journeys.

Conditions inside Myanmar’s Rakhine state—ancestral home of the Rohingya—are described as the worst in decades, with civilians caught between junta forces and ethnic armed groups.

‘Human rights trampled’

The Secretary-General, in a statement read by his Chef de Cabinet Courtenay Rattray, said the crisis has “trampled on the human rights, dignity and safety of millions and threatens regional stability.”

He urged three immediate steps: protecting civilians in line with international law, guaranteeing humanitarian access, and reinvigorating investment to ease the strain on refugees and host communities.

“The solution to this crisis lies ultimately in Myanmar,” the message stressed, calling for an end to persecution and recognition that “the Rohingya belong—as full citizens.”

A crisis ‘that should put us to shame’

Assembly President Baerbock underscored the scale of suffering.

“Over five million Rohingya men, women and children share some version of this story,” she said, noting that 800,000 children remain out of school in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar camp alone.

Humanitarian funding is critically short, with the 2025 response plan just 12 percent funded.

“This should put us to shame,” she declared, urging states to boost aid and pursue a political solution that would enable safe, voluntary and sustainable return.

Demand for accountability

For Rohingya activists, the conference was not another moment of awareness but a demand for justice.

Wai Wai Nu, founder of the Myanmar Women’s Peace Network, told delegates that the atrocities did not end in 2017, when over 750,000 Rohingya men, women and children fled violence described as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” by then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.

“It has worsened,” she said, pointing to killings, forced conscription, sexual violence and starvation inflicted by both the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups fighting the junta.

“Without action, the Rohingya exodus will continue until there is no more Rohingya left in Myanmar,” she warned, urging cross-border humanitarian corridors, targeted sanctions and prosecutions for atrocity crimes.

‘A test for humanity’

Rofik Husson, founder of the Arakan Youth Peace Network, offered his own testimony of displacement and violence, recalling how the junta forced Rohingya men and boys into service, often as human shields. In one week alone, he said, at least 400 were killed.

He described village burnings and drone strikes, including a May 2024 massacre that displaced 200,000 people in a single day.

“Ending the crisis of insecurity for the Rohingya community is a test for this Assembly and a test for humanity itself,” he told delegates, calling for an internationally supervised safe zone in northern Rakhine.

No agreed pathway to peace

Adding a wider lens, Special Envoy Julie Bishop stressed that Myanmar’s multifaceted crisis is inseparable from the political turmoil unleashed by the 2021 coup.

With no ceasefire in place and armed conflict spreading, she warned that planned elections later this year would fuel further violence rather than deliver legitimacy.

“There is no agreed pathway to peace,” she said, cautioning that international condemnation of the junta has ebbed even as abuses persist.

A fragile hope

Despite the grim accounts, speakers emphasized that solutions remain possible if political will can be summoned.

Ms. Baerbock closed her remarks by noting: “The Rohingya people have survived eight years of hardship, displacement and uncertainty. Their resilience is extraordinary. Our response must match it.”

For Rohingya activists, the message was equally clear: declarations are no longer enough.

“Justice is not optional … It is the only deterrent, the only path to peace,” Ms. Nu said.

(UN News)

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The unrest began Sept. 8 as a self-styled “Gen Z protest” against corruption, nepotism and restrictions on social media. It quickly escalated after security forces opened fire on the crowds.

By Sept. 9, protesters had stormed and torched parliament, the Supreme Court and multiple government offices, including Singha Durbar—the central administrative complex. Homes of political leaders were attacked, police stations overrun, and Tribhuvan International Airport briefly closed.

In addition, media outlets and schools were set on fire, while the Ministry of Health and Population was also destroyed, including the National Health Emergency Operation Center.

UN chief urges dialogue

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply saddened by the loss of life” and urged restraint, dialogue, and a thorough investigation into the violence.

“I call on the authorities to comply with human rights law,” he posted on social media late on Sept. 9 (New York time).

“Protests must take place in a peaceful manner, respecting life and property.”

Volatile security situation

According to media reports, the updated toll includes both protesters and police, as well as people killed in fires during the demonstrations. Many remain unaccounted for, with hospitals reporting critically injured patients.

The turmoil also triggered jailbreaks in several locations, with some inmates still at large.

Some accounts suggest demonstrations may have been infiltrated by outside actors, further complicating the volatile security environment.

Efforts to restore order

The army assumed control of nationwide security late Sept. 9 local time, deploying troops across the Kathmandu Valley and imposing movement restrictions to stabilize the situation.

Checkpoints were established, and people have been urged to stay home except for essential travel.

Media also reported the army recovering some of the weapons looted from police personnel, while youth groups helped apprehend escaped prisoners and return firearms. Some inmates voluntarily surrendered.

Tribhuvan International Airport has since reopened, and some police stations are back in operation.

Country at a crossroads

Even amid the chaos, some youth groups were seen clearing debris from their neighborhoods.

Behind the immediate turmoil, talks are reportedly underway on the possible formation of an interim government to steer the country through the crisis. Discussions also include the dissolution of parliament, investigations into illegally acquired assets, and reform of key institutions. (UN News)

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More than 700,000 of them fled to neighboring Bangladesh after armed attacks by a militant group against Myanmar security forces sparked a brutal military crackdown that began on August 25, 2017.

They joined thousands of others who had escaped earlier waves of violence and discrimination, now living in refugee camps just across the border in the Cox’s Bazar district.

Violence and funding cuts

In a statement to mark the anniversary, UN Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric noted that the Rohingya people both in and outside Myanmar are facing a further deterioration of their already dire circumstances.

“In Rakhine State, Rohingya and other civilians are caught in the crossfire between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army and subjected to forced recruitment, human rights violations and other abuse,” he said.

The ongoing violence has forced more Rohingya to flee, including to Bangladesh which is already hosting more than one million refugees from Myanmar. 

A military coup forced Myanmar’s democratically elected Government from power in 2021, fueling armed insurgencies throughout Myanmar following a brutal military crackdown on protests.

Mr. Dujarric said reports of pushbacks, removals and deportations across the region raise serious concerns over potential violations of the principle of non-refoulement and shrinking asylum space.

This is happening amid funding cuts which are severely curtailing education, food assistance, healthcare, livelihood opportunities and protection services.

Protect all civilians

The spokesman said UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeated his call for the protection of all civilians in accordance with applicable obligations under international law. 

The Secretary-General also recalled his visit to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, where he witnessed the resilience of Rohingya communities.

He stressed the urgent need for strengthened international solidarity and increased support, in parallel to efforts toward a comprehensive political solution that meaningfully includes the Rohingya and addresses their displacement and the root causes of the protracted crisis.

Hopes for upcoming conference

“The Secretary-General is hopeful that the September 30, High–level Conference on Rohingya and other minorities in New York, as mandated by the United Nations General Assembly, will draw renewed international attention to the urgency of finding durable solutions,” said Mr. Dujarric.

He added that the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar continues to engage all stakeholders towards ending the brutal civil conflict and supporting a viable Myanmar-led political process. This should also lead to the voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return of the Rohingya to Myanmar. (UN News)

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His call comes a day after four more Court personnel—two judges and two deputy prosecutors—were slapped with sanctions in connection with efforts to investigate alleged war crimes committed by the U.S. and Israel.

This follows sanctions imposed earlier on four other judges and the ICC Prosecutor. Measures imposed could include blocking financial access to property or assets in the U.S., as well as travel bans.

‘Assault on the rule of law’

“The relentless intensification of US reprisals against international institutions and their personnel must stop,” said Mr. Türk. 

“Sanctioning judges and prosecutors at national, regional or international levels, for fulfilling their mandate in accordance with international law standards, is an assault on the rule of law and corrodes justice.”

The sanctions stem from an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump in February in response to the UN-backed Court issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

The ICC is also probing war crimes allegedly committed in Afghanistan by all sides during years of conflict, including the U.S., following the allied invasion of the country in October 2001.

Neither the U.S. nor Israel are party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.

It’s time countries step up

Mr. Türk called for the withdrawal of the sanctions against the ICC personnel and those targeting the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The independent expert, Francesca Albanese, receives her mandate from the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“In the meantime, I call on States to take immediate steps to protect all of them, including by taking measures to encourage corporations operating within their jurisdiction not to implement the sanctions against these individuals,” Mr. Türk said.

“States need to step up to defend the institutions they have created to uphold and defend human rights and the rule of law. Those working to document, investigate and prosecute serious violations of international law should not have to work in fear.”

About the International Criminal Court

The ICC investigates and tries individuals charged with genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

Some of the cases include situations in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Libya. 

In March 2023, the Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in connection with alleged war crimes concerning the deportation and “illegal transfer” of children from occupied Ukraine.

The ICC was established in 2002 and is based in The Hague, in the Netherlands. (UN News)

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The toll also includes some 40,000 boys and girls reported killed or injured due to bombardment and airstrikes, at least 17,000 unaccompanied and separated children, and one million deeply traumatized youngsters who are not getting an education. “Children are children,” he said.

“No one should stay silent when children die, or are brutally deprived of a future, wherever these children are, including in Gaza.”

A somber reunion

Thousands of sick children in Gaza need urgent medical evacuation, according to UN aid coordination office OCHA.

Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the agency, recalled the moment she recognized a young girl requiring treatment in a Gaza hospital after a year’s interval, once again suffering from malnourishment. “I remembered her long eyelashes,” the veteran humanitarian told UN News, describing seven-year-old Janah, who she came across at Gaza City’s Patient Friendly Hospital on Aug. 12.

“The first time I met her was in the IMC Field Hospital in southern Gaza in April 2024. Back then, she was severely malnourished and was getting treatment. And she gradually became better and was released eventually and went home.”

Evacuation saves lives

However, Janah was now back in hospital “because the malnutrition became aggravated and the condition that she has also is not properly diagnosed and cannot be properly diagnosed.” 

The girl is on a list of people to be medically evacuated for treatment outside Gaza.  The most recent evacuations took place on Aug. 13 when the World Health Organization (WHO) supported the transfer of 32 children and six adults to Italy, Belgium and Türkiye, but more than 14,800 patients are still waiting.

Ms. Cherevko stressed the importance of ensuring that evacuations continue to save as many lives as possible.

More aid needed

She also pointed out that for children and adults with pre-existing conditions, their situation becomes worse with malnutrition. “It wouldn’t be this way if they had proper nutrition, because these conditions existed before the starvation crisis and they weren’t getting as sick as they are now,” she said.

“This is why it’s imperative to make sure that we have proper conditions on the ground for adequate volumes of supplies to be entering—everything from food to medicine to nutrition to shelter,” she continued. 

“And these lifelines have to be really enabled for us to be able to deliver this aid to the people in need.” 

Dying from hunger

Her appeal comes as the Gaza health authorities reported on Aug. 13 that eight people, including three children, died due to malnutrition and starvation over the past 24 hours. 

“Such reports have become a daily occurrence, reflecting the deepening humanitarian crisis and the urgent need for sustained assistance,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists in New York. He said WHO also conducted a refresher training at the Rantissi Children’s Hospital in Gaza City on Aug. 13, focusing on the inpatient management of malnutrition.

Rantissi is one of the five nutrition stabilization centers in the enclave and the course aimed to help staff members stay current with new information. “The recent surge in malnutrition cases among children has necessitated the establishment and scaling-up of these centers,” he explained.

Since January, more than 340 children have been admitted for malnutrition treatment. As of August 5, 49 validated child deaths from malnutrition have been reported, with 39 among children under the age of five.

“There may very well be others who have died from the same causes that were not recorded” either by the UN or by local health authorities, Mr. Dujarric said in response to a reporter’s question.

Trauma and mental health issues

In other developments, data collected by the UN and partners from over 900 households across Gaza in July indicated continuous trauma leading to mental health issues, including anxiety and depression. 

Care staff also are traumatized, and partners working in the protection sector have started providing mental health and psychosocial support for their personnel. Meanwhile, UN efforts to bring aid into the Gaza Strip continue.

Teams collected food and fuel from the Kerem Shalom and Zikim border crossings on Aug. 12 and other missions are still ongoing.

Goods enter but cash is low 

Mr. Dujarric said the entry of goods has improved the market situation in terms of both prices and availability.

For example, a bag of sugar now averages 40 shekels, roughly $12, per bag, after peaking at about 600 shekels, equivalent to about $175.

“However, severe cash shortages are preventing families from being able to buy food, being able to buy water and being able to buy medicine,” he said.

Humanitarians have repeatedly stressed that the amount of aid and goods that can be brought into Gaza does not meet the minimum requirements of the population. 

They continue to call for a ceasefire and for aid flows to be scaled up. (UN News)

Israeli minister unveils plan to build 3,000 new settler units in occupied West Bank

Extremist Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has announced his intention to approve the construction of over 3,000 settler units in the highly contested E1 area of the occupied West Bank, a move that will effectively end prospects for a Palestinian state.

Smotrich said he intends to authorize tenders for the settlement expansion in an area designed to connect the existing settlements in Maale Adumim, located in the occupied West Bank, with occupied East al-Quds.

“Approval of construction plans in E1 buries the idea of a Palestinian state and continues the many steps we are taking on the ground as part of the de facto sovereignty plan that we began implementing with the establishment of the regime,” he said.

“After decades of international pressure and freezes, we are breaking conventions and connecting Maale Adumim to Jerusalem. This is Zionism at its best—building, settling, and strengthening our sovereignty,” he added.

The announcement appears to be a direct response to recent declarations by France, Britain, Canada, and Australia expressing their intent to recognize a Palestinian state at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly next month.

The E1 project aims to sever connections between Palestinian communities and greatly hinder territorial continuity. It will create a separation between East al-Quds and certain areas of the West Bank, compelling Palestinians to undertake long detours when traveling between cities and towns.

Despite the fact that the E1 construction plan dates back to the 1990s, its execution has consistently faced delays owing to global opposition.

In March, the so-called political-security cabinet of Israel sanctioned a distinct roadway for Palestinians situated to the south of the E1 region, connecting the northern and southern parts of the West Bank. The road was regarded as a preliminary measure for enhancing settlement expansion in the region.

More than 700,000 settlers live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.

The international community views the settlements as illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions due to their construction on occupied territories. The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in several resolutions.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of historical Palestine illegal.

The ICJ demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds. It was mere words. (PressTV.ir)

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“As of July 13, we have recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food; 674 of them were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites,” said Thameen Al-Kheetan, OHCHR spokesperson, referencing the U.S.-Israeli-run private organization, which has bypassed regular humanitarian operations.

The remaining 201 victims were killed while seeking food “on the routes of aid convoys or near aid convoys” run by the UN or UN-partners still operating in the war-shattered enclave, Mr. Al-Kheetan told journalists in Geneva.

Killings linked to the controversial U.S. and Israeli-backed aid hubs began shortly after they started operating in southern Gaza on May 27, bypassing the UN and other established NGOs.

The latest deadly incident happened at around 9:00 a.m. on July 14, when reports indicated that the Israeli military shelled and fired towards Palestinians seeking food at the GHF site in the As-Shakoush area, northwestern Rafah.

According to OHCHR, two Palestinians were killed and at least nine others were injured. Some of the casualties were transported to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) hospital in Rafah.

On July 12 medics there received more than 130 patients, the “overwhelming majority” suffering from gunshot wounds and “all responsive individuals” reporting they were attempting to access food distribution sites.

Deadly hunger

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, expressed deep concerns about the continuing killing of civilians trying to access food, while deadly malnutrition spreads among children.

“Our teams on the ground—UNRWA teams and other United Nations teams—have spoken to survivors of these killings, these starving children included, who were shot at while on their way to pick up very little food,” said Juliette Touma, UNRWA Director of Communications.

Speaking via video from Amman, Ms. Touma insisted that the near-total Israeli blockade of Gaza has led to babies dying of the effects of severe acute malnutrition.

“We’ve been banned from bringing in any humanitarian assistance into Gaza for more than four months now,” she said, before pointing to a “significant increase” in child malnutrition since the Israeli blockade began on March 2.

Ms. Touma added: “We have 6,000 trucks waiting in places like Egypt, like Jordan; it’s from Jordan to the Gaza Strip it’s a 3-hour drive, right?”

In addition to food supplies, these UN trucks contain other vital if basic supplies including bars of soap. “Medicine and food are going to soon expire if we’re not able to get those supplies to people in Gaza who need it most, among them one million children who are half of the population of the Gaza Strip,” Ms. Touma continued.

West Bank: ‘Silent war is surging’

Meanwhile in the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem, Palestinians continue to be killed in violence allegedly linked to Israeli settlers and security forces, UN agencies said.

According to OHCHR, 2-year-old Laila Khatib was shot in the head by Israeli security forces on January 25 while she was inside her house in Ash-Shuhada village, in Jenin.

On July 3, 61-year-old Walid Badir was shot and killed by Israeli security forces, reportedly while he was cycling back home from prayers, passing through the outskirts of the Nur Shams camp, the UN rights office continued, pointing to intensifying “killings, attacks and harassment” of Palestinians in past weeks.

“This includes the demolition of hundreds of homes and forced mass displacement of Palestinians,” OHCHR’s Mr. Al-Kheetan noted, with some 30,000 Palestinians forcibly displaced since the launch of Israel’s operation “Iron Wall” in the north of the occupied West Bank earlier this year.

“We should recall that international law is very clear about this in terms of the obligations of the occupying power,” he said. “Bringing about a permanent demographic change inside the occupied territory may amount to a war crime and is tantamount to ethnic cleansing.”

“We continue to have a silent war that is surging, where heavy restrictions on movement continue, where poverty is increasing as people are cut off from their livelihoods and unemployment soars,” said UNRWA’s Ms. Touma.

With its current focus on the northern occupied West Bank, the Israeli military operation has impacted the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams.

“It is causing the largest population displacement of the Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967,” Ms. Touma continued. (UN News)

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Since then, “there has been no end to the violence, even though thousands have been killed and thousands more injured,” said UN Special Envoy to Myanmar, Julie Bishop, on June 10, briefing the General Assembly.

“I have stressed consistently that without a ceasefire, a de-escalation of violence and a focus on the needs of the people, there can be no inclusive lasting peace,” she said.

Call for ceasefire

Having spoken with survivors among the rubble of homes, hospitals and schools, Ms. Bishop said they “wanted the fighting to end so they could live in peace,” as armed clashes continue to obstruct the aid and reconstruction effort. Although some parties to the conflict have announced ceasefires, “they have largely not been observed,” she said.

Reiterating her call for an end to hostilities, she said civilian protection “must be the priority and inclusive and sustainable peace a shared goal.” Without an end to the violence she said Myanmar would continue on “the path to self-destruction.”

Contested elections

Ms. Bishop warned that unless there is an end to the violence and an inclusive and transparent electoral process, all that could result from any election—which the junta is planning to contest—would be “greater resistance and instability.”“

It is inconceivable how an election could be inclusive,” she said, with so many political leaders still being held by the regime. Ms. Bishop also reiterated the UN’s call for the release of all arbitrary prisoners, including democratically elected leaders Win Myint and Aung San Suu Kyi.

Rohingya’s plight

With up to 80 percent living in poverty, the situation of the mostly Muslim Rohingya minority in both Myanmar and Bangladesh remains dire. Caught in the crossfire between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army, Rohingya civilians in their historic homeland of Rakhine State are being subjected to forced recruitment and other abuse. (UN News)

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