Israel/Palästina

Gaza is in a grim limbo more than seven months after Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire deal: no reconstruction is under way, the so-called Board of Peace is struggling with funding and Palestinian technocrats chosen to run the strip are sidelined in Egypt.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday strongly condemned Israel’s decision to establish military facilities at a seized UNRWA compound in occupied East Jerusalem, calling the move “wholly unacceptable”.

Civilians across Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon continue to face mounting hardship as conflict, displacement and ongoing military operations deepen humanitarian needs and strain already limited aid efforts, according to the latest updates from UN agencies.

Nickolay Mladenov, the senior representative of the Board of Peace, warned of the humanitarian and security situation in the Gaza Strip, which the Israeli military has struck almost daily. He emphasized that dismantling Hamas' arsenal is essential before any progress can be made.

The twenty-seven foreign ministers of the European Union approved new sanctions on Monday on Israeli settlers over rising violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. There has been a surge in attacks by settlers since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, the UN has recorded.

In an open letter, 448 former European leaders and diplomats, including former EU foreign policy head Josep Borrell, urged the EU to act against a major Israeli settlement project known as E1, which aims to cut the West Bank in two.

The European Union has unveiled a new programme aimed at assisting and protecting Palestinians affected by escalating settler violence in the West Bank, signalling a shift in Brussels’ approach as conditions on the ground continue to deteriorate.

The Security Council turns again to the Middle East crisis in New York on Tuesday, with debate focusing on the fragile Gaza ceasefire, a worsening humanitarian crisis there and efforts to advance a US-backed peace plan. UN senior political affairs official Khaled Khiari warned of increasingly dire conditions in Gaza and the West Bank, while former UK Prime Minister and US-led Board of Peace member, Tony Blair, said the council needs to mobilise funds for recovery at this “pivotal juncture”.

The UN and European Union issued a joint warning on Monday that human development across Gaza has been set back by a staggering 77 years, with $71.4 billion needed over the next decade for recovery and reconstruction. That’s according to the final Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA), jointly conducted with the UN-partnered World Bank.

Hamas has rejected the disarmament plan of a top figure in President Donald Trump's Gaza peace efforts, a senior Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations has told the BBC.