Israel / Palestine

Heads of United Nations entities and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) on Saturday renewed urgent calls for the immediate release of their staff arbitrarily detained by the Houthi de facto authorities in Yemen, amid reports that some of them may now face “criminal prosecution”.

Aid entering the Gaza Strip is at its lowest level in months, and both the north and south of the enclave are at "breaking point", UN humanitarians said on Friday. Critical aid lifelines into northern Gaza have been cut off, and no food aid has entered there since 1 October, said UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq, citing information from the World Food Progamme (WFP).

Two bills before the Israeli parliament could put a halt to the lifesaving operations of UN Palestine relief agency, UNRWA, which has been indispensable and irreplaceable “more than ever” over the past year of war in Gaza, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday. 

Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the United Nations secretary general had not condemned Iran’s missile attack on Israel in strong enough terms. For his part, Mr. Guterres said he condemned the attack.

World leaders called for restraint on Tuesday after Iran launched its biggest missile attack yet against arch-foe Israel, while the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas hailed the attack, calling it "revenge for the blood of our heroic martyrs". 

The U.S., France and other allies jointly called Wednesday for an immediate 21-day cease-fire to allow for negotiations in the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon in recent days. The joint statement, negotiated on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, says the recent fighting is “intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the Security Council on Wednesday “to work in lock-step” to end the escalating violence between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants across the Blue Line in southern Lebanon.

The General Assembly passed a resolution demanding an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine within the next twelve months by an overwhelming margin on Wednesday. The vote came in the middle of its 10th emergency special session considering Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Israel acknowledged Tuesday that its forces had likely shot dead an American citizen near a demonstration last week in the occupied West Bank, leading Secretary of State Antony Blinken to call for “fundamental changes” in the way the Israel Defense Forces operates there, “including changes to their rules of engagement.”

The U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday that the United Nations has offered to help monitor any eventual cease-fire to halt the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza, but that it is “unrealistic” to think that the world agency would directly administer the territory or provide a peacekeeping force.