Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. Highlights: - Syria/UN Special Envoy - Syria/Humanitarian - Lebanon - Occupied Palestinian Territory - Libya - Sudan - Tropical Cyclone Chido - Central African Republic - Ukraine - Security Council/afternoon - Haiti - Internet Governance Forum - Desertification - Senior Personnel Appointment - Financial contribution Syria/Humanitarian Mr. Fletcher is in Syria today as part of a one-week trip to the Middle East. In Damascus, he met with the transitional authorities and will meet with UN partners to discuss the humanitarian response in Syria, where 7 in 10 people continue to need humanitarian aid. At a time of such rapid changes and long-standing needs in the region, Mr. Fletcher’s trip will also include stopovers in Lebanon, Türkiye and Jordan. We will share updates as they become available. Meanwhile, our humanitarian colleagues say that since the escalation of the hostilities and as of yesterday, 880,000 people in Syria have been displaced. The UN and its partners are continuing to support the response. We are supplying food, water, cash, tents, blankets. We are also deploying medical teams as well as medical supplies. And over the weekend, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in collaboration with UNICEF, conducted a joint mission to the Tishreen Dam’s facility, in Aleppo governorate, to enable urgent and critical repairs to the facilities. UNICEF also secured fuel to power the backup generator, enabling the safe drainage of the dam and safeguarding water supplies. Sudan Turning to Sudan, humanitarians note with alarm the rising number of civilian casualties due to attacks in and around El Fasher, in North Darfur State. Attacks include the repeated shelling of the Zamzam displacement camp since the beginning of this month. The camp hosts hundreds of thousands of people and famine conditions were confirmed there earlier this year. Local sources report that scores of people were killed over the weekend in an alleged missile strike on central El Fasher. Here again, we condemn all killings of civilians, wherever they occur. WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros [Adhanom Ghebreyesus] also reported 9 civilian deaths and 20 injuries following an attack on El Fasher’s main hospital that took place on Friday. The hospital is no longer operational. This is part of a broader escalation of attacks across Darfur and in other areas of Sudan. OCHA calls once again for an immediate cessation of hostilities so that emergency relief can be provided, and civilians can move to safer locations. We reiterate that international humanitarian law must be respected. Civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, are not targets. Occupied Palestinian Territory Turning to the situation in Gaza, which remains grim, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that new evacuation orders have once again triggered large-scale displacement, leaving civilians exposed to hostilities and deprived of access to vital services. Israeli authorities issued two evacuation orders on Friday and Saturday. The first affected parts of Gaza City and North Gaza governorate – an area spanning over five-and-a-half square kilometres. The second order affected 4.3 square kilometres in the Deir al Balah area. In the wake of these evacuation orders, our partners on the ground observed about 250 families moving southward from affected areas in northern Gaza. They report that some 450 families fled the areas in Deir al Balah. The UN and our partners are closely monitoring the situation and attending to the needs of those newly displaced with the limited resources available to us. In Gaza City, our humanitarian partners tell us that hostilities escalated over the weekend – particularly in areas affected by the new evacuation orders – leaving more Palestinians killed and injured. In East Tuffah, there were reports of a direct strike on the Yaffa school, which had been serving as a collective centre for displaced people. In North Gaza governorate, more than 1,500 Palestinians were reportedly displaced overnight on Saturday from Izbet Beit Hanoun, forcing them to pass through an Israeli checkpoint toward Gaza City. Some of those arriving in Gaza City told our humanitarian partners that Israeli forces had surrounded the Khalil Awada schools – which had been turned into shelters housing more than 1,500 people — as well as surrounding homes. Dozens of people were reportedly killed in heavy shelling. We once again condemn all killings of civilians. Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=16%20December%202024
12/16/2024, 9:52:37 PM
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