"LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD"

A UN top political affairs official told the Security Council that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK’s) launches “represent a serious risk to international civil aviation and maritime traffic.” UNIFEED

Executive Director of UN Women, Sima Sami Bahous welcomed "the news that 50 hostages, all women, and children, will be released in return for the release of 150 Palestinian women and children, and a much-needed humanitarian pause.” UNIFEED

The Security Council adopted a resolution calling for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days to enable the full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access. UNIFEED

Media stakeout, following the Security Council meeting, by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations, on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

Quoting a report by the NGO Save the Children, the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said that nearly 3,200 children were killed in Gaza in three weeks, surpassing the number of children killed annually across the world's conflict zones since 2019. UNIFEED

The Security Council adopted draft resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for another year, until 31 October 2024. The Russian Federation and Mozambique abstained. UNIFEED

After rejecting an amendment proposed by Canada and the United States, the General Assembly, by 120 votes in favour, 14 against and 45 abstentions adopted a resolution calling for an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce in Gaza. UNIFEED

China and Russia vetoed a draft resolution sponsored by the United States, while a second Russian-backed resolution failed to adopt having failed to get sufficient votes in favour, deepening the Security Council’s deadlock over any unified response to address the crisis in Gaza and Israel. UNIFEED

The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, warned the Security Council today that the current crisis “is one of the most difficult moments facing the Israeli and Palestinian people in the last 75 years.” UNIFEED