The top UN humanitarian official on Tuesday called for an end to the escalating violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, warning that “the whole region is at a tipping point.”
The United Nations has been working in the Middle East region around the clock to de-escalate the Israeli-Palestinian crisis by engaging key actors and providing emergency assistance to civilians on the ground.
In Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, all parties must stop targeting civilians and Hamas and other armed groups must immediately release their hostages, UN rights chief Volker Türk said on Tuesday.
The UN Secretary-General on Monday said that he recognized the legitimate grievances of the Palestinian people and the legitimate security concerns of Israel, but underlined his rejection of terrorist acts and upheld the need to protect civilians.
Top UN officials engaged key actors amid the spiraling Israeli-Palestinian conflict while UN peacekeepers detected rocket and artillery fire exchanged across the Israel-Lebanon border ahead of Sunday’s Security Council emergency closed-door meeting on the unfolding crisis.
Top UN officials were “in close contact with all concerned to urge maximum restraint” following “horrific scenes of violence” that left dozens dead and hundreds wounded in Israeli cities near the Gaza Strip amid rocket attacks by armed Palestinian militants early Saturday morning, with the UN Security Council announcing it would hold a Sunday afternoon private meeting to discuss the matter.
The first radiotherapy machine to treat cancer arrived in northwest Syria over the weekend, the UN’s aid coordination office (OCHA) said on Tuesday.
A comprehensive solution to the Syrian conflict remains elusive, the UN Special Envoy for the country said on Wednesday, calling for “concrete moves” and confidence-building measures to break the impasse.
The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process on Wednesday expressed deep concern over the relentless expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Saudi Arabia must immediately revoke the death sentence handed down to Mohammed Al Ghamdi for posting critical views online, as the crackdown on freedom of expression in the country continues to escalate, independent UN human rights experts said on Friday.
