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The daily three-hour pause that Israel began today on the 12th day of its Gaza offensive against Hamas was a good first step but totally insufficient for the United Nations to aid the 1.5 million civilians living in “increasingly appalling” conditions amid credible reports of 680 people killed so far and over 3,000 wounded, senior UN officials warned.

The latest round of the United Nations-supported dialogue between the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a leading rebel group entered into its substantive phase today, in a bid to quell the violence engulfing the vast nation’s east.

The top United Nations refugee official has stressed that civilians wishing to leave Gaza, where a military operation Israel says it launched in response to Hamas rocket attacks has entered its 11th day, must be allowed to do so, and reminded neighbouring States of their responsibility to provide access to safety for those fleeing the ongoing violence.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today spoke out against Israel’s “totally unacceptable” attacks against three clearly-marked United Nations schools, where civilians were seeking refuge from the ongoing conflict in Gaza, with a senior official calling for an independent inquiry into the incidents which claimed dozens of lives.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has urged all parties to the ongoing conflict in Somalia to ensure the safety of humanitarian aid workers after one of the agency’s staff members was gunned down while monitoring a school feeding programme in the southern part of the war-torn nation.

There were 9.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Central and Eastern Africa region as of December 2008, according to a United Nations report released today, 400,000 less than at the end of June, but because of the fluidity of the situation officials advised against laying too much store on the reduction.

The United Nations refugee agency has reached towns in the strife-torn eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the scene of bloody attacks carried out by the notorious Ugandan rebel group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

The Security Council convened on the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza this evening, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warning that today’s deadly Israeli shelling of United Nations schools where hundreds of Gazans had sought refuge made a ceasefire more urgent than ever.

The top United Nations relief official in Somalia has voiced grave concern at the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the strife-torn nation, where fresh clashes last week have reportedly killed more than 40 people and displaced over 50,000.

The top United Nations envoy to Iraq today strongly condemned recent attacks which have killed at least 40 pilgrims and wounded dozens more in Baghdad ahead of a major religious celebration.