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© UNFPA/Dominic Allen

‘Delivery at scale’ needed for Middle East recovery

Underlying the importance of a collective responsibility to support all those impacted by seismic events in Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and beyond – stemming from the war between Israel and Hamas – the head of the UN Office for Project Services, has told UN News this is a “defining moment for the Middle East”.

Calling on all UN agencies to scale up and the international community to mobilize, Jorge Moreira da Silva added that it is fundamental to “bring all humanitarian aid that is needed”.

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16'19"
WFP

Middle East: Food aid more important than ever

In the first week of the ceasefire, the World Food Programme (WFP) has been able to reach more than 330,000 people with food assistance in Gaza.

With so many now on the move, WFP’s priority is to ensure assistance follows the people.

Programme Director of Emergencies, Samer Abdel Jaber, told UN News’s Nancy Sarkis that their work is “needed more than ever” across the whole Middle East, with crises continuing in Lebanon and Syria, where millions are still going hungry.

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8'18"
UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Israel-Palestine: Outgoing UN envoy remains hopeful for peace and a two-State solution

The start of the war in Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October was “like an avalanche” that caught the international community by surprise, including the UN, the senior official leading peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians recalled this week.

Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, sat down for an exclusive interview with UN News’s Reem Abaza as he prepares to leave the post after four years and following decades of service with Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Audio
18'54"
UN News

News in Brief 11 November 2024

  • COP29: UN envoy calls for countries to agree on new climate financing deal
  • Lebanon’s food insecurity ‘set to worsen’ amid ongoing conflict: WFP
  • South Sudan election delay offers time for democracy to take root: top UN official
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4'40"
Primary school students in Haiti prepare to eat a lunch provided with the support of the United Nations.
© WFP/Alexis Masciarelli

‘Catastrophic’ hunger persists in multiple countries, warn food agencies

“Catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity” bordering on starvation are expected to impact hundreds of thousands of people in coming months, driven principally by violence and conflict. Five hunger hotspots are of particular concern: Haiti, Mali, the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), South Sudan and Sudan, UN agencies said on Thursday.