This is the News in Brief from the United Nations. 

Gazans struggle for survival; north sealed off

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza continue to endure unprecedented hardship after being cut off from the rest of the territory by Israeli forces, while a medical convoy sent by the UN and partners was fired on in Gaza City, humanitarians said on Wednesday.

The development came as foreign ministers from the G7 group of countries joined international calls on Wednesday for humanitarian pauses in the fighting to protect civilians, help bring in aid and support the release of the more than 240 hostages held captive in Gaza by Hamas since 7 October.

No bakeries are functioning in the north because of a lack of fuel, water and flour and no food or bottled water has been distributed there in a week, according to UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA.

Meanwhile, Israeli bombardments continue across the Gaza Strip as Palestinian armed groups launch projectiles toward Israel. Israeli troops are reportedly inside Gaza City in pursuit of Hamas fighters responsible for the deadly 7 October attacks in southern Israel.

OCHA said that the Israeli military reiterated its evacuation orders to residents in the north and on Tuesday, for the fourth consecutive day, opened a “corridor” along a main traffic artery, giving residents a four-hour window to move southwards. 

UN monitors estimate that up to 15,000 people may have used this route.

Countries ‘doubling down’ on fossil fuels spells climate chaos: UN chief

The world is on track to produce more than double the maximum amount of fossil fuels needed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, with potentially disastrous consequences, UN chief António Guterres warned on Wednesday.

Mr. Guterres slammed humanity’s dependence on coal, oil and gas, stressing that the climate impact of emissions is already devastating lives and livelihoods – “and we’re on course for far worse” - he warned - as governments “double down” on fossil fuel production.

The UN chief was commenting on a new report from the UN environment agency, which highlighted that government plans will lead to an increase in global coal production until 2030, while global oil and gas usage will continue growing until at least 2050.

These increases come despite 151 countries having pledged to achieve net-zero emissions.

Mr. Guterres urged world leaders to “save humanity from the worst impacts of climate chaos” and send a clear signal at COP28 – the UN climate summit in Dubai at the end of this month – that the end of the fossil fuel age is “inevitable”.

2023 likely hottest year on record; further temperature highs expected with El Niño: WMO

And staying with the climate: 2023 is “almost certain to be the warmest year on record” after October smashed temperature highs, while the mercury will keep rising as the warming El Niño effect continues well into next year.

That’s the message from the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which said on Wednesday that for the calendar year to date, the global mean temperature is the highest ever recorded, 1.43 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and sea ice in the Antarctic remains at a record low.

WMO expects the warming El Niño climate pattern to last at least until April 2024, contributing to a further spike in temperatures.

Head of WMO, Petteri Taalas, said that as El Niño’s impacts on global temperature typically play out in the year after its development, next year “may be even warmer”. 

While El Niño occurs naturally, it takes place in the context of climate change fuelled by “increasing concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases from human activities,” Prof. Taalas stressed.

He warned that extreme weather events such as heatwaves, drought, wildfires, heavy rain and floods will be worse in some regions.

Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer, UN News.