This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Guterres repeats call to Israel to halt Rafah assault as aid stocks dwindle

UN chief António Guterres reiterated his warning on Thursday against a full-scale assault on Rafah, as aid teams issued new, urgent appeals for safe passage throughout Gaza to replenish dangerously low stocks of lifesaving supplies.

In a call for the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages” still held in Gaza, the Secretary-General told Arab League leaders at a Summit in Bahrain that nothing justified the “collective punishment” of Palestinians. 

“Of course, nothing can justify the abhorrent 7 October terror attacks by Hamas. And nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. Any assault on Rafah is unacceptable; it would inflict another surge of pain and misery when we need a surge in life-saving aid.”

Echoing the Secretary-General’s concerns, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) issued a new warning about looming famine in Gaza, saying that food and fuel stocks “will run out in a matter of days”.

The WFP said that since 6 May, it had not been able to access and receive aid from Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza. The UN agency also noted that any further escalation of hostilities in Gaza could bring aid operations “to a complete standstill”. 

WFP has provided special nutritional foods to pregnant and breastfeeding women along with children under five across Gaza. But the UN agency said that as of 11 May, distributions have been suspended in Rafah and are only ongoing in Khan Younis and Deir El Balah in a “limited” way.

In northern Gaza, WFP also warned that rates of acute malnutrition among under two-year-olds “doubled from 15 per cent in January to 30 per cent in March”. 

Türk comment on Gambian ex-minister jailed for crimes against humanity

The UN’s top human rights official, Volker Türk, has welcomed the jailing of a former Gambian politician for crimes against humanity.

In a statement on Thursday, the High Commissioner for Human Rights noted the conviction of Ousman Sonko, once Minister of Interior of The Gambia.

He was convicted in connection with unlawful killings, torture and arbitrary detention committed between 2000 and 2016.

Mr. Sonko’s conviction and sentencing to 20 years in prison “are significant advances for victims in their pursuit of justice for serious crimes and other human rights violations during the rule of former president Yahya Jammeh”, Mr. Türk said.

The UN rights chief also hailed the verdict as a “major global step in the fight against impunity” which showed that perpetrators of grave crimes “can be held to account beyond their countries’ borders through fair trials in other States”.

Global temperature record streak continues: WMO

Climate news now, and the UN weather agency, WMO, confirmed that we’ve just had the warmest April on record.

This was the eleventh month in a row of record global temperatures, the World Meteorological Organization said on Wednesday, adding that sea surface temperatures also hit a new high for the past 13 months.

Historic data shows that April 2024 was almost 1.6 degrees Celsius warmer than the April average for 1850-1900.

Greenhouse gases created by human activity are partly to blame for the continuing warmer temperatures – but so too was the naturally occurring El Niño weather phenomenon, the WMO said, adding that a similar heat streak happened during the strong El Niño event of 2015 to 2016. 

According to the UN agency, the record temperatures were accompanied by extreme weather events – and they’re going to become more common. 

These “high-impact” events, as they’re known, include South America’s warmest April on record and Europe’s second-warmest; drought in southern Africa and extreme rainfall across the Arabian peninsula.

Daniel Johnson, UN News