Calling for a more vigorous international engagement in the Middle East as an indispensable ingredient in ending the violence and bringing fresh hope for peace, Kieran Prendergast, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, told the Security Council this morning that he had painfully little that was positive to report on the situation and much that was negative. Briefing the Council on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, he said it had been heard from many quarters that the time had come for a renewed peace effort, but that the parties to the conflict could not succeed if left to themselves. Read more about UN Security Council briefing: More vigorous international engagement crucial to ending Middle East violence
UNICEF today began distribution of more than 40,000 school bags to children in the Gaza Strip, starting with schools damaged by the recent military incursions into the North. “The school bags are a token of support that give a sense of normalcy in the lives of children, a sense of no matter the circumstance, education must continue” said Dan Rohrmann, the UNICEF Special Representative for the occupied Palestinian territory. “Children’s right to education must be upheld.” The distribution of the bright blue school bags is timed to coincide with the resumption of classes at the end of a 2 week disruption - and with the cessation of military activity in the Northern Gaza Strip. Read more about UNICEF starts distribution of 40,000 school bags in Gaza Strip
The United Nations relief agency assisting Palestinians faces a $120 million shortfall for its emergency operations this year in Gaza and the West Bank, donor countries were told today. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said only $89.4 million has been pledged for its $209.4 million Emergency Appeal for Gaza and the West Bank. The Agency’s regular budget will also face a $7.3 million deficit by the end of 2004. The directors of UNRWA’s main programmes – which provide education, health, relief and social services, micro-credit and camp development to the refugees – also presented to the two-day meeting of 26 major donor countries plans for upgrading the Agency’s services over the next three to five years. Read more about UN agency faces $120 million shortfall for emergency aid to Palestinians
The Israeli army entered northern Gaza with a large force on 28 September 2004. Large numbers of Palestinians have been killed and injured, many of them civilians. As of 13 October, the UN reported a total of 94 killed, 417 injured in north Gaza, more than 25% persons 18 years or younger. Five Israelis have died, including two children. Two small hospitals in the north, Kamal Adwan and Al Awda, have cared for most of the casualties, before transferring the more serious cases to Shifa and Al Quds hospitals in Gaza City. Many of the dead bodies were in pieces, and the majority of casualties have suffered potentially disabling injuries, due to the frequent Israeli use of heavy weapons such as missiles. Read more about Medical impact of Israel's military assault on northern Gaza
The Israeli Government has withdrawn its charge that video footage showed a United Nations ambulance driver handling a rocket, acknowledging that the object was a stretcher as the world body had asserted. Responding to the reversal, a spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a statement calling for correct handling of any further issues which might arise. “The Secretary-General expects the Government of Israel to share with the United Nations, through normal diplomatic channels, any information it might have so that the matter may be properly investigated.” Read more about Israel withdraws charge that driver loaded rocket into UN ambulance
A new $3 million project to help rehabilitate Palestinian farmlands was announced today in conjunction with a United Nations-backed international forum meeting in Beirut to address the damaging effects of the Israeli occupation. The Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Mervat Tallawy, said the new initiative will be carried out by the Iitilaf Al-Kheir association. Her comments came during a press conference where the Islamic Development Bank, working in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority, also announced a new Gaza Initiative - with a starting fund of $26 million - aimed at providing direct assistance to the Palestinian people. Read more about Palestinian development forum initiates aid projects for Gaza
In a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr. Annan said he deplored the “high toll of death and injuries among the civilian population” and grieved “for the many children who have been killed or wounded” during the Israeli military operations in the north of the Gaza Strip. The Secretary-General said he was disturbed by the destruction of civilian property, infrastructure and agricultural land during the operations and called on the Israeli Government to do its utmost to avoid harming Palestinian civilians. Reminding both sides of their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians, he urged them to cease all forms of violence and search for a peaceful settlement. Read more about Annan laments ongoing violence in Gaza as another girl is hit by Israeli gunfire
With Palestinians’ living conditions deteriorating drastically, hundreds of experts gathered at the United Nations headquarters in Beirut today to kick off a four-day meeting aimed at generating long-term solutions to their plight. Officially called “The Arab International Forum on Rehabilitation and Development in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Towards an Independent State,” the unprecedented event aimed at helping to build a secure, sustainable and sovereign Palestine. Organized by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the Arab League and the PA, the meeting drew more than 700 participants, including senior officials from across the region. Read more about Experts urge Arab-international partnership to help Palestinians
The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has drastically deteriorated in the past few days during one of the biggest Israeli assaults on the Occupied Palestinian Territories for years. Israeli troops mounted Operation Days of Penitence on 1 October, three days after two Israeli children were killed in the Israeli settlement town of Sderot from a rocket fired from the Palestinian Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza. About 2,000 Israeli troops, with 200 tanks and armoured vehicles, have been deployed in the area. Hundreds of Palestinian homes have been demolished and acres of agricultural land destroyed, according to British media reports. Read more about Israeli assault on Gaza leaves scores dead and many homeless
Since the beginning of this operation, Médecins Sans Frontières has received numerous calls asking for help to secure food, water and medicines for people blocked in Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia and Jabalia. In these zones, which remain isolated from the rest of Gaza, all movements have been impossible since September, 28. For the past eight days, MSF teams, who have both the capacity to treat and to provide food supplies for the families they are supporting, are unable to do so, for lack of authorization by the Israeli Defense Forces. Once again, MSF asks for access to its patients in the Gaza Strip. Read more about Médecins Sans Frontières asks for access to its patients in Gaza
