Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine & other topics - Daily Press Briefing (3 Nov 2023)

Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:
- Gaza
- Occupied Palestinian Territory
- Mali
- Sudan
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Ukraine
- Deputy Secretary-General
- Cyprus
- Mozambique
- Food Price Index
- Tsunami Awareness Day
- Noon Briefing Guest – Monday
- Afghanistan

GAZA
The Secretary-General and Special Coordinator Tor Wennesland are continuing their constant contact with leaders across the region, focusing on ways to end suffering and prevent further dangerous escalation.
In the last few days, Mr. Wennesland met with President [Isaac] Herzog, senior Ministry of Defense and Israel Defense officials, as well as with US and EU envoys, among others.
Back here this morning, the Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths briefed Member States on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
He talked about the despair he saw as he spoke to families of Israeli hostages and families in Gaza who have lost loved ones and their homes. Mr. Griffiths said what we have seen unfold in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory over the last 26 days is nothing short of a blight on our collective conscience.
He said there are intense humanitarian negotiations – involving Israel, Egypt, the United States and the UN – with more than 300 trucks having moved into Gaza as of yesterday. More than 100 trucks moved into Gaza yesterday alone, he added; yet that remains far less than the 500 truckloads of goods that moved into Gaza every day prior to the current crisis.
Mr. Griffiths called once more for the immediate release of all hostages and stressed the need to keep civilian infrastructure safe from harm, and he reiterated our call for humanitarian pauses.
Lynn Hastings, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory also briefed via videoconference.
She said the humanitarian impact of the attacks in Gaza has been catastrophic with more than 9,000 people have been killed in Gaza, and that’s according to the Ministry of Health there.
Thomas White of the UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, briefed from Rafah and he discussed the worsening situation as fuel is running out, noting that we could soon have a situation where raw sewage gushes out onto Gaza’s streets. He paid tribute to the work that UNRWA staff are doing in very dangerous conditions. And sadly, just to recall, 72 staff from UNRWA have been killed so far, to date.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Still on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says we along with our partners will release an Flash Appeal update on Monday covering the remainder of the year.
The $1.2 billion appeal aims to support 2.7 million people – the entire Gaza population and half a million people in the West Bank.
The original appeal, that was launched on 12 October, asked for $294 million to support nearly 1.3 million people. The situation has grown increasingly desperate since then.
The revised Flash Appeal will outline the need for food, water, health care, shelter, hygiene and other urgent priorities following the massive bombardments in Gaza.  

UKRAINE
Turning to Ukraine, I can tell you that we strongly condemn the latest wave of Russian attacks against critical infrastructure in various parts of the country, which reportedly resulted in injuries among the civilian population, including children, and caused damage to civilian residential and commercial buildings.
We are concerned about the escalation of such incidents and their impact on the lives of civilians, especially at the onset of the winter period.
We reiterate in the clearest terms that attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international humanitarian law and they must stop immediately.
Also, just a humanitarian update from Ukraine, our colleagues there tell us that the attacks this week have destroyed energy facilities, schools, hospitals and other public sites. The Kherson region in the south and the Donetsk region in the east were particularly affected.
Kharkiv City was also attacked last night. Our partner NGOs are already on-site, providing psychological support and shelter materials to people whose homes were damaged in the attacks.
We and our partners continue to provide critical aid to front-line communities. Today, an inter-agency humanitarian convoy delivered vital aid to about 1,600 people who remain on the front-line town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia Region. The aid includes medicine, household and hygiene kits, as well as blankets, mattresses, solar lamps, sleeping bags and food aid has also continued to be distributed.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=03%20November%202023

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