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Help is needed urgently to halt a deadly cholera outbreak that is sweeping across Sudan, UN agencies said on Friday, while warning that communities continue to be terrorised by parties to the conflict even as they flee violence.
80 years after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the “only guarantee” against the use of nuclear weapons today is their “total elimination”, the UN Secretary-General said on Friday.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed grave concern over Israel’s decision to “take control of Gaza City”, his Spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.
The UN’s top human rights official insisted on Friday that the Israeli Government must not pursue a complete military takeover of the Gaza Strip, beginning with full control of Gaza City.
Exhausted UN aid workers in Gaza on Thursday continued to report a lack of food across the enclave, while medical teams warned that hospitals are overwhelmed by a daily influx of injured people and close to “near-total collapse”.
In Africa’s Sahel region, deepening violence and poverty – driven by displacement, hunger and terrorism – are stripping women and girls of their right to safety, education and a viable future.
Hungry civilians are reportedly eating animal feed as women and girls face a “gender emergency” in war-torn Sudan, UN officials said on Thursday.
Hopes for peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been shaken by a surge in brutal attacks on civilians by armed groups, including the Rwandan-backed M23 militia, in the country’s troubled eastern region.
Aid agencies warned on Wednesday that most partner organizations providing vital relief across Gaza will likely have to shut down their operations within weeks, unless Israel withdraws its demand that they provide sensitive information about Palestinian employees.
The world changed forever 80 years ago this Wednesday when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during the Second World War.
Hopes for peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been shaken by a surge in brutal attacks on civilians by armed groups, including the Rwandan-backed M23 militia, in the country’s troubled eastern region.
UN data published on Wednesday underscores the tiny amount of cultivable land that remains in the Gaza Strip, contributing to the famine-like conditions now being endured by more than two million people there.
Hostilities have continued in Sweida, Syria, despite a ceasefire agreement, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in an update published on Wednesday.
Mr. President, Excellencies,
The situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel continues to deteriorate, with Palestinian and Israeli civilians, including the remaining hostages in Gaza, continuing to suffer immensely as a result.
In the past week, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad released images and videos of two hostages – Evaytar David and Rom Braslavsky – looking visibly emaciated, as they described the appalling conditions of their captivity. The scenes of Evaytar apparently being forced to dig his own grave are appalling. These images, and their own accounts of their treatment, have horrified us all. They are an affront to humanity itself. I would like to acknowledge the presence of Ilay David, the brother of Evyatar David, who we will hear from shortly.
Mr. David,
Please know that we at the United Nations recognize the profound pain and hardship endured by the families and loved ones of those who remain in captivity. Nearly two years have passed, with the immeasurable suffering and fear intensifying with every passing day. I am especially mindful that this week, the Jewish community commemorated Tisha B’Av, a day of mourning and remembrance of historical tragedies endured by the Jewish people — a time that echoes with the pain of loss across generations. I pay tribute to your courage and determination, and I share your dearest wish: for your brother, and all hostages held in Gaza, to be immediately and unconditionally released.
Mr. President,
Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups continue to hold 50 hostages, 28 of whom are thought to be deceased, in captivity in horrific conditions. Released hostages have relayed distressing accounts of deprivation, ill-treatment, and abuse. Since 7 October 2023, Hamas and other armed groups have circulated dozens of videos of hostages, including statements made by hostages under duress and clearly suffering, including the most recent footage of Evaytar David and Rom Braslavsky.
International law is clear. Hostage-taking is prohibited – it is a war crime. Those deprived of liberty must be treated humanely and with dignity and allowed to receive visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross. They must never be subject to ill-treatment, abuse, or humiliation, as these would also constitute violations of relevant rules of international law. I reiterate the Secretary-General’s call on Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. They must be freed– now.
Mr. President,
The situation in Gaza is horrifying – it is unbearable. Palestinians are subjected to squalid, inhumane conditions on a daily basis.
Since the beginning of the conflict, over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Since the end of May, over 1,200 Palestinians have been killed and over 8,100 injured while trying to access food supplies, including in the vicinity of militarized aid distribution sites. The deaths and injuries continue to mount, day by day, with no end in sight to the suffering.
Israel continues to severely restrict humanitarian assistance entering Gaza, and the aid that is permitted to enter is grossly inadequate. Hunger is everywhere in Gaza, visible in the faces of children and in the desperation of parents risking their lives to access the most basic supplies.
I would like to echo the Secretary-General’s condemnation of the ongoing violence in Gaza, including the shooting, killing, and injuring of people attempting to get food for their families. International law is clear. Civilians must be respected, protected and never targeted or deliberately deprived of food or access to other lifesaving aid – doing so is a war crime.
Israel must immediately allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of sufficient amounts of humanitarian relief for civilians in need, to avert further suffering and loss of life.
Mr. President,
the latest reports regarding Prime Minister Netanyahu’s possible decision to expand Israel’s military operations through the entire Gaza Strip, if true, are deeply alarming. This would risk catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinians and could further endanger the lives of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
International law is clear in this regard. Gaza is and must remain an integral part of a future Palestinian State. As declared by the International Court of Justice, in its Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024, the State of Israel is under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities, and to evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and to bring to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory – Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem – as rapidly as possible.
Mr. President,
The United Nations has been clear: there is only one path to ending the ongoing violence and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza — a full and permanent ceasefire. The immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. Life-saving humanitarian aid must flow into Gaza at scale and without obstruction, and civilians must be guaranteed safe, unhindered access to assistance.
There is no military solution to the conflict in Gaza or the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We must establish political and security frameworks that can relieve the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, start early recovery and reconstruction, address the legitimate security concerns of Israelis and Palestinians, and secure an end to Israel’s unlawful occupation and achieve a sustainable two-State solution - Israel and a fully independent, democratic, contiguous, viable and sovereign Palestinian State, of which Gaza is an integral part – living side by side in peace and security within secure and recognized borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the capital of both States.
Thank you.
Children in Gaza are dying not just from hunger, but from the total collapse of the systems meant to protect them, UN agencies warned on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported the deaths of five children with a dozen seriously injured, following the detonation of an unexploded mortar shell in the city of Lakki Marwat in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province over the weekend.
The Security Council is meeting to discuss rising concern in Israel and elsewhere over the dire conditions facing the hostages who remain in Gaza. It follows the release of recent videos by Hamas and other Palestinian militants showing emaciated captives, which the UN Secretary-General called “an unacceptable violation of human dignity.” A senior UN political affairs official reiterated the "unbearable" conditions faced by Palestinians across the war-ravaged enclave. Stay with UN News for live updates in coordination with UN Meetings Coverage. App users can follow the coverage here.
Famine was declared in the Zamzam camp in North Darfur one year ago. And since then, little has changed – no aid trucks have reached the region, the nearby city of El Fasher is still under siege and food prices are four times higher than other parts of the country.
As conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel continue to deteriorate, a senior UN official upheld the need for a political solution to the crisis in Gaza that can lead to a lasting peace between the two peoples.
From land disputes in Guatemala to youth leadership in Colombia, Indigenous Peoples are leading efforts to resolve conflict and build sustainable peace in their communities. At a time of rising inequality and growing demand for natural resources, Indigenous rights and leadership is becoming ever more central to preventing conflict and restoring trust in fragile settings. Ahead of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on 9 August, the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) highlights how, together with its partners, it is working to support and amplify Indigenous-led peacebuilding efforts around the world.
Earlier this year, DPPA co-sponsored a high-level discussion titled “Indigenous Peacebuilding as a Pathway Towards Healing Peoples, for Peace & Planet” on the margins of the twenty-fourth session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), which took place from 21 April to 2 May 2025. In her remarks, Awa Dabo, Deputy Head of the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) highlighted the significance of the UN General Assembly resolution on the rights of Indigenous Peoples (A/79/455), adopted in December 2024. “Peacebuilding must honour and respect Indigenous governance and institutions, while upholding their right to full participation in political, economic, social, and cultural life,” she said. The resolution affirms that sustainable peace must be anchored in the recognition and protection of Indigenous rights, including meaningful participation in peace agreement negotiations, transitional justice, conflict resolution, and mediation efforts. The resolution also emphasizes the role of indigenous women in advancing inclusive peace and stresses the need to address historic injustices and strengthen Indigenous institutions as a foundation for long term reconciliation.
DPPA is helping turn these commitments into reality through a range of projects backed by the Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF).
In Colombia, War Child’s “Intercultural Mae Kiwe” project promotes the safe and meaningful participation of Afro-Descendant and Nasa youth in political and peacebuilding activities, focusing on the protection of their rights and integrating traditional practices into local peacebuilding efforts. In Guatemala’s Polochic Valley, a joint OHCHR and FAO initiative has trained 582 Qeqchi leaders from 10 communities, strengthening their capacity to manage agrarian conflicts and engage in land and food security governance. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a collaboration among FAO, UNHCR, and UNICEF has helped reduce the marginalization of the Indigenous Twa by securing legal land titles, supporting reconciliation ceremonies, and establishing community committees with significant Twa representation. In the Philippines, IOM, UNFPA, and UN Women are facilitating dialogue between minority non-Moro Indigenous Peoples and government taskforces, building their capacity for effective participation in peace processes.
These projects reflect a broader strategic shift: recognizing Indigenous Peoples not only as beneficiaries of peacebuilding but as active agents shaping it. The initiatives also illustrate how support from the Peacebuilding Fund is helping close the implementation gap between global norms — such as A/79/455 — and realities on the ground. During the event, Member States including Australia, Guatemala and Mexico shared national experiences and emphasized the importance of Indigenous peacebuilders, mediators and facilitators. “We must ensure the strengthening of the capacities and empowerment of Indigenous Peoples to enable their participation in all peace initiatives, negotiations, and mechanisms,” said Ambassador José Alberto Bríz Gutiérrez, Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the United Nations. Participants, including Indigenous representatives, echoed these calls, advocating for continued DPPA support to ensure their communities have the resources, platforms and protection needed to contribute to peace.
Participants also underscored the need to respond to long-standing sources of tension affecting Indigenous communities. The UN Permanent Forum has warned that the unprecedented demand for critical minerals is intensifying tensions between extractive industries, authorities, and Indigenous communities whose lands are rich in these resources. As these tensions grow, genuine partnership with Indigenous Peoples will be key to preventing violence and fostering sustainable peace.
“The United Nations, Member States, Indigenous Peoples, all have to engage on the way forward to include and amplify Indigenous wisdom, knowledge and voices in multilateral peace efforts — in peace talks, mediation and reconciliation processes,” said Binalakshmi Nepram, founder of the Global Alliance of Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous peacemaker from Manipur. “This is about our shared humanity, and we thank DPPA for the valuable support and partnership.”
As conflict intensifies between rival militaries in Sudan, the UN humanitarian wing (OCHA) expressed alarm on Monday over mounting civilian casualties and worsening humanitarian conditions across the country.
The daily struggle to survive an ongoing war in Gaza and to protect one’s family – while reporting on the fear and chaos that conflict brings – has become an unrelenting obligation for a UN News correspondent in the embattled enclave.
In Gaza, UN aid teams continue to report that Gaza is on the brink of famine with the UN human rights chief on Monday denouncing images of starvation inside the enclave as “an affront to our collective humanity.”
Five years have passed since the explosion at the Beirut Port shattered lives and neighbourhoods and shocked the world. The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, today expressed solidarity with all those affected by the blast, many of whom continue to bravely pursue justice.
Following a meeting with families of several victims last week, the Special Coordinator stressed that progress in judicial proceedings...
Recent attacks by armed groups in northern Mozambique displaced tens of thousands in July alone, deepening an already dire humanitarian crisis in Cabo Delgado and straining limited aid supplies.
Cholera is ripping through North Darfur, Sudan, threatening thousands of children already weakened by hunger and displacement, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Sunday, as aid convoys struggle to reach cut-off communities amid escalating conflict.
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Mr. President,
First, allow me to join you in thanking Pakistan for successfully presiding over the Security Council in the month of July. I wish also to congratulate Panama for taking over the Council presidency during the month of August and wish them all the best.
Mr. President,
With only one week since our last briefing to this Council on the situation in Ukraine, we are meeting again as the Russian Federation continues its brutal attacks across the country.
Overnight, between 30 and 31 July, yet another large-scale Russian missile and drone attack hit Kyiv.
At least 31 people, including five children, were reportedly killed.
159 people, including at least 16 children, were reportedly injured. The number of children injured in this attack was the highest in a single night in the city since the beginning of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion.
According to local officials, the strike damaged 27 locations across four districts of the capital, including a school, a preschool, a pediatric wing of a hospital and a university building. An entire section of an apartment block was also reportedly destroyed, leaving many trapped beneath the burning rubble.
Following the attack, humanitarian partners, including UN agencies and local non-governmental organizations in Kyiv, provided immediate emergency assistance to affected families. Aid workers also distributed emergency shelter kits to repair damaged windows, offered initial psychological aid, legal counselling, and psychosocial support to residents.
In addition to Kyiv, seven other regions of Ukraine - Vinnytsia, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Cherkasy, and Chernihiv - were targeted that night with at least 120 civilian casualties reported across the country.
In the frontline Donetsk region of Ukraine, two people were reportedly killed and 10 others injured.
In the Kharkiv region, one person was reportedly killed and seven others injured.
Civilian casualties were also reported in Sumy, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
These most recent terrible and devastating attacks follow a deadly wave of daily, relentless Russian air strikes.
On the night of 28 July and the early hours of 29 July, at least 25 people were reportedly killed and dozens more injured across Ukraine.
In Bilenke, the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, a reported Russian attack hit a prison facility, killing 16 and injuring 35 people.
In the city of Kamianske in the Dnipropetrovsk region, a reported Russian attack hit a hospital. Three people, including a young pregnant woman, were killed, and at least 22, including 10 medical workers, were reportedly injured.
In the village of Novoplatonivka in the Kharkiv region, six people were reportedly killed in an attack that hit people gathered to receive humanitarian aid.
On 27 July, a drone struck a civilian bus near Ivolzhanske, Sumy region, reportedly killing three elderly women and injuring 19 other passengers.
These continuing horrendous attacks are simply unacceptable.
In total, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), since the start of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 until 30 June, launched in blatant violation of the UN Charter and international law, 13,580 civilians, including 716 children, have been killed. 34,115 civilians, including 2,173 children, have been injured.
Since our last briefing, we have also continued to see reports of civilian casualties, including civilian deaths in the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk and Rostov regions of the Russian Federation.
According to the Russian authorities, in the Belgorod region, between 25 and 29 July, at least two civilians were reportedly killed and seven others were wounded as a result of drone and missile strikes.
In the Bryansk region, between 26 and 28 July, two civilians were reportedly injured as a result of drone strikes.
In the Kursk region, between 25 and 26 July, one person was reportedly killed and six others were reportedly injured as a result of drone attacks and a mine explosion.
In the Leningrad region, on 28 July, debris from a crashed drone reportedly caused a fire, killing one civilian and injuring three.
In the Rostov region, on the night of 29 July, a reported drone strike killed a driver and triggered a fire at a railway station.
While the United Nations is not in a position to verify these reports, we remain concerned about the increasing impact of the reported Ukrainian strikes on the civilian population in the Russian Federation.
We also reiterate that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international law and must stop immediately – wherever they occur.
Mr. President,
Last week, we commended the parties for the continuing prisoners of war exchanges that reunited thousands of people with their families.
The situation of the remaining captives, however, remains of serious concern.
Since early June, OHCHR has interviewed nearly 140 male Ukrainian prisoners of war who were recently released, many after up to three years of captivity.
Nearly all of the former prisoners interviewed by OHCHR reported having been subjected to torture or ill-treatment, including severe beatings, electric shocks, sexual violence, dog attacks, suffocation, mutilation, or conditions so inhumane that they resulted in the deaths of fellow prisoners. These findings confirm the previously documented patterns of widespread and systematic torture.
Civilians detained by the Russian Federation and interviewed by OHCHR also continued to recount widespread and routine torture and ill-treatment, as well as arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance.
Disturbingly, OHCHR has also recorded credible allegations of the execution of 106 Ukrainian soldiers captured by the Russian armed forces between late August 2024 and May 2025.
We continue to urge the sides to fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law in their treatment of prisoners of war. We also encourage them to continue the exchanges to bring all prisoners home.
Mr. President,
Ukrainian people have endured nearly three and a half years of unimaginable horrors, death, devastation and destruction.
They urgently need relief from this nightmare.
We therefore reiterate our urgent call for an immediate, unconditional, and complete ceasefire to pave the way towards a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.
A peace that is in line with the Charter of the United Nations, international law, and relevant UN resolutions in full respect of the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, within its internationally recognized borders.
Diplomacy, not fighting, needs to escalate in the coming days and weeks.
Diplomacy that leads to real, tangible, verifiable and lasting results that would be felt by the long-suffering people on the ground.
The United Nations remains ready to support all meaningful efforts to this end.
Thank you.
A senior UN official on Friday warned of mounting civilian casualties and worsening humanitarian conditions in Ukraine, as a wave of Russian missile and drone strikes this week killed dozens and injured scores across multiple regions – including pregnant women and children.
Despite Israel’s 27 July announcement of daily military pauses in western Gaza “to improve humanitarian responses,” Israeli forces continued attacks along food convoy routes and near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid sites, according to the UN human rights office in Palestine (OHCHR).
Two gangs in Haiti took over a radio station in April. They broadcasted propaganda and played hip-hop supportive of their activities. Upon leaving, they took all the equipment with them and burned down a nearby market — a reminder that armed violence in Haiti is not only taking people’s lives but also destroying their livelihoods.
The UN Security Council meets Friday afternoon to discuss the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, where recent attacks have left dozens dead or injured. A senior UN political affairs official is expected to brief on the situation. Follow our live coverage from UN News, in coordination with UN Meetings Coverage, for real-time updates and key developments from the chamber. UN News App users can follow the coverage here.
As Gaza faces famine-like conditions, large numbers of people reportedly continue to be killed and injured while searching for food, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday.
In Gaza, UN aid teams continued their efforts on Thursday to help people of the war-shattered enclave by retrieving urgently needed fuel and other supplies from the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south of the Strip.
The UN Security Council met on Thursday morning to discuss threats to international peace and security, with a focus on the situation in Ukraine. The meeting was requested by Russia. Follow our live updates as UN News, in coordination with UN Meetings Coverage, brings you key highlights and takeaways from today’s session. UN News app users can follow the coverage here.
At least 11 civilians were killed and over 130 injured in Russian strikes overnight in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country, HRMMU, reported on Thursday.
