Some 450,000 people have been forced to flee Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah under Israeli evacuation orders. Top news of the day | Tuesday: Gaza, Ukraine, UN Secretary General, internally displaced people UN
The main news of the day in the UN and in the world: the head of the UN about the escalation in Rafah, the difficult situation in the Kharkov region, the visit of the UN Secretary General to Oman and Bahrain, an unprecedented number of internally displaced persons in the world.
Escalation in Rafah
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is outraged by the escalation of hostilities in Rafah and the surrounding areas of Gaza. This is stated in a statement made on behalf of the UN Secretary General by the deputy head of his press service. The advance by Israeli forces further impedes humanitarian access and worsens the already dire situation facing the population. At the same time, Hamas continues to fire indiscriminate rockets towards Israel. Civilians must always be protected, the UN chief recalled, while there is currently no safety anywhere for people in Gaza. Guterres reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the release of all hostages. He also stated the need to resume the work of the Rafah checkpoint and ensure unhindered humanitarian access throughout the sector.
The situation in the Kharkov region
The UN Human Rights Office is concerned about the plight of civilians in Ukraine, especially in the Kharkov region, where Russian military forces have stepped up their attacks in recent days . This led to the seizure of even more territory in Ukraine and further displacement of the population. The Office also announced a potential threat to Kharkov, the second largest city in Ukraine. The UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine has confirmed that at least eight civilians have been killed and 35 injured in the Kharkiv region since last Friday. Thousands of people were forced to flee their homes.
UN Secretary General in Oman and Bahrain
The Secretary General is on an official visit to Muscat, Oman. Upon his arrival on Monday evening, he met with a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will hold talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tarek and the country’s foreign minister on Wednesday. António Guterres will then head to Bahrain to attend the Arab League summit. There, the Secretary-General will address the summit and hold several bilateral meetings with country leaders. Discussions will mainly focus on the situation in Gaza and the region as a whole.
Internal displacement
At the end of 2023, the number of internally displaced people in the world was at an unprecedented level – almost 76 million people. This is stated in a report published on Tuesday by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Almost 47 million new internal displacements were recorded in 2023, highlighting the urgent need to protect internally displaced people and prevent future mass exoduses. A global report shows that armed conflict and violence displaced 20.5 million people last year. Of this number, almost 30 percent were in Sudan and 17 percent in the Gaza Strip.