Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Secretary-General/Travels
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Lebanon
Ukraine
Sudan
South Sudan
Secretary-General/Flooding in India and Pakistan
United Nations Support Office In Somalia (UNSOS)
Resident Coordinator
SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRAVELS
Today, the Secretary-General will leave New York for Japan to attend the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) in Yokohama and the UN Special Day at Expo 2025 in Osaka.
Mr. Guterres is scheduled to hold a meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan, Shigeru Ishiba, as well as other officials including the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Iwaya Takeshi,
This will be the Secretary-General’s seventh visit to Japan. It will highlight the cooperative relationship between the UN and Japan. TICAD is also a very important platform to discuss ways to support Africa.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the situation is beyond catastrophic in the Gaza Strip. Amid ongoing hostilities and extreme hunger, more deaths are recorded every day. Hunger-related deaths continue to be reported, including among children.
Partners say that, last week, in the north and the south of Gaza, more than 80 community kitchens were able to produce some 380,000 meals each day. Back in April, the daily tally of community kitchens was more than a million meals each day. Communities rely on hot meals once a day from these kitchens – but the amount they’re able to cook remains insufficient to meet the needs of the population in Gaza.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said that its teams are doing everything they can to deliver food to people. But the supplies remain far below standards – less than half of WFP daily target.
The agency said that organized distributions, WFP-supported hot meals, and bakeries, depend on far more aid that is actually getting into Gaza.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said that five people, including two children, died over the past 24 hours due to malnutrition and starvation.
To prevent such deaths, and as we’ve been saying repeatedly humanitarians must be able to deliver food at scale, and consistently, through all available crossings and routes to reach the population of 2.1 million people, half of whom are children.
Yesterday, eight out of the 12 missions requiring coordination with Israeli authorities were facilitated without impediments. They included the transfer of nutritional supplies and fuel to the north.
One mission was to replace a water pipeline in Deir al Balah, and that mission was denied. Three others were impeded but eventually fully accomplished, including the collection of food aid from the Zikim crossing and the Kerem Shalom/ Karem Abu Salem crossing.
Movement restrictions also included holding points and long waiting lines inside the Strip, hinder the delivery of aid and supplies to people who are in desperate need.
We have seen the Israeli authorities’ announcement that they will lift the ban on shelter supplies, which have not been allowed to enter the Gaza Strip in five months. This is a welcome development, as the need for shelter and household items has increased. UN partners estimate that at least 1.35 million people need emergency shelter and some 1.4 million need essential household items. This represents an increase of about 4 and 8 per cent, respectively, compared with just June, a few months ago.
However, we are also concerned that the announcement by the Israeli authorities comes in connection with the looming announced expansion of the military activities in the Gaza city. This would displace thousands of people, once again, into an overcrowded area in the south of the Strip, which is almost devoid of the most basic infrastructure and services, including water, food and medical services.
Since early March, when the Israeli shelter ban came into force, more than 780,000 displacements have taken place. Existing shelters have deteriorated or been left behind amid repeated displacement orders.
Yet again, we repeat that it will not participate in any forced displacement of people. The UN and its partners reiterate our commitment to serve people wherever they are.
All civilians must be protected, whether they choose to stay or whether they choose to move. Those who decide to move must have their essential needs met, and they must be able to voluntarily return when the situation allows.
We also need unimpeded humanitarian access across all of Gaza, including community-based distributions and supplies entering at scale through all possible crossings, as we have been saying. All available supplies must be let into Gaza, including through the northern crossings.
Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=18%20August%202025