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PRESS BRIEFING BY THE UNITED NATIONS INFORMATION SERVICE 20.10

20 October 2023

OPT/Israel update

Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), stated that the Secretary-General had arrived in Egypt the day before as part of a humanitarian mission at a moment of profound crisis in the region. He had met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. In remarks to the press after the meeting, the Secretary-General had reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, so that humanitarian workers could get the aid in — and they needed to be able to distribute it safely.

For nearly two weeks, the Secretary-General had said, the people of Gaza had gone without any shipments of fuel, food, water, medicine, and other essentials which were needed at scale and in a sustainable manner. The Secretary-General had praised Egypt as a pillar of multilateral cooperation and a linchpin in helping to defuse tensions and ease colossal human pain and suffering. He had added that we knew that the longer this went on, the greater the risk of the violence spilling over.

She also confirmed that the Secretary-General had just arrived in Northern Sinai.

Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), stated that, with over 3,700 people killed in Gaza and 1,000 more presumed under the rubble, as well as 1,300 people killed in Israel, and a further one million Palestinians – half of them children – reportedly displaced, OHCHR implored all parties to allow the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for all civilians in need, wherever they were.

At the same time, OHCHR remained very concerned that Israeli Forces heavy strikes were continuing across Gaza, including in the South. There the strikes, coupled with extremely difficult living conditions, appeared to have pushed some to return to the North, despite the continuing heavy bombing there. OHCHR was also concerned about continued indiscriminate rockets being fired from Gaza into Israel.

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Answering questions, Ms. Shamdasani stressed that OHCHR was aware of the attack on a church and condemned the attacks on the protected buildings and civilians. OHCHR did not have the numbers of people who moved from North to South. About the freedom of movement, during the bombardments, people were scared to move. Counter orders issued by Palestinian groups placed the population in a situation of continuous violence.

OHCHR mentioned last Tuesday that it was increasingly difficult to investigate the Al-Alhi hospital attack and the responsibility because people could not move and communicate. OHCHR was trying to do what they could remotely. There were investigations underway because of the huge numbers of deaths occurring over the last two weeks and there was a need for accountability. There were different bodies investigating what happened in Gaza. About the letter of complaints from Arab countries to the President of the Human Rights Council, Ms. Shamdasani said OHCHR preferred not to engage in the bilateral exchange.

Finally, in response to another question about demonstrations in the Swiss-German part of Switzerland, Ms. Shamdasani said that this was an important question relevant to many countries across the globe. According to international law, States have an obligation to ensure a safe and enabling space for participation and debate. They must not unduly restrict participation and debate or critical commentary about the conflict of expressions of solidarity with Israelis or Palestinians. This is important. Restrictions are allowed under international humanitarian law; however, any restrictions on the right to peaceful assembly must be based on law, necessary for and proportionate to the risks, such as national security, public safety, or public order. The restrictions must never be discriminatory and must never impair the essence of the right. They must never be aimed at discouraging participation in assemblies or causing a chilling effect. Blanket bans on peaceful assemblies are thus disproportionate.

Also answering questions, Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, on behalf of Martin Griffiths: “We were in deep and advanced negotiations with all relevant sides to ensure that an aid operation into Gaza started as quickly as possible and with the right conditions. We were encouraged by reports that the different sides were nearing an agreement on the modalities and that a first delivery was due to start in the next day or so.” Furthermore, he stated that the UN was negotiating an agreement on the convoys and who would be part of it, including medical personnel. The opening of the corridor was expected to start soon. OCHA did not have an exact time or date for the opening of the corridor. Mr. Laerke said that it was of utmost importance to have a mechanism in place in order to help everyone in Gaza wherever they were. OCHA did not know how much help was needed but water, food, fuel and medical supplies were considered as the basic needs. Fuel was important in many situations but it was a lifesaving humanitarian commodity for population in conflicts, for example for hospitals. Mr Laerke, said that the Rafah crossing was the lifeline where more and more people were gathering. It was the most direct route. The Israeli authorities were in charge of deciding to open access to another corridor. Finally, around 20 trucks were ready to go in.

Responding to questions, Alessandra Vellucci, for UNIS, recalled the concerns of USG Griffiths and Special Coordinator Wennesland about the violence not only in Gaza and Israel, but also in the West Bank, where the number of killings since 9 October was the highest since 2005. The UN were working towards a de-escalation. The Secretary-General had been vocal about the possible extension of the conflict throughout the region and had said that the longer the conflict that went on, the greater the risk of the violence spilling over.

Margaret Harris, for the World Health Organization (WHO), stated that several hundred people would normally get daily treatments, but this was not the case anymore. Chronically ill patients did not receive the necessary care.

OHCHR Report on Peru

Answering questions, Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), stated that the issues raised in the recent OHCHR report on Peru were still valid, even if new demonstrations had happened in the meantime. The report was about systemic violations and abuses committed during past protests and OHCHR hoped that the country would take the report into consideration.

Health Response to the Earthquakes in Herat, Western Afghanistan

Dr Alaa AbouZeid, Health Emergencies Team Lead in Afghanistan for the World Health Organization (WHO), recalled that between 7 and 15 October, a series of 6.3 magnitude earthquakes had hit Herat Province in western Afghanistan.

The disaster had severely impacted vulnerable populations, especially women, girls, boys, and the elderly, who had accounted for over 90% of the deaths and injuries. Many children had been left orphaned.

Over 114,000 people had been in urgent need of lifesaving health assistance, and this had been in a so-called “white area” or underserved area where the population had already had very little access to essential health services.

Based on the initial assessment, at least 40 health facilities across nine districts had been reported damaged, resulting in severe disruptions in access to health services for an estimated 580,000 people.

Health workers had also been affected by the disaster – either from the loss of family members or from fear of collapsing health facilities, which had made it even harder for them to provide the health care their communities had needed. The health consequences had been staggering. Women had been disproportionately highly affected.

As one of the very first responders, WHO had been on the ground within hours and had been supporting hospitals, especially the Herat Regional Hospital to manage the massive influx of incoming patients, treating the injured, providing medicines and medical supplies.

Thanks to the long and established presence in Herat and the preparedness efforts WHO had put in place across the country, they had been able to rapidly mobilize resources, deploy medicines we had prepositioned in the province, and extend immediate lifesaving support to the affected population at the most critical time of the emergency, including through mobile health and nutrition teams, in close coordination with the 19 health partners.

WHO had also immediately sent surge staff and health workers on the ground to support mental health and psychosocial services, emergency management, trauma care, and maternal and reproductive health.

WHO had been grateful to donors and partners that had enabled them to mobilize resources at the most critical time. But the needs had been huge to ensure they sustained health services when survivors had rebuilt their lives. The cost of inaction would have been life-threatening to the thousands of vulnerable families who had long been facing a long-term humanitarian emergency.

On 19 October, WHO and partners had launched an appeal of 7.9 million USD to ensure directly affected communities were provided with urgent and essential health services in the next six months. As the upcoming winter season had been bringing new health risks and exposure to the affected population currently living outdoors or in tents, immediate and flexible resources had been urgently needed to allow WHO to swiftly scale up to address emerging health needs and continue its emergency response to this disaster and in Afghanistan overall.

Answering questions Dr Alaa AbouZeid, said shelter, water and food were needed. There was a positive response regarding the funding appeal. Winter was starting and created new needs. Medical facilities had been touched and the professionals and patients were scared to go back inside buildings. Female patients were welcomed in WHO facilities around the country to receive special care according to their needs.

Announcements

Margaret Harris, for the World Health Organization (WHO), announced a Virtual Press Conference on Prevention and Response to Sexual Misconduct that would be on Monday, 23 October 2023 at 14.00 CEST (Geneva time).

Alessandra Vellucci, for UNIS, recalled that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women was reviewing that day the report of Uruguay.

The Human Rights Committee was concluded that morning the review of the report of the Republic of Korea.

Bi-weekly press briefing - 20 October 2023

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