OK, welcome to this briefing. Let's start.
Today is Friday, 18th of October. We are here in Geneva at
the Information Service of the United Nations And
um, I would like to first of all
welcome you all, including the students of the University of Zurich.
We also have a little change in the
in the programme that has been distributed to you because Rania
the World Food Programme assistant Executive
Director for Partnership and Innovation,
has moved their briefing to Tuesday.
this is also in the interest of the
of the news and of the other speakers that we have
this morning. And the first one I would like to welcome
the spokesperson, chief strategic communication and public information
for the EU and Interim Force in Lebanon.
Andrea is connected, comes to us from Beirut
and I would like to really welcome him. I'm happy to see you in
we are really happy that you are here for briefing the journalist in Geneva.
we will give you the floor for initial remarks and then we
will open the floor to questions and you have the floor,
And thank you very much for having
Uh, during your press conference today,
Uh, I will start with, uh, a few minutes of opening remarks in relation to
the, uh, situation in south Lebanon,
Uh, for the last, uh, several months.
But, uh, after over 12 months of exchanges of fire between Hezbollah
and Israel, tensions have escalated exponentially in the past month, uh, turning
the hostilities into a deadlier, more lethal conflict.
According to Lebanese Authority,
the death toll in Lebanon since the eighth of October of last year
has reached over 2400 people and the number
of wounded individuals has increased to over one,
Close to 800,000 people were internally displaced,
This is according to the International Organisation for Migration. In
recent days, the amount of heavy shelling and powerful airstrikes,
as well as the number of air violations
over Lebanese airspace have grown.
There has been also significant increase in bombardment.
Uh uh, particularly in southern Lebanon, where UNIFIL operates,
but also in Beirut and other parts of the country
daily heavy shelling has worsened due to ID
F Uh uh Israeli defence forces incursions into
Lebanese territory in the proximity of the blue
line in both UNIFIL sector east and west,
which constitute a violation of Lebanese sovereignty
and also a violation of Security Council
Peacekeepers are also reporting clashes on the ground.
The mission continues to stay in contact with the parties, urging de
escalation and also reminding them of
their obligation to ensure peacekeepers safety
due to the security situation. In the past few weeks, most
but not all patrols have been suspended until things improve.
We continue to monitor report from
all our UN positions across the south of Lebanon.
We are also working hard behind the
scenes to coordinate the safe passage of essential
humanitarian aid to civilians in south Lebanon
by UN agencies and local international NGO S.
Civilians continue to suffer in this conflict and peacekeepers continue to do
whatever we can to help Um despite uh,
ID F demands to move from position close to the blue line. A
unanimous decision was taken by all UNIFIL
troops contributing countries and the UN Security Council
and our peacekeepers remain deployed in all their positions along the blue line.
Uh, we are regularly adjusting, uh, our postures and activities and, uh,
ready to activate if absolutely necessary.
We are seeing at the moment hundreds of trajectories
and sometimes more crossing the line each day,
forcing our peacekeepers to spend extended hours
in shelters to ensure their safety,
the escalation along the line is causing widespread
destruction of towns and villages in south Lebanon,
while rockets continue to be launched towards Israel, including, uh,
Uh, the devastation and distractions of many villages along the line
and even beyond is, um is shocking.
The ID F has repeatedly targeted our positions,
endangering the safety of our troops
in addition to Hezbollah launching Raqqa
over Israel from near our positions,
uh, which also puts our peacekeepers in in danger. Uh,
Security Council Resolution 17 1 has been significantly a challenge,
but its key provisions on safety security long
term solutions remain valid and must be implemented.
Mission and Force Commander Lieutenant General Lazaro continues to
maintain open channel of communications with both sides,
and we continue to urge Lebanon Israel to commit to resolution 17. 01
in actions and not just, uh uh with words.
Uh, and And this, uh, as we continue to say,
is the only viable solution to bring back stability in, uh, in the region.
Uh, thank you. And, uh, ready for your for your questions,
Andrea, thank you very much for this briefing.
Let me before opening the floor to question
remind the journalists that yesterday we have
distributed a solidarity message that the Secretary
general of the United Nations has addressed to the UN Interim forces in Lebanon,
which he says that he is full of admiration
and gratitude to the men and women of UNIFIL,
He said, I'm so proud of you. I know your countries are proud of you too.
He has reaffirmed that the safety of UN personnel is our highest priority
and all parties have an obligation to ensure the safety of our personnel.
He continued by saying the
inability of UN premises must be respected at all times.
And despite all the challenges as we have heard from Andrea,
The Secretary general said I am in constant contact with General
Lazaro assessing the latest developments.
Our path forward is clear.
We need an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of Resolution 17. 01
said to the men and women of the UNIFIL, you are not just on the blue line in Lebanon,
you are literally on the front line of peace
and I open the floor to question. Now I'll start with Emma Farge here in the room.
Emma is our correspondent of Reuters. Andrea.
Uh, Andrea, I had a question about, uh, something you sent out on X yesterday, Um,
about a drone that was brought down.
You said electronic countermeasures were used,
uh, by whom? Who actually shot down this drone. And have you identified
this, um, drone yet? Who sent it and what were its intentions? Thank you.
Yes. Uh uh. Thank you. Uh,
We issued a statement yesterday because, uh, uh, an unknown drone, uh, approach,
uh, our one of our, uh, maritime task force ship.
The ship used, uh, electronic countermeasure, Uh, also to, uh, uh,
decrease the threaten to to the ship.
Uh, the the drone, uh, then exploded on its own.
Uh, we are still looking into this matter. We still don't know the origins.
Uh, we understand that the drone was coming from,
but, uh, circling around the ship and getting very, very close.
A few, uh, uh, metres away from, uh, from the ship. So these measures were used.
Uh, we have launched an investigation, uh, to understand, Uh uh, the origin, uh,
So as soon as we have more information, uh uh, we will get back to all of you. Thank you.
Jamie Keaton, Associated Press?
Yeah, I think that one works.
Hello? Uh, Mr uh, Tenente.
Thank you for coming to see us.
Um, I have two questions. Um, the first is,
people Critics who say that,
in the region and that, uh, unifil, uh, utility.
Its purpose, um, is is is is is kind of obsolete, uh, given the fact that, uh,
there's obviously no peace being kept in the region.
if you could just emphasise sort of the successes that
you've had over the years that actually prove that,
uh, this peacekeeping operation is still valid
secondly, um, I'd like if you could please, to specify instances, Um,
starting with the most recent in
which UNIFIL peacekeepers
have had to discharge their weapons,
in one direction or another, or are they, uh, generally, just,
um, sitting there and facing,
um uh, incursions. As as you've mentioned. Um
um, without being able to respond in any way. Thank you.
uh, thank you very much, uh, in relation to the first part of your questions, I think,
uh, the role of UNIFIL at the moment is more important than ever.
Uh, we need to try to bring back stability and peace to this region.
we were working to try to bring back stability and working on a long term solutions.
uh, was never in this part of the of of the regions.
and despite, uh, in recent days, when the Israeli defence forces
and also Israeli Prime Minister asked the mission to
move from our positions close to the line,
there was an unanimous decision from everyone to stay.
we are here deployed because the Security Council wants us to
be here because the international community and at the moment,
it's very important to be able to monitor and report
also to the Security Council to the international community.
What's happening right now?
We have our limited capabilities at the moment in terms of, uh uh, Patrolling.
But we are still doing it.
And most importantly, is what we are trying to do And what, uh uh,
we have been working for for days and weeks
to work together and to coordinate with UN humanitarian agencies
is the conflict situation in order to bring back,
Uh um, assistance to local communities.
There are thousands of people still stuck in
villages in the south of Lebanon without,
uh, the most basic needs.
working in these days to try to bring this assistance.
But the role of UNIFIL is still important. 17 01
has definitely been, uh, uh. Challenged.
Uh, but the main provision are still valid.
Uh, the full implementation of the resolution is not up to UNIFIL.
Uh, we are here to support the implementation of Resolution 1701.
But it's up to parties to be committed to to this resolution so
that I just wanna go back just for a second that from 2006,
when Resolution 1701 was adopted and was the resolution
that stopped the conflict in 2006 Until last year,
the south of Lebanon had witnessed one of his quietest spirit in,
Then that the events of October happened and and now, of course, we go.
We have to go back to the cessation of hostilities.
There was a lot of things that were done until the
point was starting to deploy more Lebanese army to the south.
We were working on marking the Blue Line, a border that does not exist.
And we had marked most part of the of the blue line
and we were working on the outstanding points along the blue line.
We had monthly meeting between Lebanese Army and ID
F two countries still at war at war,
and meeting in the same room to try to
de conflict situation and trying to move forward.
Uh, the Middle East and Israel region is very sensitive, and it is very difficult,
So it moves very slowly. Any kind of, uh, a negotiation.
But that's what we were doing. We have to go back to that
17. 01 is still the resolution that both countries have agreed to.
And both parties are somehow, uh, uh being committed to.
And even recently, they always they have been saying, uh,
again and again that 17 01 needs to be implemented.
But we need the commitment, uh,
the commitment of the parties
in in relation to your second part of the question of self defence.
We are under chapter six of the Security Council.
Of course, self defence can be used.
But we also have to be very pragmatic on when to use it and how to use it.
become part of the conflict and using force
that could trigger there are more violence.
This is not something what we are we are planning to do.
So we're trying to decrease the tensions,
and it's up to the commanders on the ground to
decide when is the time to use self defence.
But it's very important at the moment to
decrease the violence to decrease the tension.
And, uh and that's what we've been doing until now.
Can I just understand that there has not been
any instance of discharging of weapons by UNIFIL forces?
Uh, it sounds like your answer to that.
And just as a quick question,
you you mentioned the mandate and the successes that you've had
in in in getting aid to to needy people and whatnot.
What do you say to people who say that
the UNIFIL zone that is supposed to be covered has been, um,
has not been fully covered as it should have been
And that, uh, for example, some NG, uh, organisations posing as NGO S,
um, are actually a representative of of
in the region that are coming into the area and
that UNIFIL may be turning a blind eye to,
uh, to those, uh, to those, um, militants, I guess if you want to call them that,
right? No, thanks a lot again for for the follow follow up questions.
Uh, because the the that's what we've been doing.
We have been reporting, uh,
all these incidents and every suspicious
any suspicious activities to the Security Council
This is all part of the of the SGS report to the Security Council. So
everything has been reporting even the recent claims by ID F of, uh,
on on finding of Channel.
This has all been reported, but there is a limitation to, uh, Resolution 1701.
Uh, we cannot, uh, uh, search inside private property.
And the one that was mentioning was a private property.
We cannot search inside houses.
We cannot disarm Hezbollah, which is not part of our mandate. So we have been
the Lebanese authorities to enter inside all these areas to inspect.
We have not been able to do it.
Uh, and as I said, this is the limitation of Resolution 1701.
Of course, if there is any change or planning,
any change of resolution of the mandate of the
mission will be up to the Security Council,
But we did whatever we could within the limits of our of our mandate.
Thank you very much about the discharging.
Ok, thank you. OK, let me go to the platform now.
Laurent is our correspondent of the Swiss News Agency.
Yeah. Thank you. The the question on the on the drone was covered.
So I have a, uh, a few additional questions.
Uh, first, do you make a direct correlation between, uh, the speeches against, uh,
FO that were made recently by Prime Minister Netanyahu,
different targets? Uh, you were subjected to, uh uh, and and,
Yeah, there were a few casualties, a few injuries within your force.
yeah, if you could tell us more, a little bit about the mood Currently, uh uh,
of the the men and women within the force.
and beyond the the fact that they have to remain for hours in the compound.
Have they been asked to follow a particular precautionary measures? Thank you,
Uh, in in relation to, uh, the incidents and, uh, some correlation with, uh,
what they asked us to do.
I think, uh, without commenting too much on that, I would just look at the facts.
Uh, we were asked to move from some positions along the blue line. We have around 29
positions that are very close to the blue line, up to five kilometres.
Uh, we decided not to. It's important for the UN flag to still fly there.
And because we are there at the request of the Security Council,
there was also strong and vocal, uh,
voice from the Security Council from the international community to stay there.
Uh, immediately after that, we've been, uh, targeted, uh, several times.
Uh, five times and a deliberate attack, Uh, one tower inside the headquarters in
Nura. Two peacekeepers were injured.
Another two positions close to the line where they hit the communication system.
a drone enter very close to the bunkers
where peacekeepers were sheltering a few days ago.
They enter ID F inside the UN position, and, uh,
they stayed there for 45 minutes.
So there have been several day yesterday that there
was another targeting of our cameras in another position.
So all these elements are clear, and we've been very vocal.
This is a deliberate attack against the the the mission.
Uh, the parties have an obligation to protect the peacekeepers.
And it's not only a violation of, uh,
resolution 17 01 It's also a violation of international humanitarian law.
So, uh, we need to stay. They asked us to move, and we are.
And we are there because it's important for
the international community and the international presence to
The the mood of peacekeepers. Uh uh.
Incredibly enough after all these months,
because this conflict did not start a month ago,
we have been going on with the the exchanges of steel started last October.
There have been rotation of troops, but,
uh um, they are incredibly resilient in, uh, in all the, uh,
positions and some of them
they are very challenged,
Uh, so not easy When you spend, uh, uh, many hours during the day inside, uh,
but I would say that morale is, uh is still very high.
The commitment, uh, we have been talking to some of them,
and we are in touch with peacekeepers from all the different positions.
Still very much committed
to try to bring back some kind of stability in in this region. So I would say that, uh
uh uh, it's, uh it's an incredible uh um
um, very challenging situation.
But the peacekeepers are, uh, very much, uh uh, in a good spirit and committed to,
uh, to To To to bring back some calm and stability to the region.
Novosti, The Russian News Agency.
Yes, Thank you. Andrea, Thank you for coming to this briefing.
I have a question, because I am so far not an expert on what was the mission of
of the UNIFIL. Uh, so I have a question as a as a new year.
Despite these very serious incidents and violations that you are
talking about at least five peacekeepers that were wounded,
the tanks that entered UN bases Um, why,
There is no at least warning shots from the UNIFIL just to say that.
I don't know. This is too dangerous. And because it is really hard to understand
that peacekeepers are attacked without any reaction,
that's really hard to understand.
If you can explain at what point and when you will answer,
I think we have, uh, The Secretary general has said this several times,
you know, self self defence, uh, is up to the commander on the ground.
If there is a situation that the person on the ground the commander
on the ground sees that it is necessary to to protect peacekeepers,
of course, they will be able to to act in self defence.
But it's also important to be rational in these moments that, uh,
if responding would trigger, uh, more, uh uh, violence.
Uh uh. It's important to deconflict the situation instead of increase it.
But as I said, it's possible to use it and, uh, could be used in case of, uh,
a real threat against our peacekeepers.
We had the first example that I mentioned when in, uh uh,
A market of attack hit a tower in, uh, in inside our
And two peacekeepers were injured, of course, uh, responding with water.
Not in that case in other situations, I think was much
escalate the tension and discuss it also with the with the in
this channel of communication that is still open between the head of mission
and the parties and with the ID F.
But definitely the rules of engagement, they are very clear.
Self defence can be used, and at the moment, it's important to deconflict.
Thank you very much. Musa.
Alexandra, I have, uh, two questions
the first one concerning the situation of, uh, the remaining residents in the
And the second one, basically resolution 1701.
violations of Lebanon be considered a violation of this resolution?
you have, uh, some details about how many of these, uh,
violations were there last year, I speak here just for the violation of, uh,
Not, uh uh, the, uh, the the war between Hezbollah and, uh,
and Israel from one year. Thank you.
Thank you for the questions in relation to the
first part of the people in South Lebanon.
Definitely. The situation is very dramatic because,
uh, a large majority of the population,
I would say around 450,000 people left south of Lebanon.
I would say the vast majority of the population left and
went to the north and most villages along the line.
They are completely destroyed and damages in all the area of operation.
The solid situation is very dramatic.
And that's why it's important to ensure and
to bring assistance to the local populations.
As I said, it has been challenging
because most of the times we have not given the guarantees for safety for
uh uh uh limiting the capabilities of
the mission to coordinate with humanitarian agencies.
Uh, we were able to coordinate some of these activities in recent days.
We hope to do more in the next few days, but the limitations are really due to the, uh
Uh uh uh, shelling, uh, heavy shelling and, uh,
not be given the the guarantees for safety for our for our troops.
But the violations I came back. I can get back to you in terms of how many?
Because there are enormous amount of air
violations that have been registered by our
Raiders that maybe they are not in the full amount of air violations that,
uh, uh ID F have been the Israeli air forces have been
doing over Lebanese airspace. Uh, it's a large number of air violations.
Hundreds and hundreds of not more of air violations on a on a yearly basis.
So, uh, maybe, uh, through Alessandra,
I can get back to you with the with the more of an approximate numbers
from last year until now. Even before
And it's a violation. Of course. It's a serious violation of resolutions
If there is anything that we can distribute later on, including your notes,
your introductory notes, Andrea will do it with pleasure.
I've got three more questions, and we will let Andrea go because it's very,
to organise this. And we thank him very much for being here.
So I give the floor to John Zarro Costa's Franz von
Yes. Uh, good morning. I also write for the lance at the medical journal.
I was wondering, sir, if you could, uh, bring us up to speed,
uh, in the area that you've been monitoring, if there's been any, uh,
use of W white phosphorus
in southern Lebanon and what have been the implications of that and secondly,
in your peacekeeping monitoring operations, are you privy to use drones and also,
uh, commercial satellites for your monitoring purposes?
OK, on the use of white phosphorus, we had, uh,
an investigation several months ago about, uh,
uh, the use of phosphor close to one of our bases. And,
uh uh, and there were actually a trace of, uh,
of the possible use of white phosphorus.
I think it's also part of one of our, uh, report SG report to the Security Council.
Unfortunately for the other instances, we don't have, uh, monitoring
We didn't have capabilities of, uh uh, investigating some of these, uh, reports.
Uh, but I can share with you. What? Uh uh, DS GS report. Uh uh. What? What?
There was in the report of the Secretary General, uh, to the Security Council.
This was 11 instance of of, uh uh, uh, possible use of it.
Uh, the second part of the question, uh, was, uh, um
uh, ok, the use of monitoring capabilities. No, we do not have, uh, uh
drones or or or really, satellite imageries.
We are just, uh, monitoring the Arab operations.
We have our vehicles in coordinations with the Lebanese army.
It is also important to emphasise that everything we do
is in coordinating with the with the Lebanese army.
We do have radar capabilities, uh, to monitor, especially during this period.
The the the shelling. The exchanges of fire monitoring reported
reporting transparently to the Security Council.
That's the capabilities we have. Uh
uh uh, within the the the UNIFIL
Uh, thank you, Alexander. And good morning to you.
I would like to know what the IVFS justification for its aggressive behaviour
uh, this explanation that may be given to you
And then also how many peacekeepers actually are there?
Well, we didn't get real. Uh uh. Justification.
We are still in a discussion with the AD F to find out more.
I understand, uh, from other sources that they are investigating these, uh,
Uh uh, according to them, there was no targeting of of peacekeepers, but of course,
we were very clear in our statements that what happened.
deliberate targeting of peacekeepers because there was no no one else around.
And some instances, we were not even at the highest level of,
uh of securing the end of operation.
There was not even exchanges of fire. And, of course, enter inside
a unifi base and stay there for 45 minutes is definitely, uh uh, uh, A deliberate.
Uh um uh, um incident. A deliberate attack.
So, uh, we still don't know, but, uh, we are still waiting for more.
Uh uh, justification for that.
Um, sorry. The second part of your questions.
Thank you. She asked how many How many, Uh, unu
stuff you have on the floor on
at the moment? Uh, a little bit over 10,000 troops.
10,000 peacekeepers from 50 troop contributing countries,
Which is a very large number of nations of countries that
from the international community to bring back stability to this region that
has been devastated by conflict for the last 12 months with the
thousands of people being killed
Last question is from Nika M Bruce, our correspondent of the New York Times.
Yeah. Good morning. Thank you.
I just want you mentioned that there was another incident.
Another attack on a uniform position yesterday,
damaging cameras. I wonder if you could give me some more details with this,
um, Small arms, fire, shell, fire, Mortar fire. What kind of attack?
What kind of damage was inflicted?
Uh, was this a manned position or a remote observation post?
when these cameras are, are being Shut up. Um, are you replacing them? Do you have
maintained? And are you sustaining your your
You know, your system of monitoring on the border. Thank you.
Yeah, we we do try, of course, to to fix not only the cameras,
but also the T walls that have been damaged, damaged,
and, uh, And the incident I think you're referring to is the one of two days ago,
Uh, where, uh uh I think was a AAA mark of a tank that hit, uh uh,
cameras in one position close to the line.
Uh, it's the position was mainly meant by
and the previous one cameras is several days earlier,
and there was cameras in a position very close to the line,
also with the Italian contingents in that in that position.
But we try definitely to fix whatever has been hit in these days,
mainly the security, the perimeters of all our position.
of these bases and the gates of these gates have been heavily damaged.
And also some of the containers inside from explosions outside.
So we do have logistical movement.
We try to bring, uh, of course, uh,
everything we can to our contingent positions outside, but also to,
uh to to fix all the destructions that we have been suffering.
I am very, very sorry. I see more. Hands up.
But Andrea has to leave, and I'm getting messages that he really has to leave.
Andrea, thank you so very much
Absolutely. We can distribute your contact details. I see other hands coming up.
We are already very happy to have been able to listen from Andrea
you really, you know, we are really proud of your work.
But please stay safe and come back to brief the journalist here in Geneva.
Thank you so very much. And also thanks to Dani for his technical support.
So let me now we stay on the Middle East and with the next two briefers.
But we turn now to the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory.
You have an update on the situation on the occupied West Bank from,
And then we will hear from
on the situation of Children in Gaza being displaced again.
Jen, thank you very much.
Thank you, Alexandra. I think Andrea has left.
But I just want to say thank you to him and the team from
as well for their bravery
and not least their great collaboration
around the humanitarian notification system,
which he mentioned a bit of that they are a critical part of that.
And for this very important briefing from Lebanon. You
when we all warned when this started in Israel and Gaza
we all warned that the region was a powder keg.
It was a tinder box and look. Today, you know, we see this regional
into some dentists hill with no end in sight
and no guarantee that it won't get worse.
Part of that is, of course, the West Bank.
Last night we issued our weekly update on the situation in the occupied West Bank,
where the situation continues to deteriorate.
In the latest reporting period, from eighth to 14th of October,
Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians, including a child,
and injured 104 people, including nine Children.
Israeli forces accused most of those fatalities
of being involved in attacking Israelis.
a Palestinian woman was reportedly killed while she was harvesting olives in
This follows 32 attacks by Israeli settlers this month on Palestinians engaged,
engaged in the ongoing olive harvest happening.
hundreds of olive trees and saplings have been vandalised, sued off or stolen
The olive harvest is an economic lifeline for tens
of thousands of Palestinian families in the West Bank.
We are currently assessing how we and our partners
can support those who have been affected by this.
728 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,
have been killed mainly by Israeli forces,
but at least 12 of them were killed by settlers.
16 members of the Israeli forces and six settlers have been killed by Palestinians
Attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank resulted in the killing of 16 Israelis,
while eight Palestinian perpetrators were also killed.
Additionally, 277 Palestinian households, including nearly 800 Children,
have been displaced across the West Bank in
the context of settler violence and access restrictions.
Israeli authorities have demolished, confiscated or sealed around
1800 Palestinian structures,
forcibly displacing nearly 4600 other Palestinians.
Dozens of these structures had been funded
by donors and provided as humanitarian aid.
Israeli forces have been using lethal warlike tactics in the West Bank,
raising serious concerns over excessive use of
force and deepening people's humanitarian needs.
We call on Israel as the occupying
power to protect the Palestinians against attacks,
violence and intimidation.
There are more details in our report, which is online, and I've sent you the link.
and I'll turn to my left to hear from James
on the situation of Children this time in Gaza.
Gaza is the real world embodiment of hell on earth for its million Children.
And it is getting worse day by day as we see
horrific impact of daily airstrikes and
military operations on Palestinian Children.
Let me try and share what that looks like through one specific child,
a seven year old girl who I met very recently, Kamar
OK during a an attack where she was living in
Jabalia Camp. Kamar was struck in the foot.
The only hospital she could be taken to given the hostilities was
a maternity hospital that was then under siege for 20 days,
by which time the shrapnel in
Kama's foot had turned to an infection.
Because this little girl could not be moved,
and because the hospital did not have the capacity to
deal with the trauma cases that it was faced,
Now, in any vaguely normal situation,
this little girl's leg would never have been amputated.
Kamar, her mother and her sister, who was also injured, were then forced to evacuate
And so a seven year old girl with a newly amputated leg was pushed from north to south.
They now live in a ripped tent surrounded by
stagnant water and other families enduring similar tragedies.
Kamar is, of course, deeply traumatised.
Regular sounds of of bombings and raids only add to that,
and there are no prosthetics in Gaza.
Now I share the story of this little seven year old girl because,
as heartbreaking as it is, it's not unique.
And right now it is being repeated.
Just over a year since orders were given to
F to a million people to leave northern Gaza,
hundreds of thousands of civilians are again being
given evacuation orders to leave the north.
Indeed, when you when you reflect on the current situation,
the best feeling to describe it is
deja vu, but with even darker shadows.
Children have lived this nightmare before. It was hell a year ago.
So a year ago, the choice for civilians as cruel as it was, was this.
or flee into displacement. Today, deprivation grips all of
Gaza. Being displaced again only leads to more suffering
and ever worse conditions for Children.
we were daily updating the number of trucks being allowed
to make crossings into Gaza and to reach civilians.
Today in the north, we are doing the same.
Just 80 trucks carrying food and water
assistance have been permitted into northern Gaza
since the second of October.
Today, in the south, where families are forced to flee,
it's desperately overcrowded.
It lacks. Le lethally lacks access to sanitation, to water to shelter.
OK, so where do Children and families go?
They're not safe in shelters and schools.
They're not safe in hospitals,
and they're certainly not safe in overcrowded camps.
Mawasi, where Palestinians are frequently told to relo
Mawasi makes up around 3% of Gaza in terms of land mass.
It had a population of 9000 people before this war.
It now has around 730,000.
Mawasi was a city, it would be the most densely populated city on the planet.
Mawasi is not a city. It has no high rise buildings. It has no infrastructure.
It has no capacity to host a population anywhere near this size.
Most of its land is sand hills.
Now this is where seven year old Kamar and so many others are forced to live,
still deprived of water and shelter and medicine, woefully short of mental health,
support, education and, of course, safety.
perhaps the darkest irony in once again forcibly displacing families into
these so called humanitarian zones is beyond their lack of food,
The the three things that
Israel has a legal obligation to provide.
They are bombed. Al Mawasi
has had multiple mass casualty events.
Attacks on schools have become unimaginable in frequency 3030 in just
the last two weeks and more than half of those 16 in
Now, somehow, in this context, UNICEF
has built thousands of toilets. We've given cash assistance to a million people.
More than 300,000 Children have benefited from in our from our nutrition services.
UNICEF and all the UN partners continue
to plead for a long-term sustainable ceasefire.
Well, now it's ceasefires plural when you talk of the broader region
for the return of hostages for the
unimpeded humanitarian access and a magnitude increase
for all those essential humanitarian supplies for
funding for our programmes which remain dangerously underfunded
for the prevention of threats to humanitarian workers,
including through misinformation and disinformation which
has become rampant through this conflict.
these immense effort from very brave humanitarian workers on the ground,
Children continue to suffer unspeakable daily harm.
One year from those first forced evacuations,
we find the international community watching history repeat itself.
If I may very quickly take another little girl I met earlier this month
when her family home was struck. Her brother and sister were killed.
This little girl suffered devastating injuries to her face.
Her face was literally torn off.
Now surgeons have done some amazing work,
and they have held together the remaining structure.
But she urgently requires a medevac that has been denied
times. She's one of more than 10,000 patients
urgently awaiting medical evacuation, each one with a similar tragic story.
We have massive denials and restrictions of aid coming in
and massive restrictions of severely wounded Children going out if this level
of horror doesn't stir our humanity and drive us to act,
whatever will again. Deja vu with darker shadows.
Last October, UNICEF said Gaza had become a graveyard for thousands of Children.
Earlier this month, I saw multiple new makeshift graveyards.
warned that if you if Children's access to water and sanitation in Gaza
continues to be restricted, then
Children face a serious threat of disease outbreak.
Today, there is polio in Gaza.
UNICEF stated the Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in
the world to be a child and day after day.
For more than a year, that evidence based brutal reality is reinforced.
in spite of the statements, the hard data, the inferno, burning tents,
the harrowing screams, the scores of Children I've spoken with with missing limbs,
the desperate pleas from doctors for medicine, the denials and delays on aid
action from those responsible has not been taken to reduce the suffering.
Indeed, as we see scenes in the North repeating themselves,
the situation for Children in Gaza is at rock bottom.
With each repetition of last year's events, one grim repetition remains
more Gazan Children will be killed.
Thank you very much, Jansen and James.
What a devastating situation for the Children of Gaza
before I open the floor to question.
I just would like to also call your attention to the legal position paper,
which has just been published today
by the UN Independent International Commission of
Inquiry of the occupied Palestinian territory,
and Israel, and the press
releases in the mailboxes. Thank you.
So let me open the floor to questions in the room.
So let me go to the platform and
Yes. Hi. Good morning, everybody. Thank you for taking my question.
just, uh, first a small question on the
So O on the reports, um, on the source.
Uh, I have a question about the the people killed by, um, Israeli forces, Uh, and or,
uh, settlers in the West Bank.
Uh, you mentioned, uh, in the reporting period, 104 Palestinians.
Uh, what is the source? And also, what is the source for the overall figure?
and then a general question to to your to the UN.
I wanted to to ask you if there has been any United nations, uh, reaction after the
the announcements of, uh, the the death of, uh, ya ya
how do you think that this could change the the situation and
and the the war? Thank you.
on the first part of your question. We co operate, of course, in
for years decades, actually with a vast number of humanitarian
NGOs and also human rights organisations.
So those are the sources that we use, they are credible.
They have been tested over a very long time to be credible.
can try to get a little more granular detail how far we can explain
this and send it to you. But this is These are very long standing
partnerships with organisations
I can add just, uh, in terms of, um West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Since October last year, it's more than 100 and 60 Children,
uh, including two Israelis, more than 100 and 60 Palestinian Children,
more than 450 Palestinian Children wounded with live ammunition.
I would defer to Alessandra and the United Nations in terms of last night's events.
is that I had multiple reports from civilians on
the ground from young people I had met who
thought this would be the end of the war and whose emotions
re responded because they felt now the war would finally be over.
Yeah, and yes, on your on your second question,
think our message has not really changed that
we have been consistently the Secretary General and all
senior officials have been consistently asking for the
end or the halt of the fighting.
We want civilians to be protected.
We want we have heard the Secretary General reacting to the
famine situation in Gaza. We want improved humanitarian access
also. And James have been speaking about that
time where there is this risk of this tremendous famine.
And we continue to warn that any development
that can help push us along that way, of course, is welcome.
And that is what I can say about your second question.
Yes, you have a follow up,
and then I'll go to the other questions.
Yes, thank you. Uh, just a quick follow up. So,
specifically on on on what you just said, Alexandra.
So you would mean that, Um, should I understand that you You mean that the death of,
last evening? Uh, or last, uh, afternoon,
uh, is considered as a welcome, um, development.
anything that can lead us to a ceasefire and to
improve our humanitarian aid is to be considered welcome.
And that's about what I can say.
Um, let's go to Lisa, who has, um a hand up. Lisa?
Yup. Thanks. Uh, O, Ok, it's something for both. Um,
yes, I'd like like to ask you whether, um,
Palestinians from the West Bank are still able to
cross the line and go into Israel in order to
to work. And, uh, I was wondering specifically, you were talking about,
Israelis and Palestinians who were killed by Palestinians
inside Israel if I got this right.
So, uh, how did that happen? Did,
uh, the Israelis lose lose their guard yet again, unfortunately, uh,
And then, um, I I'm wondering,
um, for you, James and for for both of you.
Actually, if you talk more about it, I'm wondering whether
there is any improvement. You if you see any improvement in terms of convoys.
uh uh, the the Gaza Strip. There's been a lot of international pressure about this.
are Children dying because they're starving because they're
not getting food and because they're forced to drink
unclean water, I suppose adults may also be, uh, getting very ill from that as well.
I mean, do you see any, any chance any movements
of a cease fire in the offing? Or do you? Do you fear that what is happening right now
is going to continue for a rather long time?
of course. It requires work permits for Palestinians to go into Israel and work.
About 160,000 people have lost their work permits
so they can't go into Israel,
also leaving families without the income they previously had.
This is livelihood for these people. And we have seen our colleagues in
actually very dramatically
numbers that they are projecting.
It could push at least 600,000 people into food insecurity.
They have said recently these restrictions which are not new
to the West Bank but have been tightened
enormously and with the removal of work permits,
of course, that closes it off completely.
I think that's what I can say about
people in sorry when Israelis had been killed
and I mentioned 16 members of the Israeli
forces and six settlers had been killed by Palestinians
while and We tracked this as well, while
Palestinians from the West Bank, inside Israel proper
16 Israelis. While in these attacks,
eight Palestinians had also been killed.
So I hope that makes sense,
Lisa, Thanks. In terms of any change, look, we need a systematic improvement.
Not a few trucks here or there. Um, as I say, since early
October, only 80 trucks have reached northern Gaza.
in the same period in September and September was by no means a high point in this.
So we have seen a catastrophic decline in humanitarian aid.
Um, for a population in the north, of which the bulk are women and Children.
There have been no commercial trucks to the north remembering
commercial trucks and humanitarian aid need to complement each other.
Um, commercial trucks do things that the United Nations doesn't they do fresh food,
and things like that are absolutely essential.
So we, uh, we both have, um,
areas that need to be complementary.
And there have been times in the South as well in
the last month where there have been no commercial trucks whatsoever.
So you'll recall Lisa that we were talking 500 trucks a day.
These are some of the some of the dips that we have made are Children dying.
um I PC shows one in five Children
suffering from the most severe forms of malnutrition.
that was taken in a period before we now had
this forced displacement and increases of increases of fighting.
That's before commercials. Supplies were were diminished again.
So now we have large-scale
displacement infrastructure being increasingly decimated.
Agriculture people have no money. Things continue to worsen.
your question on ceasefire, Of course it is.
What we must continue to to call for it is what Gazans pray for.
As as I will never forget a a woman explaining to me when
she thought there would be a ceasefire in March when the Security Council voted
that way she could say she said to her daughter she could promise
her daughter that that night she would go to sleep and wake up.
Now that was not possible. That ceasefire was bombed,
um, and and hope was was blown away.
I think what we need to look at if we're serious about a ceasefire is
the only time there was a ceasefire that extended humanitarian pause.
In late November last year, more than 100 hostages
were released more than 100 since then
through military means through the decimation of Gaza through
the killing of something like 14 or 15,000 Children.
Through the destruction of economy of a health system of schools,
we have seen less than 10 hostages rescued.
would like to add this also to what I said before to
just call your attention to the post that our secretary general put out yesterday
report and again saying crossing points must open immediately.
Bureaucratic impediments must be removed and
an order restored so that we can go ahead with our humanitarian assistance,
everything that can bring us to this.
Everything that can bring us to the
ceasefire, to larger access for humanitarian
to the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages
has to be pursued and will be welcome.
Any development in that sense will be welcome.
And I add this to what I said before too.
Yes, lots of questions on the line. But I see Emma first.
I'm always giving precedence to people in the room.
Thank you. Um, thank you, Jens.
And, uh, James, for those really powerful briefings.
Uh, I was hoping for a bit more context on the attacks on Palestinians.
Is, uh it something that happens every year during the olive harvest,
or is this year really, really exceptional?
And do you know if the settlers involved in some
of the recent attacks you described are those targeted by
the sanctions against so called extremist settlers?
Any sign that those sanctions are having any effect whatsoever? Thank you.
Let me just take the first one, I. I think I did.
You need to repeat the second one for me. I'm not sure I understood that.
well, they they've been settle of islands for very, very long time. Um
settlers that come in settlements that are going up illegally, by the way,
the more violence we see. But this year is extraordinary.
There is no question about it. That's why we highlight.
And we particularly highlighted that it's during the harvesting season,
which is October, November,
and which is, as I mentioned,
a lifeline for tens of thousands of families that's what they live from
frankly, very concerning that.
It's not only a tax on people, but it's a tax on their olive grows as well.
I mentioned trees that are uprooted, sold off
and so on and so forth. That's very concerning
I was talking about the US sanctions against Israeli
settlers targeting kind of the most extreme ones.
I was wondering if you know whether they have been involved in any
of these recent attacks and whether you think those sanctions are having any
real world impact at all.
know that. And we normally don't speak about sanctions that are not UN sanctions.
OK, so Christian, you've been very patient.
Um, I would like to go back to Lebanon and maybe Jens can fill us in here.
Do you know how many people are actually left along the blue lines in those villages?
And how are they reached by humanitarian aid? Andrea was talking about
how UNIFIL is trying to facilitate those trips.
But maybe you can give us a bit more detail here.
Thanks, Christiane. I think we do have overnight a new situation report out
so we can double check on that.
But otherwise we had some lines on that yesterday with the number which of course,
As Andrea mentioned, we saw the big rush, really, At the very beginning,
You recall the lines of cars
trying to get away. It was very dramatic. And of course,
as the area empties out of people, the numbers will gradually go down.
But they are indeed very, very large.
The way we deliver aid is, of course,
through the collaboration with the Lebanese authorities,
with the Lebanese Red Cross
And we do that within the framework of our
flash appeal that we were briefed on earlier.
$426 million flash appeal,
so that's the framework on that. How do we get to people
in areas that are contested where conflicts and
bombings are going on? We have a humanitarian notification
It is active and working both for
static assets. That means offices, warehouses and so on of humanitarian agencies.
But also for movements. So those are the convoys,
particularly in the south. Andrea
mentioned a bit about the movements down there, which is, of course, where a
lot of the fighting is going on. That humanitarian notification system
includes notifications to the Lebanese armed forces
and that's exactly where we count on and rely on UNIFIL
in the area to make that smooth and that is that is working.
So I don't think what I see here. I don't think we have the
breakdown for those villages.
You are referring to Christian as a general
figure what we have from the Lebanese authorities.
They say more than 2300 people have been killed.
Over 11,000 people have been injured since October 2023
and more than 1.2 million people have been displaced.
James, you wanted to add something,
Thanks so much. Only that of those 1.2 million
Children are always the first affected in a
conflict like Lebanon's remembering winter is coming.
Uh, there are deeply concerning echoes in the situation for Children and families
in Lebanon as those affected in the first stages of the war in Gaza. So again,
as we've heard multiple times,
if leaders are serious about the safety of Children in the region about hostages,
then a ceasefire in Gaza is the quickest way to Deescalates.
Yes. Uh, good morning. Uh,
my question is to James. James, can you, uh, bring me up to speed, please?
that you've been unable to bring in prosthetics or
there was a lack of prosthetics in Gaza.
Uh, has UNICEF tried to bring in supplies
and, uh, they've been, uh, turned back at the border or what?
And secondly, on the medical evacuation that this seven year old was rejected
How many of the medical evacuation requests have been turned down that have con, uh,
So there were 22 main centres in Gaza that did work on prosthetics,
and neither of those are operational.
So I can find out for you about, uh, efforts to bring in prosthetics,
though when speaking to those surgeons,
the biggest challenge was the availability of people,
um, to actually do prosthetic work.
That that does not that is a resource that is currently not in Gaza.
just how, um, grave hospitals are in the war zone of places.
When Lisa asked questions around malnutrition,
parents with any child who is malnourished, who is sick,
a breastfeeding mother who who is who is deeply unwell.
None of those people go to hospitals
Those Children who've had amputations don't have any access to prosthetics.
They do some basic rehabilitation in the hope that
at some point they will be allowed to leave.
Um, John, I can only speak anecdotally, and I can share that with you offline.
in my last visit to Gaza, more than 20 different families with infuriating,
heartbreaking stories of denials.
Uh, for those Children to leave with clearly life threatening injuries and deep,
WHO is, of course, the lead in doing amazing work on those medevacs
That number of at least 10,000 people who require medivac is not desegregated, uh,
by age, though unfortunately, thanks,
Christian, I think you have a little bit more on that.
Yeah, Thank you very much, Alexander. And thanks very much to James. UNICEF
watch are here for these absolutely horrifying
harrowing reports. Um, just a few data.
I don't have it on, uh, aggregated on Children, but just for the evacuations.
15,600 patients requiring urgent medical evacuations.
Um, with only 5138 evacuated so far, so a 3rd.
30% of those needing urgent medical evacuations have
been approved for for evacuations so far.
And almost half of them had cancer.
in in 2023 only, uh, so I don't have figures on 2024 for those for this segment.
And 200 had kidney diseases
since 7 May. So that's now nearly half a year. Only 231 patients have been evacuated.
So the massive bulk of this only 30%
had been before. Seventh of May.
sorry. Excuse me. Thank you very much.
I don't see other questions for our colleague, but before we leave the Middle East
sorry. Hassan. I didn't see your hand. Go ahead.
How many Palestinian Children have been killed
In in Gaza, the West Bank of
in West Bank, Palestinian
since the seventh of October.
The latest figure that UNICEF uses and its conservative
is 14,100 girls and boys having been killed in Gaza
that has not been updated for more than a month.
now that that is reportedly killed given all the complexities.
But as we've spoken many times, we have unfortunately,
trust in the numbers because of past crises and how they have,
um, they have been in sync with our much more thorough triangular verification.
that number will hold true. There are many, many more under rubble.
Um, on a conservative measure,
around 35 to 40 girls and boys are killed
every day in Gaza since the seventh of October.
Have I missed other hands up? I don't think so.
So thank you very much, colleagues. But before we leave the Middle East, I have
I would like to remind you
the invitation that we have distributed to you.
The invitation to the annual UN International Media
Seminar own piece in the Middle East.
This is organised by our department of global communication together with you
and it will be held on the first of November in Room 26 of the Paladin.
as you know, for over three decades,
the international media seminars created a platform to enhance
dialogue and understanding between Palestinian
and Israeli media representatives.
And at this very time of alarmingly escalated crisis,
participants will come together for a whole day to discuss
a range of issues related to two main things.
Safety of journalists, key tenet of press freedom
and behind the headlines of Gaza media challenges and perspective.
The seminar will be opened by our Director General
and will be chaired by Melissa Fleming
and the Secretary General for Global Communications.
the full programme with all the speakers.
But you have the invitation in your mailbox. Peter is here.
Please register with him.
It's not indispensable to register,
but we would like to know that you're coming and of course, you don't need
you have the badge, but it's just to know that you are going to
be with us on that important event.
So thank you very much to my colleagues on the podium.
Unfortunately, the Middle East is not the only
and there are so many more.
And we would like to I would like to ask our colleague to come
know, Kennedy is the spokesperson of I,
and he has an update on the situation of AHI.
Very difficult situation too. And we will hear more from him, for I
Well, thank you very much, everyone,
just to provide a brief update.
already aware of the situation of the global crisis in the world.
as it has been mentioned,
it's not only Middle East and I like to
just draw attention to currently the situation in Haiti.
the country in itself has been ravaged by violence,
with gangs terrorising entire communities living behind devastation and fear.
Haiti is in the grip of unprecedented Cris.
2014, gang related violence has claimed more than 3600 lives.
And just two weeks ago, a brutal attack on the town of
took the lives of at least 115 more innocent people.
The violence has forced over 700,000 people to flee their homes,
creating a massive displacement crisis.
There has been 22 per cent increase in the
number of internally displaced people since June alone.
The initial numbers in the beginning of June was standing at around 580,000,
and since then the number has increased to 700,000 within the short period.
In the past seven months, gang violence has forced, of course,
the 100,000 people to flee their homes,
particularly in the western part of the capital,
Children, mothers, fathers and elderlies. None have been spared.
They flee with whatever they can they can carry,
often losing everything in their possession,
including the sense of safety,
including the sense of safety.
Our team met, of course, with one of the survivors,
an elderly woman from Port au Prince who like so many others was driven
from her home by relentless violence.
Her testimonies are chilling.
She describes the form of violence, the former,
her former life as a walking nightmare each day
with the sound of gunfire
she or someone in her family would be next.
Her story is heartbreaking,
but unfortunately this is not unique. To most Haitians,
it is a story of thousands of them living in fear
Over half of those displaced are Children,
and the humanitarian needs are overwhelming.
5.5 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
Food insecurity has skyrocketed amidst all this,
with 5.4 million Haitians struggling to feed themselves and even their families.
Health services on the other side has collapsed, schools have been forced to close,
and the basic services that hold society together are now
almost non existent in many parts of the country.
Yet despite this immense hardship, the people of Haiti remain resilient.
Communities have opened up their doors to those displacing the violence.
over 83% of the displaced individuals are being sheltered by host families,
and these families are often already
crowded and impoverished conditions.
The host communities are the unsung heroes of this crisis,
they too, were struggling under the weight of the immense need. Food shortages,
overwhelming health care facilities and the dwindling resources.
2024 the affected population started to flee the capital
70% of the displaced population are living outside the capital, Port au Prince.
working alongside local partners to provide
life saving assistance and social services.
the organisation has delivered 6 million litres of clean water,
distributed essential supplies to over 50,000 people
and provided psychosocial and medical care to
tens and thousands of displaced individuals.
the crisis escalating and the needs are growing faster and faster
than the resources that are currently available.
We are facing a funding shortfall as all the other organisations when it comes to the
crises that are ongoing in the world.
35 million and is threatening the ability to provide basic assistance
to the Haitians that need the most.
We remain committed in working alongside the Haitian government,
local and international partners to provide life saving aid
and find long term solutions to those displays.
But we cannot do this alone.
Haitian people deserve a look forward.
Haitian people deserve to look forward with hope and not despair.
We need to stand with them and help them rebuild their lives with dignity.
Thank you very much. Uh, Kennedy.
Let me see if there are questions for IOM in the room.
Let me go to the platform. Paula.
Yes. Good morning. Thank you very much for for that presentation. Um,
I, uh, would like to know, um, if Haitians are still leaving, uh, the country,
uh, are they And how are they leaving? Um, the country.
Are they still transiting through the Darien Gap?
Um, I also wanted to know more generally. Um,
if you could provide some, uh, information about, uh, that route and, uh, flows, um,
through the the the jungle.
Um, you know that bridges, uh, Colombia from from Panama,
Uh, in the run up of the US elections.
The situation in the dairy gap is a bit complex in itself,
in the sense that it not only touches on Haitians,
but also different nationalities that are trying to
cross the dairy gap. I'm more than happy to share with you the numbers
of the people who currently are
I don't have them with me here,
but I'm more than happy to share with you the current figures on this
on the situation of Haitians currently
As you already aware, the situation in the country in itself is not a stable one.
everyone is trying to basically try and find stability in neighbouring in
neighbouring cities out of Port au Prince.
However, the number of people that are currently crossing out of the country
I don't have that at the moment. But I can share with you as well.
Thank you very much. Jamie, is that a hand?
Mandi. Thank you for coming to see us.
Um, I had, uh just two questions. Um,
the first is, uh, we saw yesterday, Um, I think it was yesterday or or the other day.
Um, there was a shootout between, uh uh, um between the Haitian and, uh, and
Kenyan police. Um and I'm just wondering, how concerned are you that,
uh, the peacekeeping mission there,
Um, and and, you know, shortcomings with it or troubles with it
may prompt, uh, more outflows or or or a a greater, um uh, crisis situation.
If we can call that in. In Haiti
and then the second question, um has to do with repatriations.
How involved is IOM in returning people to Haiti from, um, places that,
uh is there a role for you and are you involved in that at all?
Start with the first situation.
we are all aware that there is a multinational
team that is working to restore peace in Haiti.
And in the past couple of months, we have seen
and we have seen also the impact that's having on those displays.
Just as I was mentioning two weeks ago, we had
the mass murder of almost
115 people being killed by the gang. So the situation in itself, it's dire.
But the peacekeeping multinational mission has its role on that and also for us,
all those who are affected and we are talking about 700,000 are
able to access services and are able to basically live their lives,
on the other. On the second issue that you did mention,
you are talking about the number of people that
the whole situation of return since
as you already know, Haiti and the current situation that are going,
it is not really suitable,
suitable country for basically anyone to come back and return to.
So what we are basically doing is that we are working within Haiti to make
sure that we support their life saving
assistance that is required within the country,
working also within the neighbouring countries, but not on the returns.
We are aware, of course, that there are started forced returns that are
and what we basically see and what we basically want to put out is that
Haiti itself is not in a situation where people can actually be brought back to.
of course the neighbouring countries to ensure that they protect of course, the
people within their territories and also to
urging them to basically abide by international law and its principle,
especially the principle of
just wanted to clarify that I was actually referring to there was
a shoot out the other day and actually it wasn't between Haitian
Kenyan police, but it was a Haitian gang leader, I think who was injured?
Uh, in in a shootout with the So just for the record.
So there are no other questions for you, Kennedy. I don't see any on the platform.
So thank you very much for reminding us of this very dire situation and
putting them back on the on the limelight. Thank you.
Just a couple of more announcements for for me.
Just a reminder of the a a
press conference on Tuesday, 22nd of October at 2. 30.
And this is for the presentation of the review of Maritime Transport 2024 Title
chokepoints and you will have janov
the UN Trade and Development head of the trade Logistics branch speaking to you
and then a reminder that the Committee on the Diminution
of Discrimination Against Women is examining the report of Cuba.
They are left with one report the one of Bena on 21st
and on 25 October they will held an
informal public meeting with state parties and launch
the general recommendations on the equal and inclusive
representation of women in decision making systems.
That would be the end of the
89th session of the committee.
the Human Rights Committee is concluding this morning
the review of the report of Pakistan.
And they are left with the report to examine the report of Greece, France, Turkey and
This is what I had for you.
If you don't have other questions for me or for other colleagues,
I don't see any hands up.
Thank you very much for following this briefing. I remind you
that we have a photo op in a few minutes at
door 40 for pink October.
You know, this is the month that the international community put
its attention, its attention on breast cancer prevention and treatment.
And there is a follow up at
door 40 with pink ribbons if you want to go and take a shot.
otherwise, I thank you all very much and, um, have a nice weekend.
And I'll ask the students to stay so that we can have a little chat. Thanks.
