Middle East crisis: Live updates on 1 November

1 November 2024 - Non-stop displacement orders in Lebanon and bombings in Gaza continued as the postponed polio campaign in north is now set to resume on Saturday morning, with the latest updates from colleagues on the ground and interviews with Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, the UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix and more. 

Here are some highlights 

• The final phase of a UN-supported polio vaccine campaign, postponed since 23 October, gets a greenlight to start serving more than 100,000 children in the besieged northern Gaza Strip on the morning of 2 November

• 15 top humanitarian officials issued a joint statement calling on Israel to cease hostilities in Gaza and against the aid workers trying to help nearly two million Palestinians trapped in the Strip 

• From UN Geneva: Updates from Friday's press briefing with UN agencies in the region, colleagues on the ground in Gaza and Lebanon and the annual media seminar on peace in the Middle East, with a focus on press protection and safety, especially in war zones like Gaza and Lebanon 

• From UN Headquarters in New York: Interviews with UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix on the UN mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, and UN commission of inquiry on Syria chair Paulo Pinheiro, the UN General Assembly's meeting to consider reports, including ones on Occupied Palestinian Territory and Syria, by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council and a hybrid press conference with the council's president Omar Zibner

• UN human rights chief Volker Türk issued a statement calling for boosting action to protect the press ahead of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, marked annually on 2 November 

Blue Helmets hold the line in Lebanon

Watch UN Director of News and Media Ian Phillips interview UN Under-Secretary General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix at UN Headquarters in New York earlier today about the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), their investigations into attacks on peacekeepers by Israel, how they are holding the Blue Line buffer zone between the two countries and the way Blue Helmets are supporting civilians affected by the escalating crisis:

Gaza update

A joint statement was issued earlier today by 15 top humanitarian officials in the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, including UN agencies for health, for children and for Palestine refugees.

The statement, among other things, called on Israel to halt its assault on Gaza and the aid workers helping the more than two million trapped there.

Access must be enabled to reach middle area

The UN agency for Palestine refugees, or UNRWA, has the capacity to deliver much needed food items to those who need it most, but access is key.

‘Journalists are the eyes and ears of a world on fire’

Journalists who expose wrongdoing and show the horrific reality of conflict are human rights defenders, and attacks against them affect everyone’s right to freedom of expression and access to information, leaving us all less well informed, said the UN's top human rights official ahead of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, marked annually on 2 November.

Yet, these attacks are increasing, and journalists are being killed, harassed, intimidated, imprisoned or silenced, from Gaza and Ukraine to Sudan, Myanmar and beyond, said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.

In 2023, 71 journalists and media workers were killed, and over 300 imprisoned. Women journalists are often specifically targeted for online harassment that can escalate into physical violence.

Middle East among most dangerous for the press 

Already this year, nearly 60 journalists have lost their lives in the line of duty, very often while reporting on conflict, on climate change, or on other crises, he said, adding that the current devastating conflicts have made the Middle East one of the most dangerous places ever for journalists, resulting in alarming numbers of casualties among media workers. 

The toll is shockingly high for Palestinian journalists. They must be so much better protected, the UN rights chief said. 

The widespread impunity that often follows attacks on journalists damages the search for facts and undermines justice. It creates a climate of fear and leads to more violence against media workers, and yet, more than eight out of every 10 killings of journalists go unpunished, he stressed, emphasising that governments must do more to prevent attacks, to protect journalists and to prosecute those responsible. States also need laws to protect freedom of expression and information. 

“We live in troubled times, and effective journalism is more important than ever. A free press feeds a free society and fuels democratic decision-making. It also makes sure that we understand the human impact of violence and conflict so that this horrible tendency of dehumanisation is stopped,” he said, urging all those with influence to step up action to end impunity for crimes against journalists, to protect media workers and to contribute to building open, just societies where the truth can flourish.

According to a new report by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 85 per cent of all killings of journalists recorded by UNESCO since 2006 are considered unresolved.

UNICEF repeats call for ceasefire

"There are over one million children in Gaza. None of them are safe. Enough is enough. This outrageous daily violence has to stop. Children in Gaza need a ceasefire. NOW."

That message and a video was sent earlier today on social media by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Without UNRWA, other aid agencies cannot continue their work

Watch UN Video's latest new flash here about the critical work of the UN agency for Palestine refugees on the heels of Israel's new laws that would ban the organization from operating in Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Gaza and the West Bank:

Syrians fleeing Lebanon face detention at home

Around 300,000 Syrian civilians who fled civil war across the border into Lebanon have now returned home in the face of Israeli bombardment – despite the prospect of potentially being arbitrarily detained.

That’s according to the Chair of the UN Human Rights-Council appointed investigative team Paulo Pinheiro, who told UN News just ahead of presenting their latest report to the General Assembly on Friday that the exodus was “a measure of how other conflicts are aggravating the situation in Syria”.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry warned Member States that Syria is now being pulled into the catastrophic conflict emanating from the war in Gaza and Lebanon.

Mr. Pinheiro told UN News’s Monica Grayley that although some stakeholders shared their view that there is no military solution to the nearly 13-year long war in Syria, if it continues “there is no solution on the horizon.”

Alongside more than 100,000 Lebanese nationals, Syrian returnees are fleeing into a war-torn and devastated country that is also witnessing increased Israeli airstrikes and remains hugely insecure. 

“That Syrians who have a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country are fleeing back underscores the impossible choices that they are facing: do they risk their lives to bombs in Lebanon, or go back to a place where they may also face other deadly threats?” Mr. Pinheiro told Member States on behalf of the Commission.

Many women and children have embarked alone on perilous journeys into Syria, due to well-documented patterns of arbitrary arrest, conscription and forced recruitment of men of military age. Male adult family members have either stayed behind or resorted to alternative but equally risky travel, relying on smugglers.  

“The Commission is investigating reports of displaced Syrians being abused, arrested or falling victim to extortion by predatory armed actors at checkpoints throughout the country. We call on all authorities – State and non-State – to urgently rein in such abuses by their forces,” the Chair added. 

“Now is the time to commit publicly to guaranteeing respect for the rights of those fleeing, regardless of their origin, and to instill confidence in such promises by providing access for international humanitarian and human rights actors who can help ensure that these promises are lived up to.” – UN News