World News in Brief: UN launches Hormuz evacuation plan, UNICEF youth champion killed in Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire ‘largely holding’
The development follows months of hardship and distress for thousands of innocent seafarers and comes on the heels of the memorandum of understanding between Iran
The development follows months of hardship and distress for thousands of innocent seafarers and comes on the heels of the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States. Tweet URL The large-scale operation will be carried out in cooperation with Iran, Oman, other coastal States, the United States and the maritime industry. IMO had secured the necessary safety guarantees and verified conditions for safe navigation, the agency's Secretary-General, Arsenio Dominguez, said in a statement. Paying tribute to 14 seafarers that lost their lives during the most recent escalation of the Middle East conflict, Mr. Dominguez underlined that IMO remains fully committed to ensuring the safety of seafarers and the continuity of global trade. Speaking to the media during his daily briefing from New York, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the operation represents a significant step towards easing the “humanitarian impact on thousands of seafarers who have faced months of uncertainty, restricted movement and mounting welfare concerns”. Gaza: UNICEF youth champion killed Shelling, gunfire, bombing and airstrikes continue to harm and kill civilians across the Gaza Strip amid dire living conditions in shelters and tents where more than 80 per cent of Palestinians are now living, according to UN agencies on the ground.
Children remain in harms way, according to a new UN report released on Tuesday. A 17-year-old girl named Raghad – a UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Youth Champion – was killed on her way to sit for her high school exam, the UN agency reported in a social media post. “We reiterate that we condemn the killing of any civilians, including children, and they must always be protected,” said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric. Dismal shelter assessments Meanwhile, partners leading on the management of displacement sites yesterday released the findings of an assessment covering nearly 1,600 displacement sites hosting about 1.7 million people, or about 80 per cent of Gaza’s population. “The findings confirm that displaced people remain in extremely poor conditions, with limited access to essential services, limited access to also humanitarian supplies, inadequate lighting and energy, weakened health services, disrupted water supply and exposure in general to insecurity,” the UN Spokesperson said. “To give you a few examples,” he continued, “at least 59,000 individual shelters accommodate more than eight people, while about 38,500 people are estimated to be sleeping in the open.” Unexploded bombs, rodents and open sewage In addition, an estimated 600,000 people in the assessed sites lack sufficient access to drinking water, half of the sites lack visible drainage and nearly half reported fire hazards near shelters, Mr. Dujarric said.
The BriefWire