The Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries opens an opportunity to explore meaningful partnerships to unlock the potential of landlocked developing countries.
– Opening Ceremony
– Plenary Session, General Debate
Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), lacking direct sea access, face hurdles in trade, connectivity, and development. Without coastal ports, they rely on transit nations, causing higher trade costs and delays. Despite challenges, LLDCs host vibrant communities with untapped potential.
The Third UN Conference on LLDCs offers a chance to explore solutions and forge partnerships, addressing challenges and unlocking their full potential for a more equitable and prosperous future.
Rather than follow in the footsteps of his late father, a Nobel-prize winning writer, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa opted instead to serve humanity. Now the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ Representative to Syria, he just witnessed a historic end to 14 years of conflict and crisis.
“There were these long, long lines of cars of Syrian refugees coming back from Lebanon. So many of them stopped the car the moment that they entered Syria, they got out of the car, they kissed the ground … saying we are so happy to be back in this new Syria,” Gonzalo shared.
The fall of the Assad regime has brought fresh hope for millions of displaced Syrians. Yet with a lack of housing, services and jobs still preventing most from returning, the UN is calling for action to support returnees.
In this episode, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa looks back on a career full of seismic turning points, and reflects on the painful sacrifices of a life spent in service.
[00:00] Introduction
[01:10] A turning point in Damascus
[04:10] A new atmosphere
[10:28] The emotional reunions
[12:42] Fears of another exodus
[15:43] What keeps Gonzalo awake at night
[19:29] Gonzalo’s humanitarian awakening
[25:16] Why work in the field matters
[27:23] The personal cost
[34:22] A hope for the future
[35:41] Closing remarks
Listen to more Awake at Night episodes: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwoDFQJEq_0b6hu1e8oxsch9W0D7vkNqt
About Awake at Night
Hosted by Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, the podcast ‘Awake at Night’ is an in-depth interview series focusing on remarkable United Nations staff members who dedicate their career to helping people in parts of the world where they have the hardest lives – from war zones and displacement camps to areas hit by disasters and the devastation of climate change.
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Sudan
– Somalia
– Pacific Tsunami Warnings
– Haiti
– Cholera
– Tax Cooperation
– International Days
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that four days since the start of tactical pauses in Gaza declared by the Israeli authorities, we are still seeing casualties among those seeking aid and more deaths due to hunger and malnutrition.
Parents continue to struggle to save their starving children. In a social media post, UNICEF said that this is a condition that we can prevent and called for increased humanitarian access.
Aid workers in Gaza have not been spared. UN partners report high workloads, burnout and exhaustion – due mainly to the lack of food – among frontline workers as well as among caseworkers in mental health and psycho-social support facilities.
While the UN and its partners are taking advantage of any opportunity to support people in need during the unilateral tactical pauses, the conditions for the delivery of aid and supplies are far from sufficient. As an example of the delivery of aid challenges, you’ll recall that the Kerem Shalom crossing is a fenced-off area. For our drivers to access it, Israeli authorities must approve the mission, provide a safe route through which to travel, provide multiple ‘green lights’ on movement, as well as a pause in bombing, and, ultimately, open the iron gates to allow us to enter.
On the issue of fuel, last week, the UN brought in limited quantities of fuel through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings, almost half of which were transferred to the north to support vital health, emergency, water and telecommunications needs.
OCHA reiterates that current fuel entries are insufficient to meet life-saving critical needs and represent a drop in the ocean of needs.
OCHA again stresses that a permanent ceasefire is needed more than ever. Unilateral tactical pauses alone do not allow for the continuous flow of supplies required to meet immense needs levels in Gaza.
Meanwhile, desperate, hungry people continue to offload the small amounts of aid from the trucks that are able to exit the crossings.
The UN and our partners continue to coordinate humanitarian movements inside Gaza with the Israeli authorities. Yesterday, three facilitated missions allowed our staff to collect cargo containing food from the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings and allowed for fuel to be transferred within Gaza. However, the others faced impediments, particularly delays in receiving the green light to move by the Israeli authorities, and one had to be cancelled.
OCHA reiterates that in order to scale-up the delivery of aid in a manner that begins to meet people’s tremendous needs, it is critical that all crossings must open, a broad range of supplies – both humanitarian and commercial – be allowed to enter, aid movements inside Gaza be safeguarded and facilitated in a timely manner, and that humanitarians be allowed to do their jobs.
Full Highlights:
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/ossg/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=30+July+2025
The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report reveals a worsening hunger crisis in Gaza, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). “What the data tells us is that two of the three indicators that we monitor have reached famine thresholds,” said Jean Martin Bauer, WFP’s Director of Food Security and Nutrition Assessments. He added that the overall situation has deteriorated since the previous IPC assessment in May, which had already warned of famine risk.
The three indicators used to determine famine levels are household food deficits, acute malnutrition, and mortality. Briefing reporters in New York today (Jul 29) Bauer said food consumption has sharply declined across the territory. “Today, we’ve got over 33 percent of the population that goes for an entire day without having access to any food,” he said.
Malnutrition has also spiked. “The levels of global acute malnutrition have quadrupled in Gaza City between May and July,” Bauer noted.
While humanitarian pauses have allowed limited aid to trickle in, WFP officials say current access remains inadequate.
“Since Sunday, we’ve only been able to move approximately half of what we’ve requested to move,” said Ross Smith, WFP’s Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response. “Because people are desperate and the situation on the ground is such that crowds are swarming convoys of the relief supplies, we’re not able to do the proper distributions that we want.”
Smith added that live fire directed at civilians continues to disrupt aid operations. “We continue every day to see casualty incidents,” he said.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said, without the strong, united political support of United Nations Security Council members, peacekeeping missions are relegated to only achieving the ‘intermediate goals of peacekeeping.’”
Today (29 Jul), addressing the Security Council about adapting peace operations for the pursuit of political solutions, Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, “We continue to see the implications of the polarization of this Security Council. As I have stated here and in related forums, without the strong, united political support of United Nations Security Council members, peacekeeping missions are relegated to only achieving the ‘intermediate goals of peacekeeping.’”
He added, “We should not discount the value of these, which include managing conflicts, maintaining ceasefires and protecting hundreds of thousands of civilians every day. But it’s a less desirable and more expensive outcome than Council Members providing the requisite political support that would enable peacekeeping to reach its ultimate objective of enabling the parties to the conflict to reach durable peace – one that they can maintain following the successful drawdown of a peacekeeping mission.”
He also said, “Peace operations in general and peacekeeping missions in particular will not be able to do their utmost to enable a countries transition from conflict to peace or simply to implement the mandates provided by this Security Council, if they are not given the requisite resources to do so.”
He stressed, “While we continue to seek efficiencies, including but not exclusively through UN80, I would like to reiterate the Secretary-General’s request to pay in full and on time their contributions. Our ability to keep the peace requires it.”
Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, addressed the Council on behalf of Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo.
She said, “The trust deficit we see today did not exist with many of our more successful missions in the past – this rich history must be re-explored and mined.”
She also said, “To be successful, our political missions must be responsive to the needs of their host State or States – and, conversely, enjoy the support of their host State or States. The responsibility for achieving political solutions rests with national actors.”
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
IPC Report
IPC/Secretary-General
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Lebanon
Deputy Secretary-General
Security Council
Guatemala
Cambodia/Thailand
Dr. David Nabarro
Noon Briefing Guests
IPC REPORT
The World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF warned today that Gaza faces the grave risk of famine, as food consumption and nutrition indicators have reached their worst levels since the conflict began. That’s according to data shared in the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Alert.
The IPC Alert highlights that two out of the three famine thresholds have now been breached in parts of the territory.
Food consumption – the first core famine indicator – has plummeted in Gaza since the last IPC Update in May 2025. Data shows that more than one in three people (39 per cent) are now going days at a time without eating. More than 500,000 people – nearly a quarter of Gaza’s population – are enduring famine-like conditions, while the remaining population is facing emergency levels of hunger.
Acute malnutrition, the second core famine indicator, has risen in Gaza at an unprecedented rate. In Gaza City, malnutrition levels among children under five have quadrupled in two months, reaching 16.5 per cent. This signals a critical deterioration in nutritional status and a sharp rise in the risk of death from hunger and malnutrition.
Acute malnutrition and reports of starvation-related deaths, the third core famine indicator, are increasingly common, but collecting strong data under current circumstances in Gaza remains very difficult as health systems, already decimated by nearly three years of conflict, are collapsing.
IPC/SECRETARY-GENERAL
In response to the IPC alert, the Secretary-General said the following:
“The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Alert confirms what we have feared: Gaza is on the brink of famine.
The facts are in — and they are undeniable.
Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. This is not a warning. It is a reality unfolding before our eyes.
The trickle of aid must become an ocean. Food, water, medicine, and fuel must flow in waves and without obstruction.
This nightmare must end.
Ending this worst-case scenario will take the best efforts of all parties — now.
We need an immediate and permanent humanitarian ceasefire; the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages; and full, unfettered humanitarian access across Gaza.
This is a test of our shared humanity – a test we cannot afford to fail.”
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that we are making the most of the steps announced by the Israeli authorities to ease the delivery of aid into and across Gaza. We are collecting more supplies at the crossings and bringing more in from outside to restock.
Our colleagues in the ground say the Israeli-declared tactical pauses have reduced the intensity of hostilities, but not significantly enough, in times and areas where these are meant to apply. On Sunday and Monday – the two first days of the pauses – the UN and our partners were able to bring into Gaza more food, mainly wheat flour, alongside ready-to-use infant formula, high-energy biscuits, diapers, vaccines and much needed fuel. But OCHA says the volume of goods coming in is still far from enough.
Our colleagues say that most aid is still being offloaded by crowds before reaching where it’s supposed to go. But market monitoring shows prices for basic goods are starting to drop, which could point to better operating conditions if aid flows further increase and supplies saturate the area.
OCHA reminds us that commercial imports need to resume, sooner rather than later. No humanitarian operation can fully support 2.1 million people on its own. And for people to feel reassured that aid is flowing regularly, tactical pauses won’t cut it. What’s desperately needed is a full, permanent ceasefire.
Meanwhile, throughout most of the Gaza Strip, the UN and our partners are still required to coordinate humanitarian movements with the Israeli authorities. We’re seeing fewer outright denials by the Israeli authorities, but teams are still facing impediments on the ground.
Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=29%20July%202025
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) platform, two out of three famine thresholds have been reached in Gaza: plummeting food consumption and acute malnutrition. Famine has not been declared as the third criteria, deaths from malnutrition, cannot be demonstrated.
There is mounting evidence that “widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease” are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths, which is the third famine indicator.
The context to the alert is stark: one in three people is now going without food for days at a time, the IPC said. Hospitals are also overwhelmed and have treated more than 20,000 children for acute malnutrition since April. At least 16 children under five have died from hunger-related causes since mid-July.
Comments to the media by the Rt. Hon. David Lammy, MP (Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), on Palestine – Security Council Media Stakeout.
UN chief said, “The creeping annexation of the occupied West Bank is illegal. It must stop.”
Addressing the High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution today (28 Jul), UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for renewed political will to achieve a two-state solution and condemned actions that undermine peace.
He said, “Nothing can justify the horrific 7 October terror attacks by Hamas and the taking of hostages, both of which I have repeatedly condemned. And nothing can justify the obliteration of Gaza that has unfolded before the eyes of the world.”
The Secretary-General will also condemn ongoing actions that undermine peace, including the demolition of Palestinian homes, forced displacement, demographic changes, and Israel’s recent Knesset declaration supporting annexation of the West Bank.
He continued, “These are not isolated events. They are part of a systemic reality that is dismantling the building blocks of peace in the Middle East. And yet, precisely because of the grim realities, we must do even more to realize the two-State solution.”
The Secretary-General reaffirmed that the two-state solution remains the only viable and legal framework for peace, with Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security, based on pre-1967 borders and with Jerusalem as the capital of both states.
He emphasized that both must be independent, democratic, and fully recognized by the international community.
This, he said, is the only credible path to lasting peace — not only between Israelis and Palestinians, but across the wider Middle East.
He then called for bold, principled leadership to make the difficult decisions needed to achieve this vision.
Mohammad Mustafa, Palestinian Prime minister, said that this conference is also a message “to the Israeli people: that there is a path to peace and regional integration. It will be achieved through our independence, not our destruction. Through the realization of our rights, not their continued denial. That Palestinians are not condemned to perpetual occupation and exile, and Palestinian and Israeli are not dumbed to be at eternal war.”
He also said, “Hamas must stop his rule of Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian authority. And we stand ready to invite regional and international forces to be deployed and full cooperate coordination with the state of Palestine as a part of a stabilization and protection mission.”
Jean-Noël Barrot, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia briefed correspondents after the morning session.
The French Minister said, “The President of the Republic, through a letter delivered on July 24 by the Consul General of France to the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has committed to recognizing the State of Palestine at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly in September. With this decision, France reaffirms the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination in the face of facts accomplished on the ground, the humanitarian catastrophe that is plunging an entire people into despair, and existential threat.”
He also said, “Our expectations from the Israeli government: First, the lifting of the financial blockade. The payment of the €2 billion owed by the Israeli government to the Palestinian Authority. The abandonment of colonization projects, particularly the E1 project, which—with 3,400 housing units being built in the West Bank—threatens the territorial continuity of the future State of Palestine. The cessation of the activities of the Humanitarian Foundation for Gaza and the militarized system of humanitarian aid distribution in Gaza.”
The Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs said, “For the Kind of Saudi Arabia, normalization with Israel can only come through the establishment of a Palestinian state. That position remains the same, and it is based on a strong conviction that only through the establishment of a Palestinian state, and only through addressing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination can we have sustainable pace and reintegration in the region.”
The High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution held its first meeting in New York on 17 June 2025.
This meeting was subsequently suspended and resumed today at UNHQ, in New York.
It provides a platform to consolidate key insights, highlight consensus across political, legal, economic, and humanitarian tracks, and articulate concrete next steps.
The session is both a culmination of months of coordinated diplomatic work and a launchpad for action, and laying the groundwork for sustained international engagement, accountability, and implementation in support of a just and lasting peace.
Briefing the Security Council today (Jul 28), the Director of Operations and Advocacy at the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA), Edem Wosornu, said the violence displaced an estimated 175,000 people, roughly a third of Suweida’s population, in an area where “two-thirds of people were already in need of assistance.”
Compounding the crisis, wildfires in the coastal governorate of Lattakia displaced more than 1,100 people and destroyed vital farmland, Wosornu said. She warned that “the fires were exacerbated by the worst drought-like conditions Syria has seen in 36 years,” with key reservoirs now at historically low levels.
Syria’s UN Ambassador, Qusay al-Dahhak, said the country is confronting “multifaceted, complex and serious challenges,” and urged the international community to maintain positive engagement and support.
He also said, “Israeli attacks continue to undermine efforts to achieve recovery and meet the aspirations of our people. The Israeli occupation entity pursues its attempts to impose a new occupation reality by undermining Syria’s national unity, stoking strife and obstructing efforts to achieve security and stability.”
Press Conference by France and Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministers on the United Nations High-Level International Conference on “The Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution”.
The number of hungry people in the world decreased slightly in 2024 according to a new United Nations report. Progress, however, was not consistent across the globe, as hunger continued to rise in most subregions of Africa and western Asia.
“Africa has been deteriorating in terms of hunger, while Latin America, especially South America, has been improving, and Asia, especially South Asia driven by India, has been significantly improving,” said Maximo Torero, Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, commenting on the outcomes of the report.
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI 2025) report jointly published by five United Nations specialized agencies indicates that an estimated 8.2 percent of the global population, or about 673 million people, experienced hunger in 2024, down from 8.5 percent in 2023 and 8.7 percent in 2022.
SOFI 2025 indicates that between 638 and 720 million people faced hunger in 2024.
Based on the midpoint estimate of 673 million, this represents a decrease of 15 million people from 2023 and of 22 million from 2022.
Notable improvements are seen in southern Asia, mainly reflecting new data from India, and Latin America. Hunger in Asia fell from 7.9 percent in 2022 to 6.7 percent, or 323 million people, in 2024. Additionally, Latin America and the Caribbean saw undernourishment fall to 5.1 percent, or 34 million people, in 2024, down from a peak of 6.1 percent in 2020.
According to the current projection, 512 million people could be chronically undernourished by 2030, with nearly 60 percent of them in Africa.
SOFI 2025 also examines the causes and consequences of the 2021–2023 food price surge and its impact on food security and nutrition. The report highlights that the global policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic —characterized by extensive fiscal and monetary interventions — combined with the impacts of the war in Ukraine and multiple extreme weather events contributed to recent inflationary pressures.
“The SOFI also show us that the food prices have been increasing more and faster than the prices of other commodities.That means the food inflation has been faster and higher than the non-food inflation. And that, of course, affects the most vulnerable people, which their share of expenditures in food is higher than in other commodities.”
Food inflation has hindered the post-pandemic recovery in food security and nutrition. Since 2020, global food price inflation has consistently outpaced headline inflation. The gap peaked in January 2023, with food inflation reaching 13.6 percent, 5.1 percentage points above the headline rate of 8.5 percent.
Low-income countries have been particularly hit hard by rising food prices. While median global food price inflation increased from 2.3 percent in December 2020 to 13.6 percent in early 2023, it climbed even higher in low-income countries, peaking at 30 percent in May 2023.
The report recommends a combination of policy responses to food price inflation. They include targeted and time-bound fiscal measures, such as social protection programs, to safeguard vulnerable households; credible and transparent monetary policies to contain inflationary pressures; and strategic investments in agrifood R&D, transport and production infrastructure, and market information systems to improve productivity and resilience.
“Private financing will be essential. In everything we do, we cannot just use the governments and IFIs [International Financial Institutions] we also need to atract private financing. And climate financing needs to increase substentialy. In agrifood systems today they are at 4 percents, while the agrifood systems are the ones providing the right to food. So, we need to change that abruptly so that we can have financing that is needed to transform our agrifood systems so that we can assure that there is more availability of healthy diets in the world and the cost of the healthy diet is reduced in the world and that we can accelerate the transmition of decline of the prices of commodities into the final products that we eat.”
Despite rising global food prices and the increasing cost of a healthy diet, the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet fell from 2.76 billion in 2019 to 2.60 billion in 2024. However, the improvement was uneven. In low-income countries, where the cost of a healthy diet rose more sharply than in wealthier countries, the number of people unable to afford one increased from 464 million in 2019 to 545 million in 2024. In lower-middle-income countries (excluding India), the number rose from 791 million in 2019 to 869 million over the same period.
Briefing the Security Council today (Jul 28), the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, condemned a deadly outbreak of violence in Syria’s Suweida governorate that left civilians dead and displaced thousands calling it “violence that should not have happened.”
On 12 July, tensions between Bedouin tribes and Druze communities flared into armed clashes, following a series of mutual kidnappings. Syrian authorities deployed security forces to the area, but those forces were “attacked, killed and abducted by Druze groups,” Pedersen said, adding that “there were extremely grave reports of serious violations by security forces against Druze civilians.”
As fighting intensified, Israeli airstrikes targeted Syrian security personnel and armed Bedouin groups in and around Suweida. Israel also struck a Ministry of Defense building and conducted airstrikes near the Presidential Palace in Damascus. “Israel’s strikes caused casualties among civilians and security forces,” Pedersen said.
“I condemn the appalling violations against civilians and combatants in Suweida,” he added. “I also condemn Israel’s intervention and dangerous airstrikes in Suweida and in Damascus.”
The humanitarian fallout has been severe. Edem Wosornu, Director of Operations and Advocacy at the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA), said the violence displaced an estimated 175,000 people, roughly a third of Suweida’s population, in an area where “two-thirds of people were already in need of assistance.”
Compounding the crisis, wildfires in the coastal governorate of Lattakia displaced more than 1,100 people and destroyed vital farmland, Wosornu said. She warned that “the fires were exacerbated by the worst drought-like conditions Syria has seen in 36 years,” with key reservoirs now at historically low levels.
Syria’s UN Ambassador, Qusay al-Dahhak, said the country is confronting “multifaceted, complex and serious challenges,” and urged the international community to maintain positive engagement and support.
He also said, “Israeli attacks continue to undermine efforts to achieve recovery and meet the aspirations of our people. The Israeli occupation entity pursues its attempts to impose a new occupation reality by undermining Syria’s national unity, stoking strife and obstructing efforts to achieve security and stability.”
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “The only realistic, just, and sustainable solution is two States — Israel and Palestine — living side-by-side in peace and security, within secure and recognized borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the capital of both – in line with international law, UN resolutions and other relevant agreements.”
Guterres today (28 Jul) spoke at the opening segment of the High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.
In his remarks, the UN chief warned, time is running out. “With every passing day, trust is slipping. Institutions are weakened. And hopes are dashed.”
He implored the international community not only to keep the two-State solution alive – “but to take the urgent, concrete, irreversible steps necessary to make it real.”
Guterres stressed, “Nothing can justify the horrific 7 October terror attacks by Hamas. And nothing can justify the scale of death and destruction in Gaza since then – a level without precedent in recent times.”
The Secretary-General said, “Let us reject the false choice between Palestinian statehood and Israeli security. There is no security in occupation.”
“Let us affirm,” he said, “Israel’s legitimate security concerns must be addressed. And so must the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”
“We must speak with one voice. To condemn all acts of terror. To denounce all targeting of civilians and taking of hostages. To reject incitement to hatred and violence,” Guterres added.
He continued, “We must call on Israel to recommit – clearly and unequivocally — to the two-State solution, and to cease all actions that undermine it. And we must support Palestinian unity around a peaceful, democratic, and inclusive vision of statehood.”
“Let us lay the groundwork for: Unified Palestinian governance. Credible security arrangements. And a Palestinian Authority that carries out reforms and that can deliver for its people,” he concluded.
France and Saudi Arabia are the Co-chair of the Conference.
For his part, French diplomat Jean-Noël Barrot said that his government is “ready to fully recognize the State of Palestine, and will do so in the month of September next.”
“This recognition, which is a major decision by France, is an expression of both a rejection and it is an appeal. It is a rejection of the idea that the war camp is winning over the peace camp,” Barrot reiterated.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, called on Member States to join the final outcome document and to participate in its implementation.
“Our collective responsibility requires us today to work urgently to end the humanitarian disaster that is threatening the credibility of the international law, and to enable the Palestinian people to achieve self-determination in order to achieve peace and security for all people in the region, opening the way towards stability, prosperity and development,” the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs said.
Philemon Yang, President of the UN General Assembly also spoke at the opening session.
He said, “The focus of this conference must therefore be concrete and action-oriented, identifying steps the international community must take to realise the two-State solution.”
“We must restore both hope and trust: Hope that a better future is possible,” he reiterated.
Prime Minister of State of Palestine, Mohammad Mustafa, said, “This international conference must constitute a turning point in which positions and decisions are translated into immediate and unprecedented practical steps to stop the genocide and end the Israeli occupation.”
“Uphold the Palestinian rights and help an independent Palestinian State on the basis of a two-state solution that takes shape in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy, which opens the way towards peace, security, stability and prosperity in our region for the benefit of all peoples and States,” Prime Minister Mustafa said.
He affirmed “the readiness of the State of Palestine to assume full responsibility for governance and security in Gaza with Arab and international support.”
“We also stress that the State of Palestine is the only holder of the right to rule the entire Gaza Strip, and it is the holder of the exclusive right to maintain security. Israel must withdraw completely from the Gaza Strip, and Hamas must relinquish its control over the Strip and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority,” the Prime Minister added.
He also reaffirmed Palestine’s position, “rejecting violence and terrorism in all its forms, including targeting and attacking civilians.”
Full remarks [as delivered]: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2025-07-28/secretary-generals-remarks-the-opening-segment-of-the-high-level-international-conference-for-the-peaceful-settlement-of-the-question-of-palestine-and-the
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Secretary-General/Palestine
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Food Systems Summit
Deputy Secretary-General
Security Council/Syria
Syria/Humanitarian
Lebanon/Israel
Ukraine
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Sudan
World Hepatitis Day
SECRETARY-GENERAL/PALESTINE
The Secretary-General will speak this afternoon at the opening session of the international conference on the implementation of the two-State solution.
He will say that the only realistic, just and sustainable solution for Israelis and Palestinians is two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, within recognized borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the capital of both.
But he will warn that time is running out, with trust slipping every passing day while institutions are weakened and hopes are dashed.
At an earlier meeting this morning, he said that the wholesale destruction of Gaza is intolerable and must stop and that unilateral actions that would forever undermine the two-state solution are unacceptable.
The Secretary-General said that today’s conference is a rare and indispensable opportunity. We must ensure that it does not become another exercise in well-meaning rhetoric, Mr. Guterres added. It can and must serve as a decisive turning point – one that catalyzes irreversible progress towards ending the occupation and realizing our shared aspiration for a viable two-State solution.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Tom Fletcher, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, yesterday welcomed Israel’s decision to support a one-week scale-up of aid, including lifting customs barriers on food, medicine and fuel from Egypt and the reported designation of secure routes for UN humanitarian convoys. Some movement restrictions appear to have been eased on Sunday, he said, with initial reports indicating that over 100 truckloads were collected.
This is progress, Mr. Fletcher said, but vast amounts of aid are needed to stave off famine and a catastrophic health crisis. He said that we need sustained action, and fast, including quicker clearances for convoys going to the crossing and dispatching into Gaza; multiple trips per day to the crossings so we and our partners can pick up the cargo; safe routes that avoid crowded areas; and no more attacks on people gathering for food.
UN agencies and our partners have welcomed these measures. Yesterday, the World Food Programme(WFP) said that it has enough food in the region or on the way there to feed the starving population for about three months. The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) says that some 6,000 trucks in Jordan and Egypt are waiting for the green light to enter.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that July was the worst month of deaths linked to malnutrition, with more than 85 per cent of malnutrition related deaths recorded in 2025. Nearly one in five children under five in Gaza City is now acutely malnourished.
UN partners say that in July, more than 5,000 children under five have already been admitted for outpatient treatment of malnutrition. The only four specialized treatment centres in Gaza are overwhelmed, pushing an already fragile health system closer to collapse.
The UN and its partners stress the need for unimpeded access of humanitarian aid through all crossings and corridors to allow large-scale delivery of aid to the starving and exhausted population.
Yesterday, the Israeli authorities announced simplified movement procedures both from the crossings and within Gaza. Out of 17 missions requiring coordination with the Israeli authorities, eight were facilitated, including the collection of fuel and supplies from Kerem Shalom, while three have been denied, and two cancelled. Four missions, including the uplift of food cargo, were impeded but accomplished.
The long-standing restrictions on the entry of aid have created an unpredictable environment with a lack of confidence by communities that aid will reach them. This has resulted in many of our convoys being offloaded directly by starving, desperate people. Yesterday, hungry people offloaded food supplies before they could reach their intended destination.
As we have said before, the only way to mitigate for this situation is by having a sustained flow of aid over a period of time. This was evident during the ceasefire, when such incidents did not occur.
Meanwhile, airdrops have resumed in Gaza yesterday. While the UN welcomes all efforts to provide aid to the people who desperately need it, UN agencies and partners remind that airdrops are the last resort measure and carry risks for people on the ground. Injuries were reported yesterday when packages fell on tents.
Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/ossg/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=28%20July%202025
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