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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

WEDNESDAY, 8 JULY 2026

MIDDLE EAST 

The Secretary-General is alarmed by the renewed military confrontations in the Gulf. These incidents that we have seen in the last 24 hours risk derailing the diplomatic progress achieved between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States. 

A return to full-scale hostilities would have catastrophic consequences for the peoples of the region, for international peace and security, and for the global economy as a whole. The Secretary-General calls on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, avoid further escalatory action and take immediate steps to de-escalate. He further recalls the obligation of all parties to fully comply with international law, including the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, and respect for navigational rights and freedoms. 

The Secretary-General urges Iran and the United States to urgently resume negotiations and to address outstanding issues through diplomacy.   

We remain committed to supporting all efforts to prevent a return to conflict, to restore stability and advance a comprehensive and durable resolution to this conflict. 

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY 

Turning to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, earlier today, Tom Fletcher, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, who is in Venezuela, did also have a virtual meeting from Venezuela with the Prime Minister of Palestine, Mohammad Mustafa. They underscored the importance of close collaboration and accelerated efforts to improve living conditions in Gaza, particularly around safe water and waste management. Both agreed that the urgency of needs in Gaza is too great to wait for progress on broader political and security tracks. They both welcomed the encouraging milestone of 41,000 students in Gaza were able to sit for their high school exams this year. They also discussed the deteriorating situation in the West Bank, including increased settler violence, as well as, Palestinian displacement.  

Also today, Humanitarian Coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov, who is also the Deputy Special Coordinator, started a two-day visit to the Gaza strip.

In Gaza City, he visited a UN Mine Action Service team, whose teams have been assessing and mitigating the risks of explosive hazards, which as you know, continue to be very big in this area.  

Accompanied by the representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Dr. Alakbarov visited the Firas market dumping site, also in Gaza city, to review solid waste management efforts.  

Since 2023, that market had been used as an improvised dumping site, after municipal crews lost access to Gaza’s two landfills near the Strip’s eastern land perimeter.  

Since April, thanks to a project supported by the Occupied Palestinian Territory Humanitarian Fund and implemented by UNDP, teams have transferred about 300,000 metric tonnes of solid waste from that improvised site to another location, farther away from where people are seeking shelter. But access to sanitary landfills, which are east of the so-called “Yellow Line,” remains banned. 

Dr. Alakbarov then met with colleagues from UNICEF to discuss ongoing efforts to reduce infestations associated with rodents and parasites, something we have been telling you about regularly. And he also met with WHO and they discussed ongoing medical evacuations.   

You might recall that the medical referral route to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, remains closed. That is of course undermining efforts to expand medical evacuations from Gaza. According to data from the WHO, a little more than 2,100 patients were able to be evacuated since the declaration of a ceasefire in October of last year. However, thousands more need medical services that are just not available today in the Gaza Strip.  

VENEZUELA 

Tom Fletcher, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, is continuing his visit. This morning, he briefed Member States from Caracas, calling for an additional $296 million to provide life-saving support over the next six months to 1.3 million people impacted by the devastating earthquakes that shook the country nearly two weeks ago.  

The addendum to the 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan, which already required $632 million, will help the UN and our partners support the Government-led response with food, shelter, health, and water, sanitation and hygiene assistance, and many other critical interventions. To date, around $300 million has been received for response efforts in Venezuela. With the addendum, the current funding gap stands at some $600 million.  

Tom Fletcher thanked donors for the contributions made thus far, and called on Member States and other donors to translate their solidarity into practical support and investments in essential services, as the response moves from search-and-rescue to the broader humanitarian response and the needed recovery phase. As you’re aware, Tom arrived yesterday in Venezuela. He is scheduled to be there for four days. On his first day in the country, he witnessed first hand the scale of the devastation in La Guaira, one of the areas hardest hit by the earthquakes. Tom spoke with families impacted by the disaster and people still searching through the rubble alongside first responders, holding out hope of finding loved ones alive.  

Mr. Fletcher also met with Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and other senior Government officials. He was joined by the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and the Head of OCHA in Venezuela, Gianluca Rampolla, to discuss the ongoing response efforts and how we can continue to support affected communities as the relief efforts move into the next phase.  

We and our humanitarian partners remain on the ground, working with national authorities to support survivors and address people’s most urgent needs.  

UKRAINE 

From Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tells us that drone and missile attacks have continued across the country, causing multiple civilian casualties and widespread damage to homes and other civilian infrastructure.  The Kharkiv and Kherson regions were among the hardest hit, and across several other regions, there were also reports of civilian casualties and damage to homes and civilian infrastructure. This is what Ukrainian authorities are telling our colleagues on the ground.   

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that nearly 70 per cent of people in Ukraine have experienced worsening health since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. Common problems include sleep disorders, headaches, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress, while prolonged stress has contributed to higher increases of chronic diseases.                             

WHO also warns that Ukraine's healthcare system faces growing workforce shortages due to displacement, burnout and insecurity.   

SUDAN 

On Sudan, the UN Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan said in a new report which provides more evidence that atrocities committed by warring parties in the north African nation constitute distinct markers of genocide.  

The report states that Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out brutal attacks against civilians, including mass killings, systematic abductions of women and girls, and mass gang rapes in El Fasher. The Fact-Finding Mission warned that similar patterns of violence and devastation are now emerging in El Obeid, where it is launching an urgent inquiry into alleged human rights violations and abuses, and that is following a resolution passed by the Human Rights Council earlier this week. 

The Fact-Finding Mission reiterated its calls for effective accountability including prompt cooperation with, and action by, the International Criminal Court.   

As civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict, the Fact-Finding Mission will continue its investigations and will report on the situation in and around El Obeid to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, as it is mandated to do.

SOUTH SUDAN 

Moving to South to South Sudan. The peacekeeping mission there, UNMISS, tells us that they have intensified engagements with authorities, community leaders, youth representatives, security actors and civil society in efforts to ease tensions following concerning reports of intercommunal violence and cattle raids across several counties in Warrap State. 

Initial reports indicate that several civilians have been killed, others have been injured or displaced and property destroyed. The Mission is patrolling impacted areas and advocating with all stakeholders to strengthen the protection of civilians and help prevent retaliatory attacks. We'll update you as the situation develops.  

These tragic events come as South Sudan marks 15 years of independence. In a message for the day, Anita Kiki Gbeho, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the peacekeeping mission in South Sudan reaffirmed that the peacekeeping mission remains a steadfast partner to the people of South Sudan. Her full message is online. 

[And if I can ask my colleagues who are listening if we can get some air conditioning in this room, because it is starting to get very hot and rather unpleasant.]

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC  

We will go to the Central Central African Republic, where, as you will recall, there were clashes last week in Am Dafock, in the Vakaga prefecture.  

Our colleagues report that the three Zambian UN peacekeepers injured last week, including the one who suffered severe injuries, are continuing to receive treatment and are in stable condition.  

The Mission's immediate priority remains the protection of civilians. More than 16,000 people are safe, because they have found refuge at the UN Mission's Temporary Operating Base in the town, where protection measures put in place by peacekeepers saved lives during the attack and help prevent even more violence.  

Also to note, our colleagues say that the Mission’s logistical support and protection enabled the local administration to remain operational throughout this crisis. 

MINUSCA has also facilitated the delivery of emergency humanitarian assistance, including the delivery of more than three tonnes of medicine and other essential supplies to affected communities.  

And finally, we can confirm that the armoured personnel carrier that had become inoperable last week has now been recovered. It is in the safe hands of our peacekeeping colleagues. 

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 

In neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo, we join our humanitarian colleagues who are deeply concerned by the escalating violence against Ebola responders. They say this is undermining efforts to contain the outbreak in the eastern part of that country. 

On 6 July, unidentified attackers raided an Ebola treatment centre in Butembo, in North Kivu, setting fire to a facility. Since the outbreak was declared on 15 May, humanitarian partners have recorded security incidents targeting Ebola response personnel and other aid workers in Ituri, South Kivu and North Kivu provinces, and humanitarian workers were among those injured.    

National health authorities continue to report that the outbreak has expanded geographically, with confirmed Ebola cases now reported in Boga Health Zone in Ituri Province. 

We and our partners continue to step up efforts to engage with community leaders, with local authorities, with civil society representatives and affected communities to address concerns, counter misinformation and foster broader understanding of those response efforts. 

We reiterate our call that the protection of health workers, treatment facilities and response teams must be protected. Without a secure environment that enables health workers, who are putting their own lives at risk to help other human beings. Without protection, they cannot carry out their life-saving work, which includes efforts to detect cases, trace contacts and provide life-saving care to those who are affected. 

AFGHANISTAN

The UNDP Administrator, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Alexander De Croo and Barham Salih, today called on the international community to provide urgent, sustained investment in Afghanistan.  UNHCR notes that since 2023, more than 6 million Afghans have returned back to their home country, including around 2.9 million in 2025 alone. More than 750,000 people have already returned so far this year, with a further 2.5 million expected by the end of this year.     

Both Mr. De Croo and Mr. Salih urged international partners not to turn away from Afghanistan, warning that aid cuts and declining international attention risk deepening poverty, fuelling further displacement and undermining fragile gains.    

The call came at the conclusion of a joint mission to Afghanistan by the two, where they met with the de facto authorities and visited UN-supported projects in Mazar-e-Sharif. The join mission underscored our joint commitment to meeting urgent humanitarian and protection needs while helping lay the foundations for longer-term recovery, stability and durable reintegration.    

SECURITY COUNCIL 

The Security Council is currently holding an open debate on Women and Peace and Security, with a focus on conflict-related sexual violence. 

Briefing Council members, was the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten. She highlighted findings contained in the Secretary-General's latest annual report on the issue. The report verifies nearly 9,800 cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2025, more than double the number recorded the previous year, 90% of the victims are women and girls. Ms. Patten stressed, however, that these figures can never capture the full scale of a crime that remains chronically underreported. 

Calling the international community for greater action, Ms. Patten said the goal is not simply to document these violations, it is to end them.   

UNCOPS 

Today here in New York, the fifth United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit – UNCOPS - brought together 145 delegations, the highest level of participation to date. That meeting is to discuss the future of UN Police, innovation and new technologies, and international cooperation to address transnational challenges. 

The Police Adviser, whom you had here earlier this week, Faisal Shahkar said in his opening remarks that “United Nations Police play a unique role in advancing international cooperation by connecting efforts at the national, regional and global levels, strengthening partnerships, and supporting Member States in building their capacities.” 

CANCER/REPORT

There is a new report by WHO that shows that cancer claims more than 26,000 lives every day, and with an estimated 20.6 million new cases and close to 10 million deaths annually. It remains the second leading cause of death globally, after cardiovascular disease. WHO warns that without urgent action, the annual cancer cases are projected to rise to nearly 35 million by 2050.  

The report also reveals persistent and widening inequities in access to prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and supportive care. Its analysis shows, for example, that while 87 per cent of women with breast cancer survive at 5 years after their diagnosis in high-income countries, only about 42 per cent do so in low-income countries.   

COMMEMORATION OF GENOCIDE IN SREBRENICA 

Tomorrow at 11:00 a.m., the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica will be marked with an observance in the General Assembly Hall. The International Day itself is marked on 11 July, which is Saturday and there will be ceremonies in Bosnia and Herzegovina at which the UN country team will participate. 

Courtenay Rattray, the Chef de Cabinet, will deliver remarks on behalf of the Secretary-General. The observance, organized by the Srebrenica Genocide and the UN Outreach Programme, will also feature remarks from two survivors of the Srebrenica genocide and the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The proceedings will be hosted by Chaloka Beyani, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide. The observance will honour the victims and reaffirm the international community's commitment to remembrance, justice and the prevention of genocide. 

It will also be live on UN WebTV.  

**Briefings today and tomorrow 

UNFPA’s Executive Director, Diene Keita, and Alessio Cangiano, the Chief ad interim of the Population and Development Branch of UNFPA, briefed reporters on the launch of their new global report based on the findings of the Demographic Futures Survey.  

Tomorrow, the guests at the Noon briefing will be Anacláudia Rossbach, the Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Ambassador Erastus Ekitela Lokaale, Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations, and Shirley Pryce of the Jamaica Household Workers Union. 

They will brief on Renewing Commitments on Sustainable Cities and Communities and the launch of the SDG 11 Global Synthesis Report 2026.          

The report is expected to highlight progress achieved, identifies key gaps, and recommends prioritizing adequate housing, the transformation of informal settlements and urban resilience to accelerate progress towards more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities worldwide.