Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

**Guest

Good afternoon. In a short while, we will be joined virtually by our guest, Lia Poggio, the Chief of Mission in Venezuela for the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

She will be briefing us live from Caracas, where IOM is, as you know, part of the recovery regarding the recent earthquakes.

She will be accompanied by Lucas Guedes Hackradt, IOM's Disaster Risk Reduction Coordinator in Venezuela.

They will be, as I mentioned, connecting from Caracas.

**Secretary-General/China

The Secretary-General arrived in China today. Tomorrow morning, he will attend the opening ceremony of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. And in the afternoon, he will deliver remarks at the Opening Session of the World AI Conference Meteorological Forum.

And he will also have several other official engagements. We will issue readouts and remarks as they come to us.

**Secretary-General/Cyprus

I want to share some upcoming travel for you from the Secretary-General, in addition to his trip China. The Secretary-General will travel to Cyprus from 27 to 29 July, as part of his good offices mission and his strong demonstrated commitment to the Cyprus issue.

He will meet with the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders, as well as other stakeholders, and discuss efforts to advance the peace process and support stability on the island, including through the work of the UN Peacekeeping Mission on the ground there (UNFICYP).

Further details on the Secretary-General's programme will be shared with you closer to that date.

**Security Council

And this morning, the Security Council this morning held consultations on the Secretary-General's report on resolution 1701, which you all know has to do with Lebanon. The Officer-in-Charge of the Special Coordinator's Office in Beirut, Jean Arnault, briefed, as well as the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean Pierre Lacroix, briefed the Council.

Also, this afternoon at 3 p.m., they will reconvene for another series of closed consultations, this time on Cyprus, and they will hear from Khassim Diagne, the head of the Peacekeeping Mission in Cyprus (UNFICYP).

**Lebanon

Staying on peacekeeping and staying on the Mediterranean, I have an update for you concerning our UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. They tell us this morning that UNIFIL recorded 13 trajectories of projectiles attributed to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), 6 trajectories yesterday and 18 the day before. Since 21 June, UNIFIL has not detected any trajectories originating from non-State actors, including Hizbullah.

UNIFIL peacekeepers have continued to observe violations of Lebanese airspace, including 28 violations detected yesterday. UNIFIL personnel have observed drone incursions, mostly by micro aerial vehicles in both sectors.

On Tuesday, UNIFIL peacekeepers observed two Israeli tanks engaged in an apparent exchange of fire with Hizbullah north of the Litani River, outside of UNIFIL's area of operations.

The combat engagement occurred a few kilometers from a UN position near Frun in Sector East.

Yesterday, a UNIFIL patrol located several unexploded ordnances in a private garden in Rumaysh in Sector West. Also in the same Sector, peacekeepers discovered two remnants of munitions that had been dropped or intercepted in the past. A Lebanese Armed Forces engineering team successfully neutralized those unexploded ordnances through a controlled detonation procedure.

**Occupied Palestinian Territory

Just staying in the region and the occupied Palestinian territory. Our Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Ramiz Alakbarov, welcomed yesterday the latest commitments by international partners worth almost $58 million from eight Member States to the UN Horizon Fund, and called on additional partners to join the initiative to strengthen coordinated UN efforts the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Yesterday, the World Food Programme (WFP) said in a social media post that as people are being forced to move in Gaza, they risk losing access to basic services and assistance. WFP called for a safe environment for us to be able to reach people who are in need.

Despite ongoing impediments, in the first 12 days of this month, we and our humanitarian partners provided general food assistance to more than a quarter million people across 36 distribution sites.

In a statement issued today, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) notes it has scaled up its cash assistance programme to help about 1,500 Palestinian farmers cultivate land across the Gaza Strip during the 2026 planting season.

This will help farmers produce enough fresh vegetables for more than 100,000 people and improve access to nutritious food for vulnerable communities.

Meanwhile, our humanitarian partners providing education services continued to distribute learning and teaching supplies to students and teachers during the first week of this month. More than 5,440 educational kits, which include copybooks, markers and pencils, will help about 217,600 girls and boys during summer learning activities, which started on Saturday.

Turning to the West Bank, a high-level delegation was led by our OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) colleagues to Deir Nidham village in the Ramallah governorate yesterday. Here, participants met with Palestinian families affected by Israeli settler violence and the expansion of settlement outposts.

The delegation heard directly from affected communities about the protection risks that families face, as well as the humanitarian consequences for their daily lives and livelihoods.

Settler attacks have become a leading cause of Palestinian injuries in the West Bank, accounting for about 55 per cent of all injuries in 2026.

We reiterate again that Palestinians in the West Bank must be protected as required by international humanitarian law. 

**West Bank

And some of you had asked me about the latest decision by the Israeli Government regarding the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and I can tell you that the Secretary-General is deeply alarmed that the Israeli authorities have granted the status of a city to Givat Ze'ev, an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, that is just north-west of Jerusalem. This administrative designation does not alter the city's legal status under international law as part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The Secretary-General reiterates that all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and all related infrastructure, have no legal validity and are in flagrant violation of international law and all relevant UN resolutions. He recalls in this regard the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of 19 July 2024.

Israeli settlements remain a significant obstacle to achieving the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace. The Secretary-General continues to call on Israel to cease all settlement expansion and related measures, in line with relevant Security Council resolutions.

**MH17

Now turning to Europe: Tomorrow, 17 July, will be the twelfth anniversary of the tragic downing of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Eastern Ukraine; as you will recall, the shooting took the lives of 298 souls. On this occasion, the Secretary-General stands in full solidarity with the families of the victims and in honour of their memory.

Pursuant to Security Council resolution 2166, the Secretary-General urges all Member States to extend their full cooperation to ensure that those responsible are held to account, following the important work of the independent Joint Investigation Team.

**Ukraine

And from Ukraine, today, our humanitarian colleagues on the ground tell us that overnight attacks have killed civilians, injured scores of people and damaged homes, hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure. The regions of Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia were among the hardest hit in this wave.

Meanwhile, OCHA warns that the growing use of drones and continued attacks on humanitarian workers and supplies, premises and equipment are making it increasingly difficult to reach people most in need. OCHA's latest assessment shows that nearly half of Ukraine's front-line and border communities now face high or extreme humanitarian access constraints.

In the 521 conflict-affected municipalities assessed in front-line and border oblasts, 251 were classified as having high or extremely high access difficulties, that's up from 242 areas in October of last year.

**Myanmar

And turning to Asia, I can tell you that the Secretary-General joins our colleagues at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in expressing their deep concern and sadness about reports that two boats carrying more than 500 human beings may have capsized off the coast of Myanmar in recent days.

According to preliminary information, the vessels departed from Myanmar's Rakhine State in late June carrying mostly Rohingya passengers. This includes some who reportedly travelled from refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, in Bangladesh.

One boat lost contact shortly after departure. A second boat is believed to have sunk off Myanmar's coast on 8 July.

If actually verified, this tragedy would add to the nearly 300 people reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal so far just this year.

These reports underscore the devastating impact of prolonged conflict and displacement, as well as the lack of sustainable solutions for Rohingya communities. Escalating conflict and a worsening humanitarian situation in Myanmar, along with limited assistance and opportunities in refugee camps in Bangladesh, are driving increasing numbers of people to attempt dangerous sea journeys just in search of safety.

We continue to call for sustained international support for Rohingya refugees and the communities hosting them, greater efforts to address the drivers of displacement, and additional regional and international efforts to prevent further loss of life along one of the world's deadliest maritime routes.

**Pakistan

Staying in Asia, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, continues his visit to Pakistan.

Today, Mr. Fletcher traveled to the region of Gilgit-Baltistan, where he met communities taking part in a disaster preparedness simulation exercise and he saw a community-based flood mitigation wall designed to protect villages from natural disasters.

He also visited the Passu White Glacier viewpoint, he met with UN staff and our humanitarian partners, saw an early warning system, and also was briefed on the 2010 massive landslide that submerged villages and displaced thousands of people at Attabad Lake.

Mr. Fletcher said that, for Pakistan, climate shocks, such as melting glaciers, flash floods, heatwaves and drought, are not distant warnings. They are arriving faster, hitting harder and affecting the most vulnerable.

He underscored the need for greater investment support for Pakistan's efforts to adapt, prepare and protect the people least responsible for the climate crisis.

Yesterday, in Islamabad, he met with Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, and they discussed diplomacy in the Middle East, humanitarian convoys travelling between Pakistan and Afghanistan, UN reform and of course global disaster preparedness. He also visited the National Disaster Management Authority, where he stressed the need to bolster preparedness for future climate shocks.

**Rwanda

Staying with Tom Fletcher, he has allocated $2 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to strengthen Ebola readiness in Rwanda.

Although there have been no reported cases of Ebola in Rwanda, there is a high risk of cross-border spread due to the movement of people across the border from the DRC, where the outbreak was, as you know, declared in mid-May, and I will have an update on that for you in just a second. The risk is worsened by displacement and pressure on health systems.

The funding from CERF will support action to prevent the introduction and spread of Ebola in Rwanda. It will help strengthen early detection and rapid response, improve case management and infection prevention, and expand community engagement and national preparedness across 13 high-risk districts in Rwanda, and we expect it to reach 161,000 people.

The allocation is part of Mr. Fletcher's broader commitment of up to $60 million to accelerate Ebola response efforts in the DRC and to help preparedness in neighbouring countries at risk.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo

Speaking of Ebola, a quick update from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; our humanitarian colleagues tell us they are deeply concerned by escalating violence impacting the Ebola response in the east of that country.

Yesterday, an incident reportedly involving armed men occurred near an Ebola treatment centre in Nyankunde in Ituri Province. No patients or health workers were injured, and care resumed this morning for four critically ill Ebola patients. The worsening security situation has forced several humanitarian partners involved in the Ebola response to temporarily relocate staff to the provincial capital Bunia, which is relatively safer. Access to the treatment centre and surrounding communities remains constrained.

For their part, our peacekeeping colleagues in the DRC, colleagues from MONUSCO, tell us they have deployed a long-range patrol to Marabo in the vicinity of Nyankunde to deter further attacks and stabilize the situation.

They remain committed to protecting civilians in all contexts and continue to support Ebola response efforts in any way they can.

As of this Tuesday [14 July], health authorities in the country have reported 2,073 confirmed Ebola cases across five provinces. Ituri remains the epicentre of this outbreak.

We and our partners are scaling up the Ebola response while continuing to help millions of people impacted by the myriad of crises that we keep talking about in the DRC.

To address rising needs, the humanitarian community today released a revised Humanitarian Response Plan for the remainder of the year, increasing funding requirements from $1.4 billion to $2.3 billion, including $313 million dedicated to the Ebola response alone. Overall, the revised plan aims to assist 10.8 million people by the end of the year.

OCHA calls on all parties to protect health workers and health facilities and to ensure safe and sustained access across affected communities. A secure operating environment, strong community acceptance and increased international support are essential to containing the Ebola outbreak and delivering life-saving assistance.

**Haiti

And closer to these shores, in Haiti, I wanted to flag a horrific report from our human rights colleagues. They tell us that between 4 and 9 July, the Village de Dieu gang carried out a series of attacks in Kenscoff and Pétion-Ville, in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, killing at least 61 residents, including 14 children.

Residents were killed while attempting to flee, inside their homes, or after encountering gang members on roads and footpaths. The violence was concentrated in the community of Robin, where the majority of casualties were recorded.

At least 5,840 people were displaced, while homes and telecommunications infrastructure were just outright destroyed. Although the last documented attack took place on 9 July, the situation remains tense, with gang members continuing to maintain a presence in Kenscoff.

**Senior Personnel Appointment

 And lastly, I just want to read into the record that yesterday, the Secretary-General appointed Rabab Fatima of Bangladesh as his Special Representative for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). She will succeed Roza Otunbayeva of Kyrgyzstan, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her dedicated service.

As you know, Ms. Fatima is currently the Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.

And before that, she was the Permanent Representative and Ambassador of Bangladesh to these United Nations.

Khalas from me, happy to entertain questions from you, though. Gabriel?

**Questions and Answers

Question: Thanks, Steph. As you know, there are lots of islands in the Strait of Hormuz controlled by Iran. My question is, the Secretary-General is very clear about freedom of navigation. If one of the parties to the conflict decides to militarily take control of one of those islands, under the pretense that that would lead to freedom of navigation, what would be the Secretary-General's overall view of that situation?

Spokesman: As you know, Gabriel, I'm not going to dive in with you into the Strait of Hormuz, into hypotheticals, right? There are a couple of unbendable principles here. One is to respect the territorial integrity of all Member States, and the other one is freedom of navigation. And they're not incompatible, right? We've had decades of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. There have been moments when that was a little challenging. We all know that. But there is no reason why all the parties involved here cannot get back to a situation where international cargoes, commercial ships laden with much-needed energy supplies, food supplies, humanitarian supplies, cannot go in and out of the Strait of Hormuz un-harassed. Okay? Namo. All right. I'm not begging here, but…

Question: Sorry, I don't know if I heard you make a statement about the declaration that was passed today at the UN General Assembly on affordable housing and sustainable cities. Almost every country voted for it, except for the United States and Israel. Does he welcome this declaration, and does he have any concerns about it?

Spokesman: Well, I mean, the Secretary-General, I think, stands for - definitely backs the idea that we all need to have sustainable cities and affordable housing. He's not going to start to comment on the voting sheet of the resolution. Abdelhamid?

Question: Thank you, Steph, and I commend the statement of the SG on Givat Ze'ev declaring it a city. It's the fourth declared city now by Israel, by these settlements. But what's missing, I think, is the point that Israel dedicated now 8.5 billion shekels to develop settlements. So, what does…

Spokesman: Abdelhamid, I think we have been unwavering, we've been consistent in calling out the expansion of the settlement architecture, which involves brick and mortars, which involves building of roads for settlers only, or as we just had today, the administrative designation of a settlement into a city.

Question: Another question regarding two prominent Palestinians in Israeli jails, Dr. Hossam Abu Safiyeh, who had been visited by Medicins Sans Frontieres, and they're appealing to the world to try to let him out of his jail after he was beaten by one of his prisoners. The same thing with Marwan Barghouti, the most prominent Palestinian leader, who's in jail. Also, he was shot by a rubber bullet in his leg, and he was also bleeding, and his wife declared that three days ago. So, do you have any comment on that?

Spokesman: We've seen these very troubling reports. I think it's very important that the organization that has the legal authority to visit these detention centres, and that is the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross), be allowed to do so. Okay, I will leave you with our guest. If we could put our guest from, if we could put Lia and Lucas on the screen, that would be great. Thank you.