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

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's briefing by Daniela Gross, Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

**Briefing Tomorrow

Hello, good afternoon, everyone. Tomorrow, our guest will be UN-Women's Special Representative in Afghanistan, Susan Ferguson, who will join us virtually to brief on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan, five years after the Taliban takeover.

**Afghanistan

And also on Afghanistan, we have a statement from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Five years after the Taliban took power, the Mission notes that Afghanistan has experienced a period of improved security, while calling on the de facto authorities to take significant steps that could contribute to lasting stability for the Afghan people. The Mission has pointed out that a reduction in conflict has brought tangible benefits for many Afghans and created opportunities to focus on recovery, development and regional economic cooperation.

At the same time, the Mission noted that significant challenges, particularly the increasingly damaging restrictions on women and girls and ongoing terrorism concerns, continue to impede Afghanistan's path towards post-conflict recovery and progress towards the internationally affirmed goal of an Afghanistan at peace with itself and its neighbours, fully reintegrated into the international community and meeting its international obligations.

UNAMA calls on the international community to sustain principled and pragmatic engagement that supports the aspirations of the Afghan people and advances a comprehensive approach to Afghanistan's long-term recovery and reintegration. The full statement is available online.

**Colombia

Turning to Colombia, Tom Fletcher, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, has allocated $5 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to support the humanitarian response in the country following the devastating earthquake. He thanks donors whose solidarity has made this possible.

And from Colombia, we, along with our partners, continue to coordinate very closely with the national authorities to scale up our efforts. Our colleagues at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) tell us that we are deploying teams to assess needs in most impacted areas, in coordination with local authorities. An inter-agency mission is taking place today in San José del Palmar, one of the most affected areas in the department of Chocó. Our partners have also started distributing hygiene items and food in shelters, as well as deploying technical and medical support.

**Yemen/Security Council

This morning here at the Security Council, the Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg briefed Council members on the situation in Yemen. He stressed that attacks and threats against shipping must stop, freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden must be upheld and cross-border attacks must end. On the humanitarian front, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, warned that more than half the population is facing acute food insecurity. With the humanitarian appeal only 20 per cent funded, he said that the consequences are stark: rations are cut, clinics close and protection services disappear.

Both officials called for the immediate release of the 73 UN colleagues still arbitrarily detained by the Houthis, as well as non-governmental organization (NGO), civil society and diplomatic personnel and former staff who remain detained.

And just to flag, that at 1:30 p.m. Ms. Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni human rights defender and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, will speak to reporters at the Security Council stakeout.

**Occupied Palestinian Territory

And now turning to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, OCHA warns that reported air strikes on populated areas in Gaza risk increasing harm to civilians. At least three air strikes have been reported since yesterday, including one near Al Amal hospital in Khan Younis earlier today.

Meanwhile, humanitarian operations continue: In the first nine days of August, our humanitarian partners provided monthly food assistance to nearly 60,000 households. Each of them received three parcels and one 25-kilogramme flour bag - enough to cover more than 100 per cent of people's minimum caloric needs.

This is on top of nearly [700,000] meals that roughly 100 kitchens are preparing every day, with the support of our partners. These meals are being served in more than 1,000 locations across the Strip. In addition, over two dozen subsidized bakeries produce roughly 100,000 two-kilogram bread bundles every day for people in need.

Our partners working to support people's shelter needs reported that last week, they provided more than 3,300 households with emergency shelters and other items, including through vouchers. The provisions included nearly 500 new tents, a similar number of tarpaulins, thousands of bedding items, and thousands of solar lanterns to keep people safer at night. Still, more funding is needed, as well as approvals to bring in longer-lasting shelter items.

Meanwhile, our partners working to address the threat of explosive hazards in Gaza say they recently referred a 13-year-old child for follow-up support after he was injured by explosive ordnance last Tuesday in North Gaza. To prevent such incidents, mine action partners are regularly assessing explosive hazards. Last week, they carried out 18 such assessments to pave the way for rubble removal, the setting up of new shelters, and the resumption of farming.

While our partners still lack the permissions and equipment to remove explosive ordnance safely, they are also helping protect people by marking hazards and by educating civilians on how to beware of explosive items. More than 15,000 people participated in awareness-raising sessions related to explosive ordnance last week alone.

In the West Bank, our humanitarian partners say that violence linked to settler activity and operations carried out by Israeli forces continue, with further reports of Palestinians being displaced from their homes. To respond to people's needs, our partners working to support the health sector are operating a network of 870 service points, including 230 mobile clinics designed to help communities that are underserved, including where the building of clinics and other structures is effectively banned. They warn that checkpoints, road closures and operations by Israeli forces continue to delay or prevent the movement of ambulances, mobile health teams, patients and health workers.

**UNIFIL

Moving to Lebanon, this week, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers continued to observe violations of Lebanese airspace. Between Monday and Wednesday, they detected 100 airspace violations by drones and fighter aircraft. They also observed four airstrikes in the vicinity of Al Mansuri, in Sector West. During the same period, UNIFIL recorded 427 trajectories - all of them attributed to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). UNIFIL did not detect any projectile launches by Hizbullah.

Yesterday, UNIFIL peacekeepers discovered four improvised explosive devices at a road near Brashit in Sector West. A specialized team from the Lebanese Armed Forces subsequently neutralized all the devices. On Monday, peacekeepers discovered two anti-tank mines and one 120-milimetre unexploded ordnance north-east of Shaqra, in Sector East. These were neutralized through a controlled detonation.

And this week, UNIFIL peacekeepers continued to observe extensive IDF ground activities throughout the mission's area of operations, including large-scale armored deployments, engineering works, logistical movements, tactical patrols and force concentrations across both Sectors.

Yesterday, in Sector East, UNIFIL observed two IDF tanks firing from [inaudible] towards Raabatt Talateen and small-arms rounds fired near Meiss ej Jebel and Chebaa. In Sector West, peacekeepers observed 12.7-milimetre test-firing from a Merkava tank near Alma ash Sha'b and 25-milimetre cannon fire directed toward Al Naqoura. Our peacekeepers also encountered several impediments and restrictions to their freedom of movement across the area of operations and incidents of aggressive behavior.

On the humanitarian front, between Monday and Wednesday, UNIFIL, in coordination with OCHA, facilitated 13 humanitarian missions in Sector West. And on training, last week, UNIFIL naval peacekeepers from its Maritime Task Force conducted a four-day "Survival at Sea" course with the Lebanese Navy, near the coast of Jounieh. Participants, including newly recruited Lebanese Navy personnel, received instructions in various fields regarding emergencies at sea.

**Syria

And from Syria, our High Commissioner for Refugees, Barham Salih, today concluded a week-long visit to Syria. In Damascus, he met with President Ahmad al-Sharaa and the Foreign Minister, As'ad al-Shaibani, as well as other officials. During his meetings, he stressed that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is working closely with Syrian authorities, UN agencies and development partners to address immediate humanitarian needs and create conditions for sustainable return of refugees.

Mr. Salih called on the international community to scale up support to Syrians, saying the country stands at a critical juncture as growing numbers of refugees and internally displaced people return after years of conflict. While in Syria, the High Commissioner also visited Idlib and Aleppo, where he met with displaced families, returnees and local communities.

Nearly 4 million Syrian refugees remain in Türkiye, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, while approximately 5.5 million people are still displaced inside Syria. Any returns, the High Commissioner stressed, must be safe, voluntary and dignified.

**Ukraine

And I have one last note on Ukraine, I want to flag that the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission today said that more civilians were killed or injured in the country in July than in any month since March 2022, marking a new high in this year's escalation of civilian harm. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission verified that at least 437 civilians were killed and 2,610 injured in Ukraine in July, a 30 per cent increase compared with the previous month and a 70 per cent increase compared with July 2025. The actual figure is likely higher, as the Monitoring Mission continues to verify information. You can find more information on this online.

**Questions and Answers

Question: Thank you very much. Is there any update on the two UNAMA staffers who were detained in Herat over the weekend by Taliban forces?

Associate Spokesperson: We don't have any update on that, but we will double check with our colleagues at UNAMA.

Question: And secondly, on air strikes in Gaza in the recent days, I believe you said that a [hospital] was hit today. Were there any casualties?

Associate Spokesperson: We were not informed by my colleagues on casualties, but I will also double check this information. But, I believe that the answer is no.

Question: I mean, one would assume that there were quite a few people in the [hospital]?

Associate Spokesperson: Yes, we are going to double check on this for you, Edie.

Correspondent: Thank you.

Associate Spokesperson: You're welcome.

Question: Thank you, Daniela. On Afghanistan, as well. As you mentioned, [15 August] will be the fifth-year anniversary since the Taliban took over Kabul. We have had several extensive briefings here with emphasis on what the international community is calling for, whether it has to do with women and girls, security, not turning the country into safe haven for terrorism and all, but we haven't seen any progress on the ground. In fact, some people seem to believe that there has been a regression in the way Taliban is dealing with the world. And I wonder how does the Secretary General feel about that on this anniversary? Thank you.

Associate Spokesperson: You know, as UNAMA said, actually, there were some sectors that there was some progress, but we're still seeing the same issues related to, for example, women and girls, like we have recently UN guests here briefing from OCHA, speaking on the humanitarian situation. Yesterday, we saw that our very strong report from UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization] and also from UN-Women speaking how, for example, 50 per cent of the women barely leave their homes because of the policies in place. But, as the Mission has said, we need to still work, that our mission, our colleagues in Afghanistan from the UN mission or UN agencies or from the UN system in general will still continue to work on Afghanistan to bring process… progress and will continue to do so. Please, go ahead.

Question: Thank you, Daniella. On the Strait of Hormuz, both the US and Iran claim that they control the Strait. Is the UN in a position that can confirm which country controls the Strait?

Associate Spokesperson: I think our colleagues are from IMO [International Maritime Organization] to have more information on that. We have seen the reports today on that from our part. I wouldn't be able to confirm this for you here, but from our part, what we continue to call is for the parties to sit around the table negotiate and come and resolve the outstanding issues through diplomacy. Diplomacy is the only way to resolve these issues. And what we want in the Strait of Hormuz, as you know, is for the Strait of Hormuz to be back on freedom of navigation. Thanks. Please.

Question: Thank you. So today, President Vladimir Putin has visited Japan's Northern Territory, occupied Northern Territory. Does United Nations have any comment on this visit?

Associate Spokesperson: What I can say, tell you is that this is a bilateral issue between Member States, but we encourage all concerned to exercise restraint, to act responsibly and to avoid any actions that may escalate tensions further. Thanks. Do we have any further questions in the room? Okay, so thank you very much for today. Have a good, great afternoon, everyone. Thank you.