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 Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

**Guests Today and Tomorrow

In a short while, I will be joined in-person by Anacláudia Rossbach, who, as you know, is the Executive Director of UN-Habitat. And she will also be joined by Ambassador Erastus Ekitela Lokaale, Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations, and they will also be joined by Shirley Pryce, who is a member of the UN-Habitat Advisory Group on Gender Issues and also a member of the Jamaica Household Workers Union, among other organizations.

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

Tomorrow, I will be joined virtually from Haiti by Youri Saadallah, the Global Emergency Director of the Norwegian Refugee Council, and Maria Moita, the Director of Department of Humanitarian Response and Recovery from IOM (International Organization for Migration).

They are part of a group of Emergency Directors who are on a mission to Haiti, and this group includes UN agencies representatives and representatives from large NGOs (non-governmental organizations).

**Commemoration of Genocide in Srebrenica

This morning in the General Assembly, Courtenay Rattray, the Secretary-General's Chef de Cabinet, delivered an address on behalf of the Secretary-General at the observance of the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica.

The day, as you know, honours the over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys, many who had sought refuge in a UN compound, who were killed during the genocide in 1995, as well as the thousands of women, children and older persons who were forcibly displaced.

The Secretary-General called on Member States to pursue accountability for the atrocities in Srebrenica and to take action against genocide and its warning signs, including the rise in hate speech that is fuelling discrimination, division and extremism globally.

And as a reminder, the International Day itself is marked on 11 July, which is Saturday. Our UN team in Bosnia and Herzegovina will participate in those events.

**UN80 Initiative

This afternoon, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks at a civil society special event on the UN80 initiative.

In his remarks, he is expected to tell participants that UN80 is vital to our ability to succeed in an age of profound instability. The challenges we face are complex, but they point to a simple truth, and that is that the United Nations can only deliver on its promise if we dare to evolve.

The Secretary-General will also highlight that UN80 will only succeed if it strengthens our ability to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals, implement the Pact for the Future and work in partnership with civil society.

That event will be broadcast live as of 3 p.m., and I think we have shared those remarks with you.

**Operational Support

I also want to flag some travel by the Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support, Atul Khare. He will be heading to Tokyo from 13 to 17 July, then Seoul from 20 to 21 July, and Beijing from 22 to 24 July. During the visit, he will meet with senior Government officials to discuss operational support priorities for United Nations field missions, including capacity-building for troop- and police-contributing countries through the Triangular Partnership Programme, support for uniformed peacekeepers, mission transitions and UN80-related reforms and initiatives.

**Lebanon/Israel

A quick update from our peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) peacekeepers continue to observe air violations, with over 41 violations detected yesterday.

Peacekeepers observed two Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reconnaissance quadcopters and one armed quadcopter operating on the coastal road near Al Bayada, and later observed three strikes around 700 metres from the UN position in that very area. Peacekeepers also observed an airstrike near Kunin in Sector West, which resulted in a secondary explosion, as well as an airstrike outside of the area of operations in Nabatieh.

Peacekeepers continue to face restrictions on their freedom of movement around the mission's area of operations.

Yesterday, UNIFIL peacekeepers were temporarily stopped by IDF soldiers on the coastal road near Al Bayada. Soon after, the Israel Defense Forces deployed a mobile barrier to halt a subsequent convoy, which in the end was allowed to proceed.

Also yesterday, peacekeepers reported 11 firing incidents from IDF positions south of the Blue Line, with one impacting near Shebaa and the rest impacting outside the mission's area of operations. Peacekeepers observed armoured movements and tank fire in Sector East.

On the humanitarian front, displaced families in Lebanon continue to return across the conflict-affected regions. As of this week, more than 33,000 people remain in 325 collective shelters across the country.

Local authorities and humanitarian partners report limited access to basic services in Nabatieh, where many communities face shortages of water, shortages of electricity and shortages of fuel.

Humanitarian partners, supported by the Humanitarian Notification System, continue to assist people in the conflict-affected areas, also hard-to-reach areas. Between 2 March and 9 July, over 370 humanitarian movements were facilitated in southern Lebanon, with over 770 trucks delivering assistance to impacted areas.

Funding, as you can imagine, remains a major concern. The revised flash appeal seeks $640 million to support 1.4 million people through August 2026. To date, our appeal is only 42.2 per cent funded.

We reiterate that all returns must be safe, they must be voluntary and of course dignified and they must have access to the humanitarian assistance that they need.

**Occupied Palestinian Territory

Turning to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and Gaza more specifically. The Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, together with our Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator, Suzanna Tkalec, led a virtual diplomatic field visit to one of the displacement sites in Al Mawasi, in Khan Younis.

The visit was attended remotely, through a video link, by members of a dozen diplomatic missions who observed the living conditions and relief efforts at the site, interacting with displaced children and adults, as well as aid workers. You will recall that, just like journalists, diplomatic missions have had difficulty getting into Gaza since October 2023.

At a distribution point within the site, diplomats joining the virtual visit saw how community members - including children - collected water carried by truck. This project is operated by a local partner and funded by the OPT Humanitarian Fund. Displaced people told the diplomats that they need sustainable water services, especially during the hot summer days, and cash-for-work opportunities to feed their families.

Participants in the virtual visit were also led through hundreds of tents crammed along the shoreline.

Dr. Alakbarov thanked the participants for their financial support for relief efforts, indicating that more is needed to sustain and to scale up operations, including funding and political action to unblock persistent impediments.

Earlier today, in Deir al Balah, Dr. Alakbarov met with heads of humanitarian agencies to discuss relief efforts and challenges. In the afternoon, he also visited the Emirati Hospital in Rafah.

**Sudan

I want to turn now to Sudan, where we remain deeply concerned by ongoing drone attacks and disease outbreaks in the Kordofan region.

In North Kordofan, we are continuing to get reports of drone strikes, including one that targeted a water truck in Hamrat Al-Sheikh, leaving civilian casualties and further disrupting access to essential water supplies.

The disruption of these essential services comes as cholera continues to spread across Kordofan.

On Wednesday, humanitarian partners reported a suspected case in El Obeid, where continued drone attacks have led to severe water shortages. Currently, the water supply can meet only 20 per cent of the city's needs.

We and our partners continue to respond to the cholera outbreak. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that cholera response supplies have been prepositioned in El Obeid.

For the broader humanitarian response, OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) has already allocated more than $4 million through the Sudan Humanitarian Fund to our partners to provide critical relief to communities in El Obeid. This will support food security, nutrition, healthcare, water and sanitation, and many other services.

And in South Kordofan, UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) reported yesterday that health supplies have been delivered to the city of Abu Jubaiha to support both emergency and routine health services for some 240,000 human beings across the area.

We thank donors for their continued support of the humanitarian response in Sudan and reiterate our appeal for increased, timely and flexible funding. The 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan is less than one-third funded, having received $930 million to date out of the nearly $2.9 billion needed.

**Sudan/Personal Envoy

Just a quick update on Pekka Haavisto, the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Sudan. He concluded his visit to Chad, where he met with the Prime Minister, [Allah-Maye], along with several other Cabinet members, including the Ministers of Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs, and the Mediator of the Republic.

Discussions highlighted the increasing security challenges linked to the conflict, and reaffirmed Chad's readiness to continue playing a constructive role in supporting efforts towards a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Mr. Haavisto also heard directly from Sudanese refugee women and other refugees during a visit to Adre, which is on the border with Sudan. He also met humanitarian colleagues there.

He expressed his appreciation for Chad's continued support for Sudanese refugees and appealed for the authorities to facilitate, as they did last year, the organization of Sudanese national examinations for students who are stuck in refugee camps.

**Ebola

A quick update on Ebola for you. Our Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, has just released a statement in which he said we need to move faster to break the back of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee has activated a system-wide scale-up to control the disease in the DRC.

As you know, we have also deployed a Senior Ebola Coordinator to strengthen the leadership, and that is Julien Harneis.

Tom Fletcher has also released up to $60 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to accelerate the response in the DRC and help preparedness in neighbouring countries, notably Uganda, South Sudan and Burundi.

But we need to act with urgency and parties need to facilitate humanitarian access wherever it is needed.

Borders and supply routes must remain open and donors must ensure that pledged funding reaches responders quickly and flexibly.

Now is the time to invest in preparedness, Tom said. The best defence against Ebola remains strong surveillance, laboratory testing, referral systems, infection prevention and control, and community engagement.

Above all, trust saves lives. Communities must remain at the centre of this response. Local leadership, accountability to people, protection against sexual exploitation and abuse, and a response that is both tailored to both women and men must be integral to every part of the operation.

Any delay, he said, will be measured in Ebola deaths and in lives lost to the wider humanitarian outbreak.

**Uganda

Also on Ebola, I wanted to flag a little bit of good news, and that is from Uganda, where no new Ebola cases have been reported in the last 17 days.

As we have mentioned, the response to the Ebola outbreak has been led by the national authorities in Uganda, with technical leadership from the World Health Organization (WHO) and support from the UN country team.

Emphasis has been placed on strengthened contact tracing, expanded lab capacity, supported treatment and infection control, enhanced risk communication and community engagement, and reinforced screening at borders.

To sustain these gains, our UN team and partners are supporting the authorities in maintaining and updating the national response plan for the next six months to ensure Uganda remains ready to detect and respond rapidly to any resurgence.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo

I also want to flag that Volker Türk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued a statement on the DRC, in which he deplored the impact on civilians of recent clashes in the eastern part of the country, calling for concerted national and international efforts to de-escalate tensions. That statement is online.

**Venezuela

In Venezuela, Tom Fletcher [Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator] continues his visit. He has visited a number of impacted communities.

Throughout his engagements with Government, civilians and UN teams, he has emphasized the importance of maintaining a coordinated and adequately resourced response to address immediate humanitarian needs while laying the foundations for early recovery.

Today in Caracas, he met with members of the humanitarian country team and other partners.

And as we have mentioned yesterday, Mr. Fletcher is calling for an additional $298 million to address critical needs over the next six months.

We and our partners are implementing an integrated response including health, shelter, protection, food assistance, and water, sanitation and hygiene.

For example, in La Guaira, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is providing site management support and distributing kitchen sets and other essential items.

Meanwhile, UNICEF has maintained access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene services for over 1,200 families by distributing hygiene kits, operating dozens of toilets and handwashing stations, and trucking a lot of water.

**Security Council

This morning, I just want to flag that Rosemary DiCarlo, the Head of the Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Department, briefed the Security Council on Ukraine, noting that in the past week alone, three massive waves of Russian aerial strikes targeted Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. She said that, also, Ukraine has continued drone attacks on oil, industrial and military infrastructure in Russia. She said that any attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, wherever they occur, are a clear violation of international humanitarian law.

**Haiti

You have been very patient. One last note, on Haiti. Our humanitarian colleagues are alarmed by the impact of armed clashes on people in the West Department, with more than 3,000 people newly displaced in the communes of Ganthier and Kenscoff.

According to IOM, armed clashes displaced 1,300 people on 1 July [in Ganthier]. All displaced families are sheltering with host communities, placing additional strain on already vulnerable households.

And in Kenscoff, approximately 2,000 people were displaced following armed clashes during the night of 4-5 July.

We are to assess the situation on the ground and you will hear more about Haiti from our colleagues tomorrow.

I've spoken enough. Up to you to speak up. Gabriel?

**Questions and Answers

Question: Thanks, Steph. I know you guys put out a statement yesterday about the escalating situation in the Gulf. And in the statement yesterday, the SG called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint - or your statement on the SG's behalf - and avoid any further escalatory action. Since that statement was released, there has been more escalatory action. As you know, Iran has launched attacks against Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, among others. What is the Secretary-General's reaction, specifically to the events in the last few hours?

Spokesman: Look, this tit-for-tat needs to stop, right? A return to diplomacy is urgently needed for the sake of stability in the region, for the sake of global stability. I mean, we keep talking about the impact that this conflict is having on the global economy. And I think all of the parties involved need to understand that the best way to end this conflict is a return to the negotiating table.

Question: And clearly, the MOU (memorandum of understanding) is not sticking, it's not holding. From the Secretary-General's standpoint, where does he see the UN's role, perhaps, in the coming days and weeks, given where we've been and given where we're at now?

Spokesman: Well, the Secretary-General has always said that he stands ready to assist in any way that we can. His Personal Envoy on this crisis, Jean Arnault, I think, continues to stay in touch with relevant parties. We have also the International Maritime Organization, which plays a critical role on the maritime issues in the Strait. Yes, Islam?

Question: Thank you, Stéphane. There is a new report that coordinated pro-Israel organizations are working to pressure on Germany to cut the aid to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency). As Germany became top donor after the [United States] cut the aid, does this worry the Secretary-General?

Spokesman: We care passionately about the need for Member States to support UNRWA just a few days ago at the pledging conference here. We very much appreciate Germany's support. And I have to tell you that the UNRWA leadership, now under the leadership of Christian Saunders, has been extremely transparent with donors, ready to answer any questions, any concerns they may have. And we will continue to interact with donors in that very transparent way.

Question: And do you see this pressure sort of contradiction with the UN Security Council resolution regarding the Board of Peace, which mandates UN humanitarian aid in Gaza?

Spokesman: You're correct, Islam, in pointing out that the Security Council resolution mandates the UN to deliver humanitarian goods. And I think everyone should be supporting our work in that regard. Okay, I will get our guests. And thank you for being patient. Don't go away.

Question: Steph, I wanna ask a question.

Spokesman: Go ahead, Benny. Benny, I wore my seersucker in your honor. Go ahead.

Question: Thank you very much. So yesterday, the Israeli Ambassador at the Security Council accused Pramila Patten of being influenced by the Secretary-General and asked for her to release all communication with the Secretary-General. A, what's your response to the allegation? B, will you release any documentation?

Spokesman: No, we won't. The report is not Pramila Patten's report. The report is the Secretary-General's report. It's his name that's on it. He stands by it. He very much appreciates the work that Ms. Patten and her office does in preparing the report on his behalf.

Question: So does that mean that she had no role in it?

Spokesman: Of course, Benny. Benny, her title is Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. This is her job. The Secretary-General fully supports her in her effort to prepare the Secretary-General's report.

Question: Thank you very much.

Spokesman: Thank you. All right, don't go away now.