Israel, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lebanon & other topics - Daily Press Briefing ( 3 June 2024)

Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:
- Trip Announcement
- Israel
- Occupied Palestinian Territory
- Lebanon
- Children and Armed Conflict
- Ukraine
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Pakistan
- New Resident Coordinators
- World Bicycle Day
- Briefing Today and Tomorrow

TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT
Secretary-General, António Guterres, will be traveling to Washington D.C. today.
Tonight, the Secretary-General will attend the annual Kuwait-America Foundation Gala Dinner for the UN Refugee Agency -UNHCR.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, will also attend the event.
On Tuesday, the Secretary-General will meet with the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to discuss several issues of mutual interest.

ISRAEL
Earlier this morning, the Secretary-General met with representatives of the Hostages and Missing Persons Forum from Israel.
The Secretary-General listened to the testimonies of the families.
He expressed his solidarity with the families and reiterated his call for the immediate and unconditional release of all the hostages.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
On Gaza, the World Health Organization says the last functional hospital in Rafah – Al-Helal Al-Emirati – is now out of service, as of 30 May.
This means there are almost no health services available in Rafah city.
Only one field hospital there remains partially functional, but it is currently inaccessible due to hostilities in the vicinity and can only provide basic services to patients inside.
WHO says that hospitals in Rafah urgently need to be restored. However, without safe access, a sustained flow of supplies into and across Gaza, and reliable conditions for delivering those supplies to the facilities that need them, the agency’s ability to effectively support the health system in Gaza is severely challenged.
The UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, says that all 36 of its shelters in Rafah are now empty – with some 1.7 million people estimated to be displaced in Khan Younis and the Middle Area. In Khan Younis, thousands of families are sheltering in damaged and destroyed facilities.
As others continue to seek safety in Deir al-Balah, UNRWA warns that space for displaced families is running out. People there are sheltering on extremely overcrowded land, with limited supplies and critical services.

LEBANON
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert has arrived in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, in her new capacity as the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon.
She has already met with the caretaker Foreign Minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, to mark the beginning of her first round of consultations with Lebanese officials.
In a statement, Ms. Hennis-Plasschaert said she touched upon some of the key issues and priorities that she will be following closely.
Topics discussed include Lebanon’s protracted political deadlock. She added that while Lebanon faces challenges on many levels, developments across the Blue Line are of particular concern.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/ossg/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=03+June+2024