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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,

DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

THURSDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2025

SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRAVEL 

The Secretary-General is on his way to Hanoi, Vietnam, where he will participate in a high-level event marking the opening for signature of the UN Convention against Cybercrime. The Convention was adopted by the General Assembly in December of last year; this landmark treaty is the first comprehensive global framework to address cybercrime. 

While in Vietnam, the Secretary-General will also hold bilateral meetings with senior Vietnamese officials. 

Before he headed to Hanoi, the Secretary-General met with the group of Francophone Ambassadors accredited to Geneva. He gave them an overview of the UN80 process and discussed a variety of other global issues.  

And for tomorrow, which is UN Day, the Secretary-General will participate via video link in a Security Council session to commemorate the United Nations’ 80th anniversary. 

SECURITY COUNCIL 

Ramiz Alakbarov, the Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, briefed the Security Council on Israel and Palestine this morning and he said that the ceasefire agreement represents hope for a better future, but the dynamics are extremely fragile.  

He told Council members that a return to conflict must be avoided at all costs. The remaining deceased hostages must be released without any further delay. Humanitarian assistance must enter the Gaza Strip at scale to meet the enormous needs of the population wherever they are. All parties must abide by their commitments under the deal and agreements should be reached to implement the next phase. 

Mr. Alakbarov said that, as tracked by the UN 2720 Mechanism for Gaza, humanitarian partners have scaled up aid delivery, with a 46 per cent increase in aid tracked by the UN entering the Strip in the first week of the ceasefire. But he added that much more still needs to be done, and he pointed to the need for more crossings and functional relief corridors, safe passage for aid workers and civilians, unrestricted entry of goods, sustained entry of fuel, and operational space for the UN and NGOs, including renewal of NGO registration.  

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE 

In a statement issued last night, the Secretary-General welcomed the Advisory Opinion issued by the International Court of Justice, which reaffirmed several fundamental obligations of Israel under international law. 

The Secretary-General strongly urges Israel to comply with its obligations in relation to the presence and activities of the United Nations and other humanitarian actors in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in accordance withthe Advisory Opinion. The Secretary-General continues to emphasize that all parties must comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, at all times. 

The Secretary-General will promptly transmit the Advisory Opinion to the General Assembly, which had requested the Court's advice. It is for the General Assembly to decide on any further action it may wish to take on this matter.   

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY 

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that the UN and its partners are working to address the needs of displaced people across the Strip, in line with our 60-day response plan. Yesterday, a team carried out needs assessments at two collective centres in Gaza City’s Az Zaitoun neighbourhood, hosting more than 200 families who recently returned.  This area had been inaccessible before the ceasefire. 

The team noted that hygiene conditions at these sites are extremely poor, with widespread skin diseases linked to the lack of clean water and damaged sanitation systems. At one of the locations, residents reported repeatedly having to walk two kilometres to the nearest water point, due to a shortage of containers.   

There is an urgent need to repair latrines and sewage networks to prevent leaks and contamination. Services are almost non-existent, with no medical points, mobile health teams or nutrition screening available.  Displaced families at these sites say they urgently need food, clean water, hygiene items, materials to repair water and sanitation infrastructure, and cash assistance to purchase winter clothing, shoes, tarpaulins and kitchen sets.   

On the health front, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday that its team led the medical evacuation of 41 critical patients and 145 companions out of Gaza, the first such evacuation since the ceasefire. WHO noted that there are still about 15,000 patients waiting for approval to receive medical care outside Gaza.    

On Monday, the World Food Programme (WFP) started to distribute high-energy biscuits and fortified date bars to school-aged children across 18 temporary learning spaces in Gaza.   

On Tuesday, 147 UN and partner trucks were offloaded at the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem and Kissufim crossings. About two thirds of the cargo was food aid. Other supplies included diapers, hygiene kits and tarps for emergency shelter assistance. Also on Tuesday, at least 80 UN-coordinated trucks were collected from the crossings for distribution inside Gaza. The trucks were carrying food, including fresh vegetables, rice and wheat flour; water, sanitation and hygiene items, including water tanks, handwashing stations and buckets; stoves for community kitchens; and diesel, among other supplies. 

While we do not have the final data on the amount of cargo picked up from the crossings yesterday, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was able to collect 20 trucks of baby diapers from Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem. The World Food Programme also collected food cargo from the two crossings.   

With regard to fuel, the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) successfully collected 159,000 litres of diesel from Karem Abu Salem yesterday and distributed more than 118,000 litres of diesel and over 1,200 litres of petrol for critical humanitarian operations.  

And we have a correction regarding the number of trucks that the UN and our partners offloaded at the crossings on Monday. According to the UN 2720 Mechanism dashboard, 105 trucks from the UN and its partners were offloaded at Kerem Shalom and Kissufim that day, not 263, as we told you yesterday. 

SUDAN

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that escalating violence continues to endanger civilians across multiple regions in Sudan, with drone attacks and clashes spreading beyond Darfur into other states. 

The situation in El Fasher, the besieged state capital of North Darfur, remains catastrophic. Heavy clashes and drone attacks were reported on Tuesday and yesterday across the city and in Korma, a town 80 kilometres away, marking one of the most intense escalations in recent days. 

Elsewhere in Sudan, the use of aerial weapons in densely populated areas in recent days has heightened concerns for civilian safety and further strained essential services. 

Since Tuesday, multiple incidents have been reported across the states of Khartoum, Blue Nile, North Kordofan and Sennar. Today, there were reports of drone attacks on the airport in Khartoum for a third consecutive day, impacting its reopening after more than two years of closure. 

Meanwhile, other attacks in the cities of Sennar, Damazine and El Obeid triggered widespread power outages. In South Darfur State, insecurity remains high in the capital, Nyala, where reports of drone attacks continue. We and our partners are closely monitoring the situation. 

OCHA reiterates that civilians must be protected, essential infrastructure must never be targeted, and safe humanitarian access must be ensured. All parties must immediately halt hostilities and uphold international humanitarian law. 

And tomorrow, my guests will be Ted Chaiban, UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director, Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations joining us from N'djamena in Chad, along with UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner Kelly Clements, who will be connecting from Nairobi, along with WFP’s Assistant Executive Director, Valerie Guarnieri, who will joining us from Rome. We hope to have one of our IOM colleagues join us as well. They will talk about their visit to Sudan and they have a joint press release on that topic.

NIGER

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that hundreds of thousands of people have been impacted by deadly floods across Niger. Authorities in Niger report that the flooding during this year’s rainy season has affected some 550,000 people, with the regions of Dosso, Tillaberi and Maradi worst impacted.  

According to official figures, more than 120 people have been killed, nearly 55,000 houses destroyed and more than 10,000 acres of farmland left under water. We, along with our humanitarian partners, are working to support Government-led relief efforts, but resources remain extremely limited. This year’s response plan for Niger is less than a fifth funded, with just $111 million received of the $603 million needed.   

TROPICAL STORM MELISSA

In the Caribbean, tropical storm Melissa is expected to bring heavy rainfall and high winds in the coming days to the region. The World Food Programme (WFP) is helping people in the path of the storm to proactively prepare, in order to mitigate damages.  

In Haiti, working with the Haitian Government, WFP sent out 3.5 million early warning messages yesterday via text message, providing guidance on how to prepare and stay safe. WFP in Haiti is also preparing to deliver anticipatory e-money distributions totaling $900,000 to meet urgent humanitarian needs for about 45,000 people.  

These payments are supported by the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and will help families prepare to weather the storm and protect livelihoods of the most vulnerable. 

In Cuba, WFP and the Government’s prepositioned food can cover approximately 275,000 people for 60 days.  

Through the WFP Caribbean Regional Logistics Hub, there are currently more than 500 pallets of partner relief supplies, as well as logistics’ assets stored in Barbados for air and sea deployment to impacted countries.  

WFP is also finalizing a food supply agreement in Jamaica to provide 10,000 food kits, which are designed to feed a family of approximately 3 persons for 10 days, with capacity to provide more as needed. 

TUNISIA 

With an investment of $2.6 million, a new initiative in Tunisia, funded by the Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund, will be implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in partnership with the Government of Tunisia. 

Over the next two years, the project will promote inclusive and participatory local water management in the regions of Gafsa and Kairouan, which are heavily affected by climate change-induced water scarcity, with a special focus on the participation of women and youth. 

**International Day 

Today marks the International Day of the Snow Leopard. Found in the high mountain ranges of Asia, the snow leopard faces serious threats from habitat loss, prey depletion, poaching, illegal trade and climate change.  

Protecting this iconic mountain species is essential to preserving the health and balance of fragile high-altitude ecosystems. 

***The guest at the Noon Briefing was Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti and Head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH). He briefed journalists on the situation in Haiti.