UN Senior Official Commences Mission as Gaza Humanitarian Coordinator

UN Sec-Gen Antonio Guterres with the UN senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag (UN photos)
UN Sec-Gen Antonio Guterres with the UN senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag (UN photos)
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UN Senior Official Commences Mission as Gaza Humanitarian Coordinator

UN Sec-Gen Antonio Guterres with the UN senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag (UN photos)
UN Sec-Gen Antonio Guterres with the UN senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag (UN photos)

Dutch diplomat and prominent politician Sigrid Kaag officially assumed her role Monday as Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza pursuant to Security Council Resolution 2720.
In this role, Kaag will facilitate, coordinate, monitor, and verify humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza. She will also establish a UN mechanism to accelerate humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza through States that are not party to the conflict.
- Devastating levels
UN Sec-Gen Antonio Guterres sent a letter to the President of the Security Council for January and Permanent Representative of France Nicolas de Riviere regarding the situation in Gaza, and the requirements of Resolution 2712 regarding the delivery of aid to civilians.
Guterres expressed his profound sorrow at the devastating levels of death and destruction, noting that according to Israeli authorities, more than “1,200 people were killed,” and some 250 people were abducted, including 34 children and 65 women.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza disclosed that more than 22,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the current Israeli military operations, in addition to the tens of thousands of Palestinians injured, and many missing.
Resolution 2712 explicitly “demands that all parties comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians, especially children.”
Guterres pointed out that an estimated 85% of the Palestinians in Gaza are currently displaced, adding that Israeli forces have repeatedly asked Palestinian families to move to other places for their safety, but “of course, nowhere is safe in Gaza.”
The nature and scale of death and destruction, especially in northern Gaza, are characterized by the use of wide-area explosive weapons by Israeli forces, with a significant impact on civilians.
It is estimated that more than 60% of homes in Gaza are damaged or destroyed.
More than two million people live in the enclave, and over 80%, nearly 1.9 million, are now displaced, according to the latest update from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The UN Sec-Gen recalled that UNRWA facilities, like all United Nations agencies, are protected under international law. He stated that since the beginning of the war, 193 incidents have been reported impacting UNRWA premises and the people inside them.
He expressed his deep sadness over the killing of 144 international workers, including 142 from UNRWA.
Since the beginning of the Israeli war in Gaza, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it had counted 304 attacks that affected 94 healthcare facilities, including 26 hospitals damaged out of 36 and 79 ambulances.
The UN top official asserted that “civilians – including UN personnel – must be protected,” expressing deep concern at the apparent disregard for these vital binding legal duties by all parties to the conflict. He warned that the failure of one party to comply with international humanitarian law does not relieve the other party of its duties.
Guterres referred to the ceasefire that lasted a week between Nov. 24 and Dec. 1 of last year, which allowed some aid to be delivered to Gaza, noting that the delivery was scarce and faced several “challenges.”

He indicated that despite efforts to expand the response, the level of aid to the Palestinians in Gaza is entirely inadequate to meet the needs of more than two million people, adding that an effective aid operation requires security, workers who can work safely, logistical capacity, and the resumption of commercial activity.
Civilians in Gaza need a continuous flow of life-saving humanitarian assistance and fuel to the Strip and all its regions, said Guterres, explaining that the humanitarian sector cannot compensate for the almost complete lack of commercial imports of basic materials.
He reiterated his call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.



Lebanon’s PM Visits Syrian President to Discuss Border Demarcation and Security

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
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Lebanon’s PM Visits Syrian President to Discuss Border Demarcation and Security

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam led a high-level ministerial delegation to Syria on Monday for talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, marking the most significant diplomatic visit between the two countries since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December.

"My visit to Damascus today aims to open a new page in the history of relations between the two countries, based on mutual respect, restoring trust, good neighborliness," Salam said in a statement on X.

At the center of discussions was implementing a March 28 agreement signed in Saudi Arabia by the Syrian and Lebanese defense ministers to demarcate land and sea borders and improve coordination on border security issues, Salam said in the statement.

The Lebanese-Syrian border witnessed deadly clashes earlier this year and years of unrest in the frontier regions, which have been plagued by weapons and illicit drug smuggling through illegal crossings.

During Monday’s meeting, Salam and Sharaa agreed to form a joint ministerial committee to oversee the implementation of the border agreement, close illegal crossings and suppress smuggling activity along the border.

The border area, especially near Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and Syria’s Qusayr region, has long been a corridor for illicit trade, arms trafficking, and the movement of fighters — including Hezbollah fighters who backed the Assad government during Syria’s 14-year civil war.

Hezbollah has been significantly weakened in its recent war with Israel and since Assad's ousting, it lost several key smuggling routes it once relied on for weapons transfers.

Lebanon also pressed Syria to provide clarity on the fate of thousands of Lebanese nationals who were forcibly disappeared or imprisoned in Syrian jails in the 1980s and 1990s, during Syria’s nearly 30-year military presence in Lebanon. Human rights groups have long documented the lack of accountability and transparency regarding these cases, with families of the missing holding regular demonstrations in Beirut demanding answers.

Syrian officials for their part raised the issue of Syrian nationals detained in Lebanese prisons, Salam said. Many of the detainees were arrested for illegal entry or alleged involvement in militant activity. Rights advocates in both countries have criticized the lack of due process in many of these cases and the poor conditions inside detention facilities.

Lebanon pledged to hand over people implicated in crimes committed by the Assad government and security forces, many of whom are believed to have fled to Lebanon after the government’s collapse, if found on Lebanese soil, a ministerial source told The Associated Press.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly comment.

In return, Lebanese officials requested the extradition of Syrians wanted in Lebanese courts for high-profile political assassinations, "most notably those involved in the bombing of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques, those convicted of assassinating President Bashir Gemayel, and other crimes for which the Assad regime is accused," Salam said.

For decades, Lebanon witnessed a long series of politically motivated assassinations targeting journalists, politicians and security officials, particularly those opposed to Syrian influence. The 2013 twin bombings of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques in Tripoli in northern Lebanon killed more than 40 people and intensified sectarian tensions already heightened by the spillover from the Syrian war.

Syria has never officially acknowledged involvement in any of Lebanon’s political assassinations.

Salam said he also pushed for renewed cooperation on the return of Syrian refugees.

Lebanese government officials estimate the country hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, of whom about 755,000 are officially registered with the UN refugee agency, or UNHCR, making it the country with the highest number of refugees per capita in the world.

While Lebanese authorities have long urged the international community to support large-scale repatriation efforts, human rights organizations have cautioned against forced returns, citing ongoing security concerns and a lack of guarantees in Syria.

Since the fall of Assad in December, an estimated 400,000 refugees have returned to Syria from neighboring countries, according to UNHCR, with about half of them coming from Lebanon, but many are hesitant to return because of the dire economic situation and fears of continuing instability in Syria.