Pedersen Calls For a 'New International Format' on Syria Conflict

 UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen (AFP)
UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen (AFP)
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Pedersen Calls For a 'New International Format' on Syria Conflict

 UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen (AFP)
UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen (AFP)

UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said Wednesday that a new international format could bring stakeholders to the table to put an end to Syria's 10-year conflict.

“With a relative, albeit fragile, calm on the ground, and many capitals understanding the need for a way forward, we need to explore what is possible” and “we should not lose further time,” he told the UN Security Council.

"If this highly internationalized conflict is to move toward resolution, we need a more constructive and comprehensive international diplomacy on Syria to try to unlock progress step-for-step," he said, calling for exploratory discussions to “help test possibilities and bridge the gaps of mistrust.”

Pedersen warned that despite relative calm in the war-torn country, the situation in the last opposition-held stronghold in northwest Syria could deteriorate rapidly.

"I want today to sound a warning to all -- a warning to prioritize the proactive search for a settlement of the Syria conflict. Despite more than a year of relative calm by Syrian standards, this month reminded us of the potential for the situation to further disintegrate or rapidly deteriorate," he said.

Pedersen highlighted the significant escalation in northwest Syria, including airstrikes on a UN-supported hospital, the shelling of residential areas in western Aleppo, and strikes on the Syrian-Turkish border among several other trouble spots.

He further told the council that after the co-chairs from both sides couldn’t agree on terms and methodology for a sixth session of the constitutional committee he proposed a compromise on April 15, which the government said it will respond to next week.

In the interests of the Syrians themselves, a sixth session of the small body of the committee needed to be carefully prepared, he stressed.



UN Says ‘Deliberate’ Choices ‘Systematically’ Depriving Gazans

04 June 2025, Palestinian Territories, Nusirat: Displaced Palestinians gather in a charity kitchen to receive aid amid a shortage of food, in Nuseirat refugee camp. (Belal Abu Amer/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
04 June 2025, Palestinian Territories, Nusirat: Displaced Palestinians gather in a charity kitchen to receive aid amid a shortage of food, in Nuseirat refugee camp. (Belal Abu Amer/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
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UN Says ‘Deliberate’ Choices ‘Systematically’ Depriving Gazans

04 June 2025, Palestinian Territories, Nusirat: Displaced Palestinians gather in a charity kitchen to receive aid amid a shortage of food, in Nuseirat refugee camp. (Belal Abu Amer/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
04 June 2025, Palestinian Territories, Nusirat: Displaced Palestinians gather in a charity kitchen to receive aid amid a shortage of food, in Nuseirat refugee camp. (Belal Abu Amer/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)

The UN aid chief said Wednesday that recent "horrifying scenes" of Gazans being killed while seeking food aid were the result of "deliberate choices that have systematically deprived" them of essentials to survive.

A US and Israeli-backed group operating aid sites in the Gaza Strip announced the temporary closure of its facilities on Wednesday, with the Israeli army warning that roads leading to distribution centers were "considered combat zones".

The announcement by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation follows a string of deadly incidents near the distribution sites it operates.

On Tuesday, 27 people were killed in southern Gaza when Israeli troops opened fire near a GHF aid site, with the military saying the incident was under investigation.

"The world is watching, day after day, horrifying scenes of Palestinians being shot, wounded or killed in Gaza while simply trying to eat," UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement.

"Emergency medical teams have confirmed treating hundreds of trauma cases. Yesterday alone, dozens were declared dead at hospitals after Israeli forces said they had opened fire.

"This is the outcome of a series of deliberate choices that have systematically deprived two million people of the essentials they need to survive."

He echoed the call by UN chief Antonio Guterres for immediate independent investigations, saying they were not isolated incidents, and the perpetrators must be held accountable.

"No-one should have to risk their life to feed their children," said Fletcher.

The GHF began operations a week ago, but the UN and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with it over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

Meanwhile the United Nations has described the amount of aid allowed into Gaza, after Israel partially lifted a more than two-month total blockade, as a trickle.

"We must be allowed to do our jobs: we have the teams, the plan, the supplies and the experience," said Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.

"Open the crossings -- all of them. Let in life-saving aid at scale, from all directions. Lift the restrictions on what and how much aid we can bring in.

"Ensure our convoys aren't held up by delays and denials. Release the hostages. Implement the ceasefire."