<\/p>\n
The UN has warned that escalating violence across the Middle East is deepening humanitarian suffering, disrupting trade and threatening wider regional and global stability.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres said the region cannot withstand further conflict, following visits and continued engagements with leaders in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThroughout my visits and in my ongoing outreach with leaders, one message is impossible to ignore: the region and the world cannot afford more war,\u201d Guterres said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cLet me be clear: the fighting must stop. International navigational rights and freedoms in and around the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab must be fully restored, and diplomacy must prevail,\u201d Guterres said.<\/p>\n
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The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Israeli hostilities and demolitions have continued in southern Lebanon, where at least 4 329 deaths and 12 233 injuries have been recorded since March 2. OCHA said 349 people had been killed and 229 injured since the latest ceasefire announcement.<\/p>\n
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The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said more than 4 000 children have reportedly been killed or injured across six countries during the past five months. In Iran alone, 2 500 children have reportedly been affected, including 386 killed and 2 117 injured, as United States bombing continues.<\/p>\n
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UNICEF Acting Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Abdul Fofana said children continue to suffer in places where safety should be guaranteed. \u201cYesterday, in Qeshm Island, off the southern coast of Iran, a two-year-old child was reportedly killed alongside the child\u2019s parents after a strike hit a residential building,\u201d Fofana said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis latest incident is yet another stark reminder that children across the region continue to pay the heaviest price,\u201d Fofana said.<\/p>\n
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In Gaza, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said Israeli airstrikes and gunfire have worsened conditions in areas designated for humanitarian operations.<\/p>\n
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UNRWA said Israel killed 1 180 Palestinians and injured 3 810 others between the October 2025 ceasefire and July 22. Restrictions on fuel, engine oil and spare parts have left more than half of UNRWA\u2019s fleet unable to operate and affected 62 water wells.<\/p>\n
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In the occupied West Bank, OCHA said Israeli attacks have killed 1 122 Palestinians since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, including at least 246 children. Since the beginning of this year, 76 Palestinians have been killed.<\/p>\n
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Guterres said the conflict is increasingly becoming a driver of global instability by disrupting trade through the Strait of Hormuz, raising food and energy prices, straining supply chains and increasing the risk of hunger and poverty.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Turning to Syria, Guterres said the country needs stronger international support after years of war. \u201cI saw a country beginning to emerge from years of devastation,\u201d Guterres said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe international community must match that hope with action, including the full lifting of sanctions and sustained support for recovery,\u201d Guterres said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":41307,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-41306","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The United Nations (UN) agencies say civilian casualties are rising across the Middle East as violence continues in Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank, Iran and the Gulf.\r\n","published_date":"","news_description":"The United Nations (UN) agencies say civilian casualties are rising across the Middle East as violence continues in Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank, Iran and the Gulf.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/41306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/41306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41315,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/41306\/revisions\/41315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=41306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}