HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 2 JULY 2025

CYPRUS 
Following the informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format that was held in Geneva on 17-18 March of this year, the Secretary-General will convene on 16 and 17 July, here at UN Headquarters, the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders, as well as representatives of the guarantor powers of Greece, Türkiye and the United Kingdom, for another informal meeting on Cyprus. 
The meeting will provide an opportunity to continue the dialogue and exchange views on the progress made since March.  
 
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY 
Turning to the increasingly dire situation in Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that overnight, Israeli authorities issued a new displacement order for two neighbourhoods in Khan Younis, following reported Palestinian rocket fire. Up to 80,000 people are estimated to be living in these neighourhoods. Approximately 85 per cent of Gaza’s territory is currently either under displacement orders or located within militarized zones – which is severely hampering people's access to essential humanitarian support and the ability of aid workers to reach those in need. 
Our colleagues working on water, sanitation and hygiene also tell us that Al Satar – a key water reservoir – has become inaccessible as a result of the order. The facility serves as the main water distribution hub for Khan Younis and a critical supply point for water coming through the Israeli pipeline in the area.        
Any damage to the reservoir could lead to a collapse of the city’s water distribution system, with grave humanitarian consequences. 
OCHA warns that these displacement orders continue to strain vital services and push people into increasingly smaller swaths of Gaza’s territory. Since the breakdown of the ceasefire in March and as of yesterday, some 714,000 people have been forcibly displaced once more across Gaza, with nearly 29,000 displaced in just 24 hours between Sunday and Monday. 
Many existing shelters are severely overcrowded, with poor hygiene conditions – posing severe risks for public health. Our partners working on health, water, sanitation and hygiene report that across Gaza, rates of acute watery diarrhea have reached 39 per cent among patients receiving health consultations.  
The increase is being driven by insufficient clean drinking and domestic water reaching shelters, worsening the dire hygiene and sanitation conditions. The governorates of Gaza and Khan Younis have the worst levels of acute watery diarrhea, due to severe overcrowding in sites and shelters. 
You will recall that no shelter assistance has entered Gaza in four months, despite the hundreds of thousands of newly displaced people. Our shelter partners say that 97 per cent of the sites surveyed reported displaced people sleeping in the open. OCHA reiterates that an unrestricted flow of supplies through multiple crossing points over a sustained period of time is critical to address people’s needs and prevent the already desperate situation from worsening. 
Meanwhile, the depletion of fuel stocks continues to wreak havoc on aid operations, constraining the UN and our humanitarian partners’ ability to respond.          
Yet again today, an attempt to deliver some of the remaining fuel stocks to the north was denied by Israeli authorities. 
The denial follows a successful delivery yesterday of diesel from the World Health Organization’s remaining stock to Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to prevent further shutdown of critical services. WHO says the facility is overwhelmed and severely under-resourced. Its beds are full, and patients are once again being treated on the floor. 
Our partners working on emergency telecommunications stress that unless fuel stocks are replenished immediately, Gaza could face a complete communications blackout, severely hindering humanitarian access and coordination, and preventing affected communities from receiving critical information. 
Critical water, sanitation, hygiene and healthcare facilities have already begun shutting down in some areas, including hospital equipment and services, water trucking, and water and sewage pumps. If the fuel crisis isn’t addressed soon, humanitarian responders could be left without the systems and tools necessary to operate safely, manage logistics and distribute humanitarian assistance. This would endanger aid workers and escalate an already dire humanitarian crisis. 

YEMEN 
UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, was in Aden today where he met with Yemeni officials, including Prime Minister Salem Bin Buraik. The discussions focused on the latest developments in Yemen, and the urgent need to advance a Yemeni-led and Yemeni-owned political path supported by the region.  
He also raised the issue of our colleagues and NGO staff who remain arbitrarily detained by Ansar Allah and reaffirmed our commitment to securing their release through continued diplomatic engagement. 
While in Aden, Mr. Grundberg also engaged in discussions with members of civil society and women leaders of political parties and components.   
 
HAITI 
Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča briefed the Security Council on Haiti this morning, saying that we have continued to witness a sharp erosion of state authority and the rule of law there, with brutal gang violence affecting every aspect of public and private life. 
Without increased action by the international community, he warned, the total collapse of state presence in the capital could become a very real scenario. 
Mr. Jenča said that the Secretary-General’s recommendations within his letter of 24 February, proposing to establish a UN support office to provide logistic and operational support for the Multinational Security Support mission, are a realistic and practical proposal to address Haiti’s immediate security needs. International action cannot come soon enough to ensure the gains made so far are not squandered, he told the Council.                                                                               
Ghada Waly, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, told Council members that organized criminal groups have gained near-total control of the capital, with an estimated 90 per cent of Port-au-Prince under their grip, while they continue expanding across strategic routes and border regions.  
She said that reports increasingly point to sexual exploitation targeting women and girls, particularly among those facing deportation or living in areas under gang control. And she added that even more disturbing are new allegations of trafficking in persons for the purpose of organ removal. 
 
SOUTH SUDAN 
Turning to South Sudan. The UN is extremely worried about the impact of the conflict on civilians. In its quarterly report that was released today, the peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) documented a surge in violence with a horrific impact especially on women and children.  
Between January and March, 1,600 people were either killed, injured, abducted or subjected to conflict-related sexual violence. This is the highest number in any three-month period since the year 2020.  
The mission is calling for concerted and collective action to end repeated conflict cycles and urged the Government to prioritize protection of civilians.