Budget deal slashes U.S. funding for Palestinians’ U.N. lifeline

Congress voted early Saturday to strip hundreds of millions of dollars from the United Nations agency that distributes most of the food, medicine and basic services to Palestinians in Gaza and across the Middle East, marking what critics say is a devastating blow to a region in crisis. The United States, along with several other … Read more

U.N. chief to visit Gaza border after resolution on cease-fire vetoed

U.N. Secretary General António Guterres is set to visit Egypt’s border with Gaza on Saturday, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to send forces into the packed city of Rafah near the border, despite warnings from U.S. and world leaders. The U.N. chief landed in Egypt after the U.N. Security Council failed to pass … Read more

Israel rebuffs Blinken concerns over Gaza war as U.N. cease-fire call fails

TEL AVIV — Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli leaders confronted each other on Friday about the future of the war in Gaza, as the top U.S. diplomat urged Israel not to invade a city packed with civilians, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defiantly declared that “we’ll do it by ourselves.” The tense … Read more

Israel acknowledges strike on U.N. facility, says it targeted Hamas commander

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said in a statement Wednesday that at least one of its staff members was killed and 22 were injured when Israeli forces struck one of its food distribution centers in southern Gaza. The Israeli military acknowledged the strike, saying it had targeted a Hamas commander. The Israel Defense Forces … Read more

Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigns; Kenya pauses U.N. security mission

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haitian leaders scrambled Tuesday to meet a 24-hour deadline to set up a panel that will lead the deteriorating country to new elections following the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Kenyan officials, meanwhile, said they were putting the deployment of a U.N.-approved, multinational security force to the beleaguered Caribbean nation on … Read more

Iran committed crimes against humanity during protest crackdown, U.N. report says

Iran is responsible for the “physical violence” in detention that led to Mahsa Amini’s death in 2022 and committed crimes against humanity during its crackdown on the protests that followed, an independent U.N. fact-finding mission has said. The mission said in a report Friday that crimes such as murder, imprisonment, torture and rape were “committed … Read more

U.N. report: “convincing” information Hamas raped, tortured hostages

A team of United Nations experts tasked with gathering information on sexual violence linked to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel found “reasonable grounds to believe” that some victims were sexually assaulted, including rape and gang rape, according to a U.N. report released Monday. “In most of these incidents, victims first subjected to rape were … Read more

U.N. Envoy Says ‘Reasonable Grounds’ to Believe Hamas Committed Sexual Violence

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. envoy focusing on sexual violence in conflict said in a new report Monday that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas committed rape, “sexualized torture,” and other cruel and inhumane treatment of women during its surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7. There are also “reasonable grounds to believe … Read more

U.S. vetoes U.N. proposal for immediate cease fire, drawing ire

The United States for the third time on Tuesday vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, arguing that it would undercut ongoing U.S.-led negotiations for a six-week pause in fighting that would see Hamas release more than 100 remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for jailed Palestinians … Read more

U.S. Proposes U.N. Resolution for Temporary Gaza Ceasefire

The U.S. has drafted a resolution for the U.N. Security Council that calls for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza and warns against Israel’s planned offensive in Rafah. The draft resolution calls for a “temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as practicable” but the language falls short of the immediate ceasefire other Security Council members want, … Read more