Two arson attacks and growing protests forced UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA to temporarily close its office in East Jerusalem this week, but its vital work will continue as war rages in Gaza and violence rises in the West Bank, Senior Communications Manager Jonathan Fowler told UN News on Friday.

With the situation in Rafah “on a knife’s edge”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appealed again on Friday for Israeli and Hamas leaders “to demonstrate political courage and spare no effort” in reaching an agreement to end the war in Gaza and free all hostages. 

The UN General Assembly convened again in New York on Friday for an emergency special session on the Gaza crisis and overwhelmingly passed a resolution which upgrades Palestine’s rights at the world body as an Observer State, without offering full membership. It urged the Security Council to give “favourable consideration” to Palestine’s request.

With no let-up in the Israeli military operation in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah into Friday, UN humanitarians issued renewed calls for a ceasefire as “the only hope” to avert further bloodshed and restore desperately needed aid deliveries.

The head of the UN Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA) has temporarily closed its headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem after an arson attack on Thursday following weeks of protests. 

Israeli military manoeuvres and shelling continued in and around eastern Rafah in southern Gaza on Wednesday morning as UN humanitarians stressed that “no fuel or aid” is getting into the enclave.

Displacement after displacement. That describes the reality facing thousands of Palestinian families in Gaza who took Rashid Street from Rafah to the centre of the Gaza Strip after receiving evacuation orders from Israeli authorities on Monday to move to Al Mawasi, a coastal area of the besieged enclave.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has taken “crucial steps” in preparation for a large-scale Israeli military operation in Rafah, Dr. Ahmed Dahir, team lead of its office in Gaza, told UN News on Tuesday.

The UN Secretary-General on Tuesday reiterated his appeal to Israel to stop any escalation in Gaza, amid reports that its forces have taken over key border crossings in Rafah.

Amid ongoing uncertainty about a ceasefire in Gaza and an escalation of the military operation in Rafah, UN aid agencies expressed deep concerns on Tuesday that the two main access points into the enclave remained closed, while families are scared and “hanging on psychologically and physically by a thread”. 

UN mine action experts warned on Monday that even when current hostilities end, the risk remains lethally high for civilians in Gaza from unexploded weapons and contaminated rubble throughout the devastated enclave.

Donors must continue to support humanitarian efforts to assist millions in need in Yemen, UN agencies and dozens of other aid partners said on Monday. 

UPDATED: Amid reports that 100,000 Palestinians have been told to leave Rafah ahead of an anticipated Israeli military operation there and that Hamas has accepted the latest Israeli ceasefire proposal, UN humanitarians on Monday insisted that they had no intention of quitting the vital aid hub.

When tensions erupted in East Jerusalem in April 2021 at the beginning of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, daily clashes involving Palestinians, Israeli settlers and Israeli forces led to spiraling violence and death. In response, the Human Rights Council set up a top panel of independent rights experts to investigate reports of violations of international law.

An Israeli military operation in Rafah “could lead to a slaughter” and cripple lifesaving humanitarian work throughout Gaza, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said on Friday.

More than 10,000 people are believed buried under the rubble in Gaza after nearly seven months of devastating conflict, UN humanitarians said on Thursday, citing the enclave’s health authorities.

The relentless Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip has set back Palestine’s overall socioeconomic development by more than 20 years, according to a new UN report released on Thursday.

Palestine’s recent attempt to become a full member of the United Nations was the focus of discussion in the General Assembly on Wednesday. 

Amid growing international calls for restraint from Israel in Gaza and reports on Wednesday of further deadly strikes overnight, UN humanitarians underscored the ongoing devastating impact of the war and the need to ensure reliable aid supply lines to people in desperate need in the enclave.

With the situation in Gaza “worsening by the day”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday appealed for Israeli and Hamas leaders currently taking part in intense negotiations to reach a ceasefire agreement.

Ordinary Gazans remain in a “constant state of trauma” over an impending full-scale Israeli attack on the enclave’s southernmost city of Rafah amid a growing number of strikes there, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Tuesday.

Children as young as four are being forced to go to work in Lebanon amid a “massive collapse” in humanitarian funding and escalating hostilities on the country’s southern border with Israel that threaten to spiral into a “full-scale war”, UN child experts said on Tuesday.

The head of UN peacekeeping and demining reiterated calls on Monday for a ceasefire in Gaza as a first step to returning the war-ravaged enclave to some normality, while mine clearance experts warned that the Strip is now at its “most dangerous period”.

The UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, reached one of its now-abandoned schools in Khan Younis at the weekend, where thousands of people appeared to have left at a moment’s notice, fearing further intense Israeli bombardment.

Bassem Al-Habal carried a large bag of flour provided by the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, inside one of the shelters in the city of Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, part of his daily journey to find food and water for his family while overcoming displacement, bombardment and the challenges of being deaf and mute in a war zone.

Making Gaza safe again from unexploded bombs could take 14 years, UN demining experts said on Friday. 

The war in Gaza continues to cast a dark shadow over the wider Middle East region, in particular Syria where a series of strikes and attacks are exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation, the UN Special Envoy for the country said on Thursday.

Unexpected blistering temperatures across Gaza have added to the daily misery faced by the enclave’s people and sparked new fears of disease outbreaks amid a lack of sufficient clean water and waste disposal, UN humanitarians said on Thursday.

A new mechanism for getting lifesaving aid into Gaza will start in the coming days, UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator Sigrid Kaag announced in a briefing to the Security Council on Wednesday.