UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : UN Geneva Press Briefing

[Other language spoken]

Welcome to the press briefing of the Information Service of the United Nations here in Geneva.

Today is Tuesday, 28th of April, and we will start quickly with the announcements before we go to the topics.

So I'd like to just introduce the gentleman who's on my right, Yvonne via Labet.

I hope I pronounce it well with a new colleague from ILO.

I'll give you the floor for a moment.

Ivon to to introduce yourself.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, well, just to introduce myself.

My name is Yvonne Bielevetia and I will be working at the ILO.

So whatever help questions you need, you can contact me.

The ILO it's our address over there is newsroom@ilo.org.

So thank you very much.

And and as usual, Solange will send an updated list of of colleagues.

So and you're really in charge of news and media, right?

[Other language spoken]

Especially with the conference coming up, I take this opportunity.

She's not here and she doesn't want me to do that, so I'll do it anyway.

I'll take this opportunity to thank immensely since we're speaking about colleagues, communication colleagues in the UN family in Geneva, I take this opportunity to thank immensely Fidela Shahid.

Fidela is retiring this week and you know her, she didn't want honours, she didn't want thinking.

But I, I think we really have to say this because she's been a fantastic colleague, helping everyone who has been accredited to the UN.

All the journalists can witness a very incredible patience, help, support at WHO for many, many years.

I think I remember her when she did the first briefing, I was still a dunked and I've seen her growing, helping, supporting.

She's a great colleague and I really wanted to pay to, to, to praise her from this podium and thank her immensely for all the work that she's done to promote the activities of the W2 and as a member of the communications family in Geneva.

So thank you very much and thanks to Ibon and welcome and good luck with your with your new functions.

And I'll turn now to my left to Janette, who also has a an announcement for UNDR.

[Other language spoken]

I'm here just to say a couple of new words, words about a new International Day on your calendar.

It's the International Day in memory of the victims of earthquakes and that will take place tomorrow and every 29th of April.

And why this day matters.

Earthquakes are among the most deadly of hazards.

Between 2000 and 2019, the space of two decades, earthquakes and their related tsunamis were responsible for 60% of all disaster related deaths.

And, and it's important because the vast majority of these fatalities are actually due to building collapses and not to the shaking itself.

So what does that mean?

That means that there's a lot we can do about this particular hazard, safer construction, the enforcing of building codes and in the case of tsunamis, early warning and early action.

It's also important because they're relatively infrequent and the longer time that passes between hazards, the the lower the memory and the increase in complacency.

So we've got 3 core main messages for the day, remembrance and resilience.

We remember those who we lost and we act in their memory to prevent future tragedy.

Second, earthquakes are inevitable but the devastation they cause is not.

And third, simple practised actions and enforced building codes protect people and development gains.

So we have a public campaign for the day.

[Other language spoken]

Hold on.

We're working in partners globe with partners globally such as the Great Great Shakeout, which is a global organisation but US based, to encourage twice yearly drills for member States and countries who are at risk.

So we encourage drills to be run.

We're running a number of events ourselves.

There'll be a global commemoration in New York at the headquarters.

They will run an evacuation drill and have an AR experience.

There's also a large event in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where they will commemorate a large earthquake from 1966 and the special representative of the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Kamal Kishore, will be there and is available for interviews.

We would like to encourage the media to report on the day.

It's a new day and we would encourage everyone to highlight local stories and above all, find out where this worked.

We for Disaster Resilience, we have a number of resources available.

There'll be a press release and a multimedia package including B Roll for anyone who would like to to cover it or to request an interview.

I'll be happy to take requests.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks for this information about this first international that very important.

Any question to you and DRR in the room or online let me see.

I don't see any hand up.

So thank you very much for this and we continue to distribute the information to all the journalists.

Thank you very much.

So let's now go to Port Sudan.

UNICEF has brought us Sheldon yet the UNICEF representative in Sudan was calling in from Port Sudan, but Ricardo is also connected and he wanted to start introducing his colleagues.

So I go to Ricardo 1st and to Sheldon then.

Thank you, Ricardo.

Thanks, Alessandra.

[Other language spoken]

Bonjour everyone.

Over the past two decades, UNICEF has used its Child Alert series as a sharp, high impact media product to shine a spotlight on some of the world's most urgent and under reported crisis affecting children from Afghanistan to Haiti, the Central African Republic and along the Darien Gap.

These reports combined hard data with frontline testimony and filled evidence to present a clear, unvarnished picture of what children are facing and what must change.

2 decades ago, we launched our first child alert when the situation in Darfur, the global outrage and the Safe Darfur movement was created.

Today, I'll, I'll pass the floor to our country representative in Sudan.

Sheldon, yet to launch our new child alert, shedding a light on the horrors facing a new generation of children in Darfur.

Over to you, Sheldon.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning and thank you, colleagues.

Can you confirm that you can hear me, We can hear you, and we can see you.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning, colleagues.

20 years ago, Darfur shocked the world.

An entire nation of children became victims of survivors of terrible atrocities.

Images of burned villages, death and mass displacement sparked global outrage and action.

And as always, children are at the sharpest end of the crisis.

Today, as war in Sudan moves into its fourth year, history is repeating itself in the darkest possible way for children in Darfur.

Once again, millions of children are living through extreme violence, hunger and displacement.

But this time the crisis is deeper, and global attention has not come close enough to matching the scale of children's suffering.

Today, some 33 million people in Sudan need humanitarian assistance.

More than half of them are children.

An estimated 15,000,000 people have been uprooted, including approximately 5 million children across the five to four states.

More than 5 million children are facing extreme deprivation.

[Other language spoken]

UNICEF is today launching a new child alert to raise alarm about the catastrophic situation children in Darfur.

Children are at a breaking point.

Across the region, childhood is again defined by fear, by loss.

Homes have been burned.

Schools and health facilities have been damaged or destroyed.

Families have been forced to flee, often repeatedly, often with nothing.

Children are bearing the heaviest weight of the war in Darfur.

Children are being killed and maimed, uprooted from their homes and pushed into extreme hunger, disease and trauma.

Nowhere has impact been more severe than in Alfashia.

Since April of 2024, more than 1500 grave violations against children have BeenVerified in Alfashia, including the killing and maiming of over 1300 children, many by explosive weapons and drones, as well as sexual violence, abductions, and recruitment and use by armed groups.

Even though the siege of Al Fashar has ended, its impact continues.

The consequences continue to shape the daily lives of children of those who fled and those who are forced to stay.

Yet violence is not contained to one city or region across Sudan.

[Other language spoken]

In just the first 90 days of this year, at least 245 children were reportedly killed or injured.

These are just the cases we've been able to document, but the truth poll is likely far higher.

Behind every number is a child whose life and whose future has been irrefocably altered.

Hunger has become another frontline threat.

Famine conditions were confirmed in a fasher in November of last year and non nutrition rates among children have reached catastrophic levels in parts of the four where acute malnutrition rates exceed 50%.

In some locations across Darfur, conflict has shattered lives and food systems.

Health services have been attacked, looted or forced to close.

Routine immunisation has been disrupted.

Disease outbreaks remain a constant risk, particularly for children already weakened by hunger.

Education has also been devastated.

Of the nearly 4 million school aged children in Darfur, over three millionaire now out of school.

Schools have been destroyed, closed or repurposed at shelters.

And this crisis does not stop at Sudan's borders.

Children are fleeing into neighbouring countries.

They're arriving exhausted, traumatised and non nourished, whose communities have shown generosity but services are overwhelmed and severely underfunded.

Despite the extraordinary challenges, our team and our partners are staying and delivering, treating children for severe acute malnutrition, providing safe water, supporting mobile health and vaccination services and delivering psychosocial support and learning in child friendly spaces.

But humanitarian action is being pushed to its limits.

What is needed now is not abstract.

We need predictable, sustained humanitarian access and presence across the four, not temporary openings, but the ability to remain and deliver consistently and safely.

Movement must be enabled and not obstructed.

Civilians must be protected, with children explicitly at the centre of these efforts.

Schools, clinics, water systems and humanitarian convoys must be spared from attacks.

And we need urgent, flexible funding that matches the scale and urgency of this crisis.

Today, UNICEF's 2026 humanitarian appeal for Zan is only 16% funded, putting life saving services for millions of children at risk.

Children in Darfur do not need sympathy.

They need the world to act now.

An entire generation is at stake.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Ricardo, very much for this update on this very dire situation.

I'll open the floor to questions, if any in the room.

Yes, Jeremy, Jeremy launch Radio France international.

Just a few questions on the on the child alert system to to to make sure I get that right.

Is it the second time that UNICEF is is lost is launching this child alert for Sudan or globally?

And what does it take for for for UNICEF to to launch this child alert?

Sheldon or Ricardo, who wants to Sheldon living.

It's recorded.

Talk about child alerts in general.

I'll talk about the situation in Sudan.

[Other language spoken]

I mean, is it the second, second child alert of UNICEF history or just second for for Sudan?

Ricardo, you're muted.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Jeremy, let me clarify.

No, this is not the second child alert ever launched by UNICEF.

This is the second one on Darfur.

The first one was 20 years ago, actually our first child alert ever 2 decades ago on Darfur.

And then since the over the two decades since then, we've had many other reports launched on different countries.

And this is the second one on Darfur.

So if you like Darfur, 20 years on, here we are with far less attention, as Sheldon said, and probably a bigger crisis in our hands, given the scale of displacement and and the geopolitics and everything involving humanitarian aid at this point.

Over to Sheldon.

[Other language spoken]

I mean, what is astounding to me, I was in Darfur 20 years ago, and we had every Hollywood celebrity competing to get on the plane, to get on the bus, to get in the car.

Now we have absolutely no attention on before, no attention on Sudan, given the scale of the crisis.

And the situation is far more complex than it was 20 years ago.

The scale is much larger than it was 20 years ago.

But the silence of the world has just been deafening for those of us on the ground here.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

Sheldon and Ricardo, a couple of questions.

Do you mind just explaining exactly what the child alert does?

Like how is it different from kind of other bits of advocacy and reporting that you're you and your colleagues do Just be really helpful to spell out why this is different in terms of I think you're saying violence is intensifying.

I mean, is that actually what data is showing you specifically, you know, violence against children and just that's that the 245 children killed in the 1st 90 days of this year?

Is that across Sudan or is that specifically in Darfur?

[Other language spoken]

OK, Ricardo, over to you and then I'll take the Sudan questions.

Thank you, Sheldon.

[Other language spoken]

Yeah, the difference with the child alerts is that they are really a media product.

So we're, we're focusing our goal here to give information to journalists and in depth testimonies from the field with the multimedia materials that are part of the child alert report that come with the package and that are now available through our digital channels to really paint a, a picture, a more in depth picture of the of the issues children are facing in, in these countries.

And we try, of course, to fill the pulse in what the media is interested in and topics that are appealing to the media.

And, and then we try and fit into that narrative.

But with Darfur, as Sheldon explained very well, it's really an issue of lack of attention.

And we're trying to kind of build that parallel to hopefully galvanised a little bit more resources and, and, and media focus on what's happening on the ground.

Even though there's a lot of reporting, there's also a lot of other crises in the world right now.

And and that doesn't justify the lack of attention, but it definitely explains it over to Sheldon.

Yeah, we do think the conflict is intensifying.

Of course, it isn't just confined to Darfur.

The the front lines are consistently moving here, constantly moving here.

We have the cortofons.

We have Blue Nile as well, where we we've seen active fighting.

And what we're seeing is also an intensity in the use of of drones, drone strikes against humanitarian infrastructure, humanitarian convoy.

We've had multiple cases over the last several months.

We've had the feeling that that no place is safe.

Markets are being hit, schools are being hit, health centres are being hit.

Our trucks carrying our urgently required needed humanitarian supplies are being hit, despite the fact that they're well marked, Despite that all parties of the conflict know exactly where our supplies are going.

We talked to all parties and and they're still being hit.

[Other language spoken]

AFP, follow up the Olivia.

Yes, thank you for this briefing.

Question for for Sheldon.

You're talking about 5 million children who are facing extreme deprivation.

[Other language spoken]

Are we talking about access to health facilities?

Would you be able to elaborate a little bit on that?

Yes, we're talking all the above.

You know, it's fine if you provide food to a child, but that child is not getting access to healthcare.

That child is still facing extreme deprivation.

And that child is not able to get access to to social services or other life preserving services.

That child is still facing extreme deprivation.

What is required is a package of interventions.

Children need support and help to be treated from the effects of trauma.

They need access to clean water and sanitation.

They need access to health services.

They need to be immunised.

What we're facing is children that are getting none of the above, none of the holistic services that children require.

OK, thank you very much.

Don't see other hands up.

[Other language spoken]

So thank you very much, Sheldon.

And thanks, Ricardo, and thank you for for bringing to our attention this important alert.

Let's move now to another continent, to the Americas.

We have Paolo Cabrero, who has brought us Christian Torres Bermeo, the IFRC Deputy Regional Director for America from Panama City to tell us the about the situation six months after the hurricane Melissa in Cuba.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning with this for Panama today.

Six months ago, Hurricane Melissa made landfall in coastal and fishing communities across eastern Cuba, affecting more than 2 million people and living in widespread destruction, particularly in Santiago, Cuba, Grandma and Golding.

The storm destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes, affected more than 700 health facilities and several disrupted water systems, with nearly 100 pumping stations impacted.

Entire communities were left without reliable access to electricity, clean water or basic services, and recovery has been slow and uneven.

The IFSC and the Cuban Red Cross have decades of experience responding to hurricanes in the country, including Ayan, Sandy, Matthew and Irma, but few operations has been as logistically complex as this one.

The response to Hurricane Melissa has taken place in the context of suffer prolonged agroviral epidemic, placing additional pressure on already strength health systems and more recently under severe energy constraints that are directly affecting the continuity of humanitarian and essential services across the country.

Fuel shortages and instability in the electricity grid have been disrupting transport, water systems, waste collection and the delivery of health services.

These are needs are not secondary challenges, they are defining the conditions for recovery or resilience for communities affected.

For the hurricane, this means that the progress is fragile, homes remain roofless or severely damaged, access to clean water is uneven, and health risks persist even as cases of dengue and chikungunya begin to decline.

For the Cuban Red Cross, it means operating in an environment where every activity from distributing relief to support to supporting health services depends of access to an to energy.

In the immediate aftermath of the hurricane of the Hurricane Melissa, the IFRC launched an emergency appeal to support 100,000 people over 2 years.

Although the appeal remains significantly underfunded, it has enabled us to support the Human Cross in assisting nearly 45,000 people with essential services, psychological support and relief items including identities, mosquito Nets and shelter materials.

The water systems installed by our volunteers in affected communities have already provided millions of litres of safe water supporting of to supporting up to 30,000 people each week.

Health services, disease prevention activities and community based support continue across the most affected provinces 6 months on.

The challenge is, the challenge is no longer only to respond, it is to sustain, to prevent recovery from starting.

The IFAC and the Cuban Root Cross has strengthened their operational approach to safeguard the minimum functionality of essential services.

We have secured fuel access for Cuban Root Cross page dispatcher, the first photovoltaic systems and electric vehicles to the country and are progressing with the procurement of roofing materials for the mushrooms, which will be delivered as soon as possible in Cuba.

I had the opportunity to visit Havana a few weeks ago.

The need to address energy, sanitation and transport challenge is clear, but so is the commitment of the robot of the cross volunteers and the technical teams in coordination with public institutions and key monitoring actors.

They remain active.

They remain active in Eastern Cuba and across the country, distributing assistance as it becomes available and preparing the upcoming hurricane season.

It is truly remarkable to witness how more than 40,000 volunteers across the across the country remain consistently available to support the communities preparing for and responding not only to hurricanes, but also to disease outbreaks and other risks present in the country.

We call on the international community to support this effort, not only to meet immediate needs, but to ensure that essential services remain accessible and the recovery can continue with unity and pay availability.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Christian for this update.

Let me see if there is any question for you in the room or online.

Isabel Sacco, Spanish News Agency.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, I am with FF Spanish News Agency.

I would like to ask on more general terms of about the situation in in Cuba beyond the the the consequences of the hurricane, given the the lack of access, as you said, of energy, fuel and the shortages of electricity.

How would you describe in the island the situation for the population?

And if you would say that this is the situation is 1 of humanitarian crisis, I mean open humanitarian crisis?

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

The situation in the island is without the solution.

It's very difficult, especially for example, we are focusing on helping the health services to continue working across the country despite the fewer shortages and of course the electricity and stability in the country.

And this makes us the urgent need to support the separation so we can keep supporting the continuity of these facilities, for example, with photovoltaic panels that are providing energy, energy to the health facilities to continue the work across the country.

Sorry, I didn't mind my microphone.

Deena Bisab APTN Yes, thank you, Alessandra.

And I'm sorry I missed the first part.

I don't know if you already answered my question.

I want to ask how does the US embargo impact Cuba's ability to recover from the aftermath of the hurricane?

Thank you, Christian.

The the constraints are making the operation difficult as I mentioned in my in my initial part, but we are finding another ways to continue the support to equipment across national world.

This means that we, for example, we have procured fuel to secure the operationally skills of the national society in which now they are receiving fuel and they can continue operation.

What the situation is difficult, but we are making all the efforts with the available tools to keep the work in the national in the country, especially in the federal areas with the volunteers of the human across.

Thank you very much this Isabel, as a follow up, Yes, thank you.

Just if you can be more a little more specific on what I asked about if you consider this as an open humanitarian crisis and if you can describe also the the situation on the about the access of food for the for the population.

[Other language spoken]

The the situation, I insist is quite difficult also because not only for logistical constraints, but also for the access to the affected areas.

In this term, the IFAC and the Cuban Red Cross is proposing the in the emergency appeal, different ways to approach the situation to reach more people in less time with the emergency appeal, especially in Dharma and Olin.

Thank you very much, Christian.

I don't see other questions for you.

So thanks for coming to the briefing to highlight the situation in Cuba.

And let me now go to my right to Tamina Ketan for OHC chart.

I mean you have a briefing on situation in Syria.

Let's go back to Syria.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning, everyone.

Our colleagues in Syria have just concluded a visit to Alhassaki government in the North East of the country where they received first hand testimonies and accounts of past and present human rights violations and abuses.

These include reports of significant numbers of killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and deportation of detainees.

During the five day visit, our colleagues were also informed that three mass graves had been uncovered in Al Hasaqi last month, including one inside a former detention facility operated by Syrian Democratic Forces.

Our team also heard testimonies from families of disappeared people, including children and women who reported loved ones having disappeared while being detained by SDF or international coalition forces.

The coalition says it transferred 7000 detainees to Iraq, around half of them Syrians, in January 2026.

We fear that many of them have no access to families or legal representation, procedural guarantees, including regarding their transfer to another country or detaining authority, non reform and rights to fair trial for those suspected of criminal offences must be fully respected regardless of their nationality.

Now turning to the South of Syria, we are receiving mounting protection concerns for civilians in southern Syria.

We're expanding operations by Israeli forces occupying these areas are placing lives at risk.

Rights to family life and privacy are being curtailed, and livelihoods, particularly in agriculture communities, have been seriously impacted.

We have received reports of increased harassment and intimidation, detentions, interrogations, house searches and movement restrictions and the Panetra governor.

Israeli forces have reportedly erected checkpoints, searched residential properties, and arrested and detained civilians.

In February, Israel reportedly sprayed chemical substance on agricultural lands and restricted the access of Syrian farmers to their lands, in addition to shelling and that hit agricultural land.

According to Syrian authorities, the Israeli military has arrested at least 250 people in the South of Syria, including children.

Since the fall of the former government, 50 remain detained and some have been taking taken to prisons in the Israeli occupied Syrian Golan.

This raises concerns regarding arbitrary detention as well as enforced disappearances in some cases where there is still no confirmed information on their legal status or whereabouts.

In yet another worrying development to the Israeli government has approved a project to expand illegal settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan, with reported plans to bring 3000 new Israeli families as settlers to the area in violation of international humanitarian law.

We call on the Israeli authorities to bring an end to all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in Syria, to conduct prompt and independent investigations of these alleged violations and bring those responsible to account.

The settlement activities in the occupied Syrian Golan must also stop and announced plans in this direction must be halted.

In another development, the opening in Damascus of the trial of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and figures of his regime, mostly in absentia, is an important first step.

Justice and redress for the hundreds of thousands of victims must be achieved in accordance with international human rights standards.

The heartbreaking scenes of bereaved mothers in tears at the courtroom speak to the need for a victim centred transitional justice process.

Al-Assad, his brother Maher and all those tried in absentia should ultimately face court in person and be held accountable for the full scope of the crimes and violations they have committed.

Also significant is the arrest of former regime official Amjad Youssef.

The horrific massacre he orchestrated in the Talamo neighbourhood in Damascus in 2013 demands full accountability.

Accountability must also extend to all parties that have committed serious violations and abuses in Syria prior to and during the war.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

Let me see if there are questions for you in the room.

No hands.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much Tamim for this.

A few questions if I may, just on the the maths graves and covered in Hassa go.

Can you see some more details about that?

I mean, is that new information that office has received for the first time or were you already cognizant that the and who is responsible for, for for these graves and why?

Just a bit of detail and context would be really helpful.

And just in terms of South Syria, do you mind just sorry, just being specific about the kind of areas or towns particularly where you're seeing these first time testimonies concerns that you outlined there in terms of intimidation and detention, increased harassment.

You just think the geographic names of those areas would be would be helpful?

And and just a final question in terms of the reports of the mass graves, I mean, what, what are the next steps?

Will will there be kind of further investigation?

Yeah, it'll be helpful to get the detail on that.

[Other language spoken]

First of all, on the mass graves, we don't have the full picture yet.

We are trying to analyse what our team has has seen on the ground.

First of all, these mass graves are are closed, so we could not witnessed them closely.

Our team saw the mass graves, but we could not inspect them.

Also our capacities in Syria do not include the capacity to inspect mass graves that you know, the forensic capacity that is required.

What we know is that there's the one I referred to inside the SDF former prison and at Shaddadi town, which contains reportedly from 9 to 14 bodies.

So there are two other mass graves also uncovered.

What is needed here is for the authorities, first of all to preserve the evidence of any crimes or violations that have been committed.

The people who have been killed and who are buried in these mass graves deserve truth, accountability and justice for them and their families.

So prompt and independent and thorough investigations need to be done by the authorities to uncover the truth about what happened and accordingly take steps towards accountability and justice and determine the responsibility of of any violations or crimes that have happened.

On your question on on southern Syria, as you know, after the fall of the former government, the Israeli military moved to to control more areas beyond the the line of of the ceasefire of 1974.

I do not have the exact names of these locations or villages or towns.

I can check with my colleagues and and get back to you on that.

[Other language spoken]

Sorry, I couldn't hear.

Sorry.

[Other language spoken]

I wanted to give you the floor.

The floor.

Sorry.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks so much to me.

And just on the other two mass graves you mentioned one in El Shaddadi town, do you have the names of the other two areas or any other details in terms of bodies found etcetera?

Any sense of time scale, how recent you think the sea graves are?

And I think actually I think that's it in terms of my follow up questions.

[Other language spoken]

So on the the mass graves, we have this one that I've mentioned in a Shaddadi town, there is a mass grave near the AL Malikiya checkpoint near the city of Hasaki and another one in the village of Tal Khalil.

So the the most recent one was discovered in in the AL Shahdadi camp.

The information that we received suggests that the bodies were not older than two to three months.

But this of course needs verification and investigation and that is why we are calling for proper.

And thorough investigations in these mass graves.

[Other language spoken]

Alessandra, I have a question for another topic.

Can I go on or no, wait because wait a second because I see that Olivia Sand is still up.

I don't know if it's a remaining or it's a new follow up.

Yeah, there's one final question just in terms of how how you're wording this is, is this verified by the UN human rights office or are you currently saying that you've seen and had reports just so I know at what level you're you're for counting this information?

No, this is not completely verified by our office.

As I said, first of all, we did not have the complete access to the to the mass graves.

We were informed, our team, our colleagues were informed about these, the existence of these mass graves by the people we have or our colleagues have have met with.

And as I said, we do not have the sufficient capacity to inspect mass graves and that is why we do not have that that level of verification.

[Other language spoken]

Are there any other Isabel, is that on on Syria?

[Other language spoken]

It's, I mean, thank you for the information, but could you be just more clear about the the fact that you said that you're is, I understood that your staff saw they did mass graves, but they are closed.

So you, of course, you you have maybe not may may have not details, but they exist.

Is that correct?

So they, they are there is there because when you say that the this information is not completed, verified, it can be a little bit confusing.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, our colleagues actually saw the the mass graves, but not from a close distance.

As you know, when you were, we were conducting a visit in the area, you can observe the existence of, of mass graves, but we could not go closer.

We could not inspect the mass graves.

And as I said, we don't have the capacity and, and we were also we received testimonies and, and accounts of people living in the area regarding these mass graves.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

And I see that your briefing notes have just been distributed.

So I don't see other hands in Syria.

So I'll go back to Mohammed.

Mohammed, you want to ask your question on?

Yes, Thank you so much.

[Other language spoken]

My question will be about Global Summit timing.

As you may seen, the global set sail again yesterday from Italy to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.

If you may remember last year activists on the boat carrying on humanitarian aid faced harsh and unlawful intervention by Israel in international motor voters.

My, my question is, what is your call to Israel, to the authorities to ensure their safety and their uninterrupted arrival in Gaza this year?

[Other language spoken]

Israel, as the occupying power in Gaza, has the has the obligation to ensure that Palestinians in Gaza are supplied with all necessities of life and to lift all restrictions to the entry and flow of humanitarian aid.

The situation in Gaza remains very, very dire.

As you know, the the there are severe shortages still of clean drinking water, food, cooking gas and many other necessities.

And this is amid the prolonged displacement of the majority of the population, including in in makeshift displacement sites that like privacy protection, sanitation, hygiene.

And this is leading also to increasing health concerns.

So the the Israeli authorities have the obligation to lift all restrictions for these life necessities and to allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance for the people in Gaza.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Tamim, for this.

Any Yes, Alex.

[Other language spoken]

Just one more question, Tamim, regarding what you said about the trial of Alessa and his brother and those tried in absentia, you said they should ultimately face course face court in person.

Do you mean we have to wait until they're physically present to be try?

I want just want to be sure to to understand what you mean by that they should ultimately face court in person.

Thank you for that.

Obviously, as you know, the trial is being conducted in absentia and yes, everyone that has committed any crime or violation of international law must be present to face trial.

That is something we hope to see.

Anyone else or on other subjects?

I don't see any hands up.

I mean, thank you so much for these briefings which actually conclude the hours.

The only thing I'm left with is to remind you that the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination will have a meeting with state parties next Thursday afternoon at 3:00 PM and the Committee Against Torture will close it's 84th session on Friday.

If there are no other questions for me or for other colleagues.

Thank you all very much and I wish you a very pleasant day and we'll see each other on Friday.

[Other language spoken]

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 28 April 2026