As Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, I condemn in the strongest possible terms the artillery shelling of Palestinian homes by the Israeli defence force in Beit Hanoun that killed 19 innocent civilians and injured 60, including women and children. The explanation by Israeli authorities that this wantonly criminal act was a mistake is unacceptable. The shelling and subsequent killing of civilians indicates a premeditated military tactic constituting a form of collective punishment against the Palestinian people. Since 25 June 2006, the most recent Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip, I continue to receive alarming reports about deliberate attacks by Israeli forces… Read more about UN expert urges Israel to stop destruction in Gaza, calls for military sanctions 

Exercising its veto in the Security Council today, the United States blocked a draft resolution that won the endorsement of 10 other members and would have called for a United Nations fact-finding mission in response to a recent Israeli operation in Gaza resulting in at least 18 civilian deaths. Sponsored by Qatar, the draft would have condemned Israeli military operations in Gaza as well as Palestinian rocket fire into Israel, while calling for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and a cessation of violence by both parties. Four countries – the United Kingdom, Denmark, Japan and Slovakia – abstained on the text. Read more about US vetoes Security Council draft resolution on Israeli operations in Gaza 

The Security Council met in open session today to discuss the latest deadly violence in the Gaza Strip, with a senior United Nations official calling on Israel to review the implications of its military actions, on the Palestinians to take the critically important step of stopping rocket attacks by militants, and on both sides to return to talks. “The incident that occurred in Beit Hanoun on Wednesday is shocking,” Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Angela Kane said. Read more about After deadly Gaza shelling, senior UN official urges Israel, Palestinians to return to talks 

United Nations officials voiced shock and dismay at Israel’s shelling of a residential area in the occupied Gaza Strip in which 18 Palestinian civilians were killed, including eight children and seven women, with Secretary-General Kofi Annan calling on the Israeli Government to cease its military operations there forthwith. In a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr. Annan took note of the reported announcement by Israel of a full investigation and said he looked forward to its early results. He also called on the Palestinians to halt attacks against Israeli targets. The Security Council President for November, Ambassador Jorge Voto-Bernales of Peru, summoned the 15-member body for urgent consultations on the situation, including today’s shelling of the residential area in Beit Hanoun. Read more about UN officials voice 'shock and dismay' at deadly Israeli shelling of Gaza civilians 

The fieldwork of the post conflict environmental assessment of Lebanon has been completed by a team from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which carried out its work in Lebanon from 30 September to 21 October 2006. The experts covered the following disciplines; Asbestos; Contaminated land; Coastal and marine issues; Solid and hazardous waste management; Surface and ground water; Weapons and munitions. From these respective disciplines a wide range of samples were transported to three independent and recognized laboratories in Europe for tests. Read more about No evidence of radioactive residue in Lebanon: post-conflict assessment 

Israeli military forces withdrew from the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun today, leaving behind significant damage to roads and houses, destroyed phone and electricity lines and shortage of food and water, the main United Nations refugee agency caring for Palestinians reported. The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said Israeli forces were still present in other parts of Gaza. Since last Friday, a joint humanitarian convoy of UNRWA and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been in Beit Hanoun delivering food, water, milk, blankets and mattresses to the hospital there. Additional convoys entered over the weekend and yesterday. Read more about UN agency reports significant damage in Beit Hanoun after Israeli withdrawal 

Voicing deep concern at the rising death toll from Israeli operations in northern Gaza, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged Israel to refrain from “further escalating an already grave situation” and called on Palestinian militants to stop firing rockets at Israeli civilian targets. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said between 30 and 40 women today were collected inside two of its elementary schools, where their mobile phones were taken from them by Israeli soldiers. It confirmed that two of the women subsequently suffered gunshot wounds. Read more about Annan 'deeply concerned' at escalating violence in Gaza 

Unrelenting armed conflict, severe movement restrictions, widespread unemployment and unprecedented material hardship has made the Occupied Palestinian Territories synonymous with violations of international law, and a political solution is desperately needed, the head of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency told the General Assembly yesterday. “If the picture I have painted is dismal and depressing, it is because the reality is dismal and depressing,” UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Karen Koning AbuZayd said when presenting her annual report. Read more about UN Palestine refugee agency chief says deplorable conditions need a political solution 

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today wrapped up a successful three-month operation in Lebanon to feed over 810,000 people displaced or otherwise affected by this summer’s fighting between Israel and Hizbollah, providing nearly 13,000 tons of food throughout the country. “The Lebanese government will take care of the few remaining pockets that may need some assistance to secure their basic food needs, but for WFP our mission is complete,” the agency’s emergency coordinator for Lebanon, Zlatan Milisic, said. Read more about UN agency concludes operation to feed 810,000 mostly displaced people