With the new school year beginning in just a few days, 70 per cent of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip cannot feed themselves without assistance, a 30 per cent increase in the number in just over a year, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today. The Gaza economy is near total collapse and WFP, which this month increased the number of people to whom it is providing food by 25 per cent to 220,000 persons, will try to add more beneficiaries since the situation was deteriorating on a daily basis, spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume told a news briefing in Geneva. Read more about Seventy per cent of Palestinians in Gaza need international food aid to survive – UN 

Palestinians face major difficulties in Gaza, including shortages of food and a crippled fishing industry because of the continued conflict with Israel, the United Nations food agency warned today, as it distributes aid to almost a quarter of a million of those most in need. “Gaza’s food security remains an issue of serious concern, the World Food Programme (WFP) says. Naval restrictions continue to block all boats from fishing off-shore, crippling the fishing industry,” UN spokesman Marie Okabe told reporters in New York. “Furthermore, Gaza’s agricultural markets continue to suffer from access restrictions. WFP is distributing food to 220,000 of the most vulnerable people. Read more about Gaza faces major food problems 

A two-day United Nations International Conference of Civil Society in Support of the Palestinian People concluded in Geneva today with the adoption of a Plan of Action aimed at addressing their plight. The Plan of Action commits civil society organizations to ending the Israeli occupation and to achieving the rights of self-determination and return of the Palestinian people. It acknowledges that the war against Lebanon and the continuing assault on Gaza have created new realities. The Plan notes that the conditions of Palestinians under occupation continue to deteriorate and Palestinian refugees continue to be denied their international rights. Read more about UN conference adopts action plan to help Palestinians living under occupation  

The United Nations is sending four independent human rights experts to Lebanon and Israel to gather facts about abuses during the recent conflict there. “The independent human rights experts will gather first-hand information, establish facts and conduct an impartial legal analysis of the persistent allegations of violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law during the recent conflict in order to make specific recommendations to the concerned authorities,” the UN said in a news release. In Lebanon from 7 to 10 September and in Israel the following three days, the experts will meet with government officials. Read more about UN human rights experts head to Lebanon, Israel to probe violations 

A United Nations committee will convene the UN International Conference of Civil Society in Support of the Palestinian People tomorrow in Geneva in a bid to help alleviate their plight. The two-day Conference will focus on the current situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and related civil society action, according to a press release issued in connection with the event. Representatives of civil society organizations from all regions will discuss the situation on the ground, promote their current programmes, develop action-oriented proposals in support of the Palestinian people and coordinate their activities. Read more about UN to convene international conference in support of Palestinian people 

The crises and problems of the Middle East will be at the forefront of a busy Security Council programme this month, Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis of Greece, which holds the Council presidency for September, said today as he outlined the 15-member body’s schedule. The situation in Lebanon following the cessation of hostilities last month between the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and Hizbollah, events in the occupied Palestinian territory, and the question of Iran’s nuclear ambitions are among the issues likely to be discussed. Secretary-General Kofi Annan may brief the Council on his current trip to the Middle East after he returns to UN Headquarters in New York. Read more about Middle East crisis expected to top Security Council agenda in September 

Painting a grim picture of the current social climate in the Middle East, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator today urged donors meeting in Stockholm to address the severe suffering of Palestinians living under occupation. Mr. Egeland, reflecting on more than two decades of travel to the region, said he had never felt such a sense of disillusionment, despair and hatred as on his last mission there in July. Calling the situation in Gaza severe, he said a cessation of hostilities and the release of the captured Israeli soldiers were needed. The humanitarian community also needed better access to Gaza, he added. Read more about UN aid chief urges action to stem suffering in Occupied Palestinian Territories