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Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. Highlights: - Secretary-General  - Gaza - Lebanon - Syria - Security Council - Afghanistan - Afghanistan/UN Refugee Agency - Senior Personnel Appointment GAZA UNRWA has relocated its central operations and international staff to a location in the southern Gaza strip, to continue its humanitarian operations and support to staff and of course the Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip. UNRWA urges the Israeli authorities to protect everyone. UNRWA also notes that since the 7th of October, over 423,000 people have already been displaced. Of them, more than 270,000 have taken refuge in UNRWA shelters, and those numbers are of last night. We have not been able to get updated numbers due to the current situation, but they are likely to be exponentially higher. In those shelters, basic food, medicine and support is being provided to retain dignity and a glimmer of hope for those who have sought shelter. We urge all parties and those with influence over them to put an end to this tragedy. Also, since Wednesday, Gaza has been experiencing a full electricity blackout, which has brought essential health and water and sanitation services to the brink of collapse. Hospitals only have a few hours of electricity each day as they are forced to ration depleting fuel reserves. That is according to the World Health Organization. They also face severe shortages of medicine and blood. The lack of electricity, as one can easily imagine, is impacting food security as well, disrupting refrigeration and irrigation. No aid is currently getting into the Gaza Strip as border crossings remain closed. And colleagues on the ground say the UN’s own supplies in Gaza have now hit the bottom of the barrel. UN Women reports that Gaza is home to 50,000 pregnant women who are struggling to access essential health services as healthcare workers, hospitals and clinics come under attack. Some 5,500 of these women are due to give birth in the coming month. And as a reminder, team leaders of the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Department of Safety and Security in Gaza were informed by the Israeli liaison officers in the Israeli military that the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within 24 hours. That was as of midnight, local time, last night.  This amounts to approximately 1.1 million people.  The same order applied to all UN staff and those sheltered in UN facilities – including schools, health centres and clinics. We consider it is impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences. We strongly appeal for any such order to be rescinded. It could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation. LEBANON In Lebanon, the UN is very concerned by reports of renewed explosions in UNIFIL’s Area of Operations. The Mission is also receiving very distressing reports about one journalist being killed and others being wounded, including severely wounded. UNIFIL leadership is actively engaging with authorities on both sides of the Blue Line to try to de-escalate the situation and avoid any serious miscalculations. Peacekeepers are continuing their essential work and remain on task, in order to avoid any spillover in that particular area. AFGHANISTAN The UN Mission in Afghanistan today expressedits deep sorrow and condolences to all those killed and wounded in this afternoon’s explosion in a Shi’a Mosque in Pul-e Khumri. UNAMA said it is working on the ground to establish facts about the incident. AFGHANISTAN/UN REFUGEE AGENCY UNHCR today launched an appeal for $14.4 million to scale up its assistance for those impacted by the tragic recent earthquakes in western Afghanistan. Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=13%20October%202023