UN News Today 19 November 2025 |

Gaza: ‘death of dignity’ for displaced Palestinians, warns UNICEF

The situation for Gazans and particularly children is still dire as temperatures drop and people return to bombed-out homes as the fragile ceasefire holds, UN aid workers said on Wednesday.

UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, highlighted the case of six-year-old twins Yahya and Nabeela who were critically injured by an unexploded remnant of war in the north of the wartorn enclave.

They are receiving mental health support from the agency and tarpaulins to protect them from the cold.

Even though it hasn’t rained in Gaza for a few days, the many families who live in tents are still struggling to recover from the sudden and heavy downpours at the weekend.

Here’s Tess Ingram from the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, in Gaza, describing the plight of one displaced family whose tent was flooded:

“I met with a mother today, Wafa, who has a mother of five. And she was in tears as she described the weekend to me as among the worst days of her experience of the past two years of this conflict. She said there were times that she wished that she was in the house in her family home with the children when it was bombed so that she didn’t have to endure the – she said – death of dignity that they have experienced in recent days.”

Ms. Ingram said that an estimated 18,000 households were affected across more than 100 sites by the recent rains, but that many more families were likely impacted.

Ukraine reeling from another night of deadly Russian airstrikes

To Ukraine, where another night of deadly airstrikes by Russia has killed at least 25 people and damaged more homes, health centres, places of education and energy infrastructure – just as winter sets in.

The UN’s top aid official in Ukraine is Matthias Schmale.

He’s condemned this new wave of “relentless” attacks, which stretched from Kharkiv in the east to Ternopil and the Ivano-Frankivsk region in the west – which has been relatively unscathed so far.

Here’s Mr. Schmale now, with an update for UN News:

“Today, the first snow was reported in Kharkiv, so millions are put at risk as a result of the energy destruction. As usual, NGOs were on the scene quickly. They and the Red Cross distributed emergency shelter kits and other emergency aid. All of this violates international humanitarian law. These attacks have to stop.”

At least one dozen children were among those wounded, according to the authorities.

“Their suffering is unconscionable,” Mr. Schmale added.

WHO calls for safeguards to catch up with AI revolution in healthcare

The rapid rise of AI in healthcare has plenty of obvious upsides including faster diagnosis, but there are potentially serious downsides too, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

The agency noted that millions of health workers and patients already benefit from the self-learning technology.

But it pointed out that across Europe, only four countries have a national strategy on AI use in medical settings, with guidelines on data privacy and other legal issues, along with measures to boost AI accessibility for everyone.

Here’s WHO’s Bhanu Bhatnagar to tell us more about the key issues.

“AI can scan images, it can spot patterns and process information far faster than any human, giving doctors a real boost, especially when our health systems are as stretched as they are… You know, if an AI system gets something wrong, who’s responsible? Right now, you know, in most countries, the answer is, well, no one really knows. And only a tiny handful of countries have clear rules about liability when AI makes a mistake.”

Out of 50 European countries taking part in a WHO report on AI take-up, more than eight in 10 reported legal uncertainty as their top barrier to AI adoption, while 39 – or 78 per cent – cited financial affordability as an issue.

Daniel Johnson, UN News