United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued separate appeals on Tuesday, demanding an immediate end to the armed confrontation between Afghanistan and Pakistan and denouncing what a new UN report describes as the “relentless expansion” of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The interventions followed confirmation by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) that Pakistani airstrikes in the eastern provinces of Paktia, Paktika and Kunar killed at least 28 civilians, including women and children, and wounded 49 others. In Gaza, Guterres described living conditions as “horrific” amid unexploded ordnance, disease and mass displacement, stating that Israeli military operations since the announcement of a ceasefire had killed more than a thousand Palestinians.

On the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier, the strikes hit the village of Mandokhail and triggered displacement that humanitarian agencies are now assessing. Pakistan’s information minister said the operation targeted hideouts of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, killing 29 militants, and followed a suicide attack in Karachi that killed three paramilitary personnel. The Taliban authorities in Kabul called the strikes a “cowardly act” and put the civilian death toll at 36, with over 160 injured. Moscow called on Islamabad and Kabul to end the armed conflict and resolve disputes through political-diplomatic means. New Delhi condemned the strikes as a “blatant and aggressive act” and a direct threat to regional stability, reaffirming its support for Afghan sovereignty. The Afghan permanent mission to the UN, still held by a diplomat appointed before the Taliban takeover, described the strikes as a serious violation of territorial integrity while also criticising the Taliban’s governance record. A ceasefire agreed last October has collapsed, and intermittent clashes have killed dozens in recent months, including a Pakistani strike on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul that left hundreds dead.

In the Israeli-Palestinian arena, Guterres’s report to the Security Council condemned the proliferation of settler outposts, an increase in settler violence “often in the proximity and with the support of Israeli security forces”, and the E1 settlement plan that would sever the northern and southern West Bank. He warned that such actions threaten the viability of a Palestinian state. Five European members of the Security Council — France, the United Kingdom, Greece, Latvia and Denmark — expressed concern over the deteriorating situation and firmly condemned continued colonisation. The Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem stated that the killing of Palestinian children in the West Bank has accelerated to an unprecedented rate and is the result of a broader policy rather than isolated errors. On the same day, Israeli forces killed at least eight Palestinians in Gaza, including two children, and shot dead a 15-year-old near Ramallah.

The Security Council was due to convene on the West Bank dossier, with European members pressing for a firm stance. On the Afghanistan-Pakistan front, no new diplomatic framework has been announced, though the UN has reiterated that all parties must adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law and ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure. Humanitarian agencies are preparing emergency aid deliveries for those displaced by the border strikes, while the Taliban government’s international isolation continues to complicate accountability mechanisms.