The UN and the crisis in the Middle East: What you need to know

What you need to know about the United Nations response to the conflict in the Middle East.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

26 September

  • UNRWA in action – September (UNRWA)

25 September

  • Report on UNCTAD assistance to the Palestinian people: Developments in the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (UNCTAD)
  • UN Human Rights updates list of companies involved in Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory (OHCHR)

24 September

  • Remarks to the press on missing persons in Gaza (OHCHR)
  • Gaza reconstruction needs reach $71.5 billion as Palestinian economy and public finances face severe strain (UNCTAD)
  • Remarks by UNRWA Commissioner-General ad interim Christian Saunders at the Ministerial Meeting on the Margins of the 81st UN General Assembly (UNRWA)

23 September

“Children’s biggest dreams should not be about survival,” Deputy UN relief chief urges action for Palestinians (OCHA)

Displaced children at a flooded Jabalia camp in north Gaza. Photo: OCHA
Displaced children at a flooded Jabalia camp in north Gaza. Photo: OCHA

 

22 September

  • Global growth under pressure as energy shock renews inflation risks and heightens uncertainty (DESA)

18 September

  • More help urgently needed as thousands arrive in Djibouti fleeing Yemen (UNHCR)

17 September

  • UK measures could mark ‘seismic shift’ and open path for joint efforts to end Israel’s crimes, say UN experts (OHCHR)

16 September

  • Renewed hostilities in Yemen push over 12 million children deeper into crisis (UNICEF)
  • Gaza: At least 20 killed in deadly building collapse, search for survivors continues (UN News)
  • Statement by Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, on the collapse of a building in Gaza (OCHA)

15 September

  • Women in the occupied West Bank fear violence and arrest, as settler attacks, military operations, and movement restrictions reach two-decade high (UN Women)
  • Yemen: Escalating conflict drives new displacement and refugee arrivals in Djibouti (UNHCR)
  • Gaza remains recovery points to possible war crimes, says UN rights chief (UN News)
  • Media fact sheet: Women in the occupied West Bank fear violence and arrest, as settler attacks, military operations, and movement restrictions reach two-decade high (UN Women)
  • Türk says recovery of remains in Gaza three years later adds to Palestinian trauma (OHCHR)

14 September

  • Numbers of Displaced in Yemen Reaches Nearly 94,000 (IOM)
  • Middle East – Highlighted (Confirmed) incidents (IOM)
  • Iran: UN Fact-Finding Mission calls for immediate cessation of hostilities after deadly US airstrikes hit civilians (OHCHR)
  • Six UN staff killed in Gaza school strike; Lebanon violations mount (UN News)

12 September

  • ‘Where do we go?’: How Israel’s ‘yellow line’ is closing in on Palestinians (UN News)

9 September

  • UN / STRAIT OF HORMUZ UPDATE (UNifeed)

8 September

  • Women head one in four households in Gaza as war tears families apart and reshapes household structures (UN Women)
  • No homes and no support: The women in Gaza trying to rebuild their lives (UN Women)
  • In Focus: Supporting women and girls affected by the war on Gaza (UN Women)
  • Killing of Palestinians in Gaza has been so widespread that women now head one in four households, double the pre-October 2023 rate (UN Women)
  • Smaller firms, greater risks: How Strait of Hormuz disruptions could trigger an exclusion effect for small and medium-sized enterprises (UNCTAD)
  • Ships and seafarers increasingly caught in the crossfire of unrelated wars (UN News)
  • UN chief demands Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon amid Nabatieh escalation (UN News)

7 September

  • Gaza: UN expert warns Israeli rubble-clearing could erase traces of atrocity crimes (OHCHR)

4 September

  • Israeli forces expelled Palestinian refugees from three West Bank camps, in violation of international law – UN report (OHCHR)

1 September

  • Funding shortfall forces the World Food Programme to cut food assistance by half in the West Bank (WFP)

31 August

  • Islamic Republic of Iran: Humanitarian Update No. 07 | As of 31 July 2026 – Iran (Islamic Republic of) | ReliefWeb (OCHA)
  • Jean Arnault Concludes Visit to New York (UNSCOL)

28 August

  • Four children killed as separate attacks destroy humanitarian supplies and damage critical water infrastructure in Gaza (UNICEF)
  • Six months of uncertainty for seafarers in Strait of Hormuz (IMO)

27 August

  • Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Acting Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process – Briefing to the Security Council on the Situation in the Middle East (UNSCO)
  • The European Union Grants UNFPA EUR 3 Million to Deliver Lifesaving Services for Women and Girls in Yemen (UNFPA/ECHO)

26 August

  • Security Council LIVE: Rising tensions in Gaza, West Bank (UN News)

25 August

  • Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – on the unauthorized entry into and interference with the UNRWA Kalandia Training Centre (OSSG)
  • UNRWA Press Statement on Kalandia Training Centre in occupied East Jerusalem (UNRWA)
  • Statement by the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process ad interim, Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, on UNRWA (UNSCO)

24 August

  • Joint Statement from the Leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Norway on the E1 West Bank Settlement Plan (non-UN source)
  • Japan contributes USD 3.1 million to deliver lifesaving food and nutrition assistance to people in Palestine (WFP)
  • Gaza: Children still at risk despite drop in acute hunger (UN News)
  • New SMART survey provides updated assessment of child and maternal nutrition in accessible areas of Gaza (UNICEF)
  • Secretary-General’s Press Encounter – on the United Nations’ Efforts to Uphold Navigational Rights and Freedoms (OSSG)
  • Global food supply has become ‘collateral damage’ in conflicts: Secretary-General (UN News)
  • UN / NAVIGATIONAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS (UNifeed)

21 August

  • Employment-intensive Infrastructure investments create jobs and improve public services across Lebanon | International Labour Organization (ILO)
  • Middle East – Highlighted (Confirmed) incidents (IMO)

The UN Charter remains humanity’s best hope for peace.

Amid geopolitical divisions, member countries must uphold it & ensure that the UN lives up to what it was meant to be:

A forum for solutions.

A guardian of international law.

And a force for peace and security.

António Guterres

Secretary-General of the United Nations (27 May 2026)

KEY RESOURCES

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA):

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Highlighted (confirmed) incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and the Middle East (IMO)

United Nations

AskDag: Where can I find information about the State of Palestine's participation at the UN?

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