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

27 July

  • Israeli Forces Enter UN Training Centre in Occupied East Jerusalem for Second Time in Under a Month (UNRWA)

23 July

  • Food security and child nutrition crises persist in Gaza despite fragile gains due to increased humanitarian assistance and commercial traffic (UNICEF)

16 July

  • Gaza Strip: Scale-up in FAO’s conditional cash for farmers projected to help feed 100 000 people over the next year (FAO)

15 July

  • Note to Correspondents: Iran and the Gulf (OSSG)
  • Middle East – Highlighted (Confirmed) incidents (IMO)

14 July

  • Deputy Secretary-General’s opening remarks at the High-level Roundtable on the United Nations response to the Socio-Economic Impacts of the Military Escalation in the Middle East (OSSG)
  • ‘Cycle of escalation must end’: UN condemns deadly Strait of Hormuz attacks (UN News)

13 July

  • UNRWA rehabilitates community infrastructure in the Gaza Strip with $1 million contribution from The Big Heart Foundation (UNRWA)
  • Annual Health Report: UNRWA delivers essential healthcare to more than three million Palestine Refugees in 2025 (UNRWA)
  • UN / IRAN GULF REGION UPDATE (UNifeed)
  • Strait of Hormuz: UN agencies call for diplomacy to end attacks (UN News)

12 July

  • Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – on the Middle East (OSSG)

10 July

  • Fertilizer trade impacted by Strait of Hormuz conflict (WTO)
  • UN / IRAN NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT (UNifeed)
  • USG DiCarlo urges constructive engagement towards peaceful resolution of Iran nuclear issue (DPPA)

8 July

  • Note to Correspondents: on the renewed military confrontations in the Gulf (OSSG)
  • Joint Statement by the Heads of the International Energy Agency, International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, and World Trade Organization (IMF)
  • IMO Secretary-General condemns new attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz (IMO)

2 July

  • UN calls for maximum restraint to preserve ceasefire between the United States and Iran (UN DPPA)

30 June

  • Secretary-General’s remarks at the meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee of the General Assembly for the Announcement of Voluntary Contributions to UNRWA (OSSG)
  • Strait of Hormuz Disruptions (UNCTAD)

29 June

  • Security Council Briefing – 29 June 2026 (SCR 2334) (UNSCO)
  • UN Relief Chief tells Security Council Gaza civilians cannot wait for diplomacy (OCHA)
  • Middle East conflict fallout pushes countries toward US$1 trillion fossil fuel subsidy bill, warns UN Development Programme (UNDP)

25 June

  • War, hunger and hope in Gaza: WFP-EU art show draws crowds across Europe (WFP)

23 June

  • GAZA / CHILDREN MUSIC (UNifeed)
  • Israel continues to commit genocide and other atrocity crimes by deliberately targeting Palestinian children (OHCHR)
  • IMO announces evacuation plan in the Strait of Hormuz (IMO)

22 June

  • Mr. Indrika Ratwatte, Acting ASG for Humanitarian Affairs, on behalf of Mr. Tom Fletcher, USG for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator – Briefing to the Security Council on Syria (OCHA)

19 June

  • Geneva Palais Briefing: A child a day: The deadly illusion of Gaza’s ceasefire (UNICEF)
  • Iran peace deal must not come at the cost of human rights, warn UN experts (OHCHR)
  • Hundreds of displaced from south receive UNIFIL assistance (UNIFIL)

18 June

US-Iran deal: technical work can begin, says atomic energy agency

© IAEA An IAEA staff member analyses material in the organization's plutonium laboratory in Austria.
© IAEA An IAEA staff member analyses material in the organization’s plutonium laboratory in Austria.

The head of the UN-affiliated atomic energy agency on Thursday welcomed the signing of an initial Iran-US memorandum aimed at ending the war, before proposing “to sit down” with both parties to assist with concrete measures such as verification of Iran’s nuclear programme, a key sticking point. (UN News)

  • IAEA on signing of initial Iran-US memorandum (UNOG Newsroom)
  • Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel (OHCHR)

17 June

  • UNIFIL naval peacekeepers help Lebanese Navy take on maritime security duties (UNIFIL)
  • Lebanon: 12 children killed, maimed daily, despite Hezbollah-Israel truce (UN News)

15 June

  • IMO Secretary-General welcomes US-Iran agreement (IMO)
  • While world waits for details on Iran-US accord, UN calls for Hormuz aid corridor (UN News)
  • Statement by Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, to the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council (OHCHR)

14 June

  • Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – on the conflict in the Middle East (OSSG)

12 June

  • Peacekeepers repair roads and bridges to improve access (UNIFIL)

11 June

  • Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – on the conflict in the Middle East (OSSG)
  • Statement by the Commissioner-General ad interim of UNRWA, Christian Saunders (UNRWA)

10 June

  • Secretary-General’s remarks to the Security Council – on the Middle East (OSSG)
  • Deadly violence continues to claim children’s lives across Gaza and the West Bank (UNICEF)

9 June

  • UNESCO steps up support as Lebanon‘s crisis unfolds (UNESCO)
  • No safe passage: Strait of Hormuz remains highly volatile (IMO)
  • Palestinian civilians are victims of all sides, trapped between the mass atrocities of Israeli forces and settlers and the fear-based rule of Hamas (OHCHR)

8 June

  • Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – on the Middle East (OSSG)
  • WFP warning becomes a reality for millions as Middle East crisis pushes poorest families further into hunger (WFP)

5 June

  • WFP warning becomes a reality for millions as Middle East crisis pushes poorest families further into hunger | World Food Programme (WFP)

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)

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