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.

24 July

  • Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – on renewed threats to maritime navigation in the Red Sea (OSSG)
  • It is time for a confidence-building Operational Mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz to prevent a massive humanitarian crisis (UNOPS)
  • Stranded Hormuz Seafarers abandoned for months at sea (OHCHR)

23 July

  • Food security and child nutrition crises persist in Gaza despite fragile gains due to increased humanitarian assistance and commercial traffic (UNICEF)
  • Statement on recent attacks on ships in the Red Sea (IMO)
  • Statement by the UN Special Envoy on recent escalation (OSESGY)

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)

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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