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.

18 March

  • Statement by UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa on the killing of Palestinian children in the West Bank (UNICEF)
  • Letter from the President of the General Assembly on the Circulation of Letter UNRWA Commissioner Philippe Lazzarini (UNGA)
  • Over 125,000 Cross Syria Border from Lebanon, Half are Children (IOM)
  • UNRWA Commissioner-General: International law is being openly ignored (UNRWA)
  • Update on escalating conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (WHO)
  • Yemen 2026: The cost of inaction (OCHA)

Yemen 2026: The cost of inaction report cover

17 March

  • WFP projects food insecurity could reach record levels as a result of Middle East escalation (WFP)
  • Statement by UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder, on the killing of Palestinian children in the West Bank (UNICEF)

12 March

  • UNRWA Commissioner-General on Lebanon: The war must stop now. (UNRWA)
  • Fasting and faith during Ramadan (UNDP)
  • Up to 3.2 million Iranians temporarily displaced in Iran as conflict intensifies (UNHCR)
  • IMO calls Extraordinary Council meeting to discuss situation in Middle East (IMO)

11 March

  • ICJ Press Release 2026/5: Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel) – Declarations of intervention in the proceedings filed on 11 March 2026 by the Netherlands and by Iceland under Article 63 of the Statute of the Court.
  • USG DiCarlo on the situation in Lebanon: “Further escalation benefits no one” (UN DPPA)

5 March

  • The brutality of war measured in children’s lives as hostilities escalate in Iran (UNICEF)
  • UNRWA Commissioner-General on Lebanon: Lebanon needs peace not more destruction, displacement and death (UNRWA)
  • Over 330,000 displaced by recent hostilities in Middle East and beyond (UNHCR)
  • UNRWA Commissioner-General: The Middle East has become the deadliest place in the world (UNRWA)
  • Health impact of the escalation of conflict in the Middle East (WHO)
  • UNHCR Middle East Situation: Emergency Flash Update #1 (UNHCR)

3 March

  • WFP ready to scale up operations across the Middle East as displacement grows and supply routes come under strain (WFP)
  • Statement on conflict in Middle East (UNDP)
  • Escalation in the Middle East – humanitarian implications: Statement by Tom Fletcher, USG for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA)
  • UN Women gravely concerned by military strikes against Iran and escalation across the Middle East (UN Women)
  • UNRWA Commissioner-General on the Occupied Palestinian Territory: access to education is under attack in plain sight (UNRWA)

2 March

  • UNRWA Commissioner-General on Gaza: Once again, Israel is renewing its ban on supplies entering Gaza (UNRWA)

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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