The UN and the crisis in the Middle East: What you need to know (Jan-Jun 2024)

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

22 April

An independent panel released its much-awaited report on Monday about the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), providing 50 recommendations and noting that Israeli authorities have yet to provide proof of their claims that UN staff are involved with terrorist organisations.

18 April

The Security Council rejected Palestine’s request for UN membership on Thursday, with the United States casting a veto.

What will it take for Palestine to become a full UN Member State? UN News looks at Palestine’s current status and what it takes to become a UN Member State.

The Occupied Palestinian Territory Flash Appeal seeks $2.822 billion to assist over three million people in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Urgent aid is needed from April to December 2024.

16 April

As the war on Gaza reached its six-month mark, it continues to be a war on women. According to UN Women estimates, more than 10,000 women have been killed to date, among them an estimated 6,000 mothers who left 19,000 orphan children behind.

14 April

The people of the Middle East are facing a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict, António Guterres said on Sunday, urging “maximum restraint” across a region on the brink hours after Iran launched attack drones and missiles against Israel overnight Saturday.

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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