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

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

26 November

  • Gaza: UN Volunteers support UNRWA operations in Gaza (UNV)
  • Israel – Occupied Palestinian Territory: Deputy Secretary-General’s delivery of the Secretary-General’s message on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (OSSG)
  • Lebanon: UN welcomes ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon (UN News)
  • Lebanon: UN rights chief adds voice to immediate ceasefire call (UN News)
  • Lebanon: Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on the announcement of a ceasefire in Lebanon (UNICEF)
  • Lebanon: Statement of UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert (UNSCOL)
  • Middle East: Statement to the press on UNRWA presence in occupied East Jerusalem (UNRWA)

25 November

  • Gaza: No end in sight to ‘horror’ in Gaza, UN official tells Security Council (UN News)
  • Israel – Occupied Palestinian Territory: Security Council Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East (As delivered by Deputy Special Coordinator Muhannad Hadi) (UNSCO)
  • Lebanon: WFP reaches half a million people in Lebanon with emergency aid amid escalating crisis (WFP)
  • Lebanon: UNIFIL concerned by attacks on Lebanese Armed Forces (UN News)
  • Middle East: The decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants citing alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, has led to huge interest in the court, and what comes next. Here is what we know so far. (UN News)
  • Middle East: The spread of disinformation against UNRWA is meant to create chaos & divert attention from the political aims to dismantle the Agency (UNRWA)

23 November

© UNOCHA video Beit Lahia New School, affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which has been transformed into a shelter.
© UNOCHA video Beit Lahia New School, affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which has been transformed into a shelter.

Gaza: Families fleeing from besieged areas of northern Gaza are leaving homes and shelters with just the shirts on their backs, Louise Wateridge, Senior Emergency Coordinator for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, told UN News.

22 November

  • Lebanon: a conflict particularly destructive to health care (WHO)
  • Lebanon-Syria: humanitarian and displacement crisis continues to deepen (UNHCR)

21 November

© UNRWA Large parts of Gaza have been reduced to rubble amid the ongoing conflict.
© UNRWA Large parts of Gaza have been reduced to rubble amid the ongoing conflict.

The UN-backed International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, together with a former Hamas commander, citing allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. (UN News)

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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