UN response to the conflict in the Middle East

11 November

© UNRWA/Ashraf | Amra Displaced Palestinian families shelter at an UNRWA school in Deir el Balah.

WHO ‘working tirelessly’ to help save lives as Middle East crisis grinds on (UN News)

Amid the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East, the World Health Organization (WHO) continues efforts to keep hospitals up and running and to evacuate patients requiring specialized treatment, a senior official with the UN agency said in Cairo on Monday.

Lebanon: Media quote by UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon [EN/AR] (OCHA, UN RC/HC Lebanon)
Lebanon: Amid intensifying military operations in Lebanon and deadly attacks on civilians, medical personnel and infrastructure, UN humanitarians warned on Monday that food insecurity in the war-wracked country is set to worsen. (UN News)

10 November

Gaza: ‘More people will die’: How Israel’s UNRWA ban affects Palestinians in Gaza and beyond (UNRWA)
Lebanon: Unremitting support to civilians amidst surge in violence (UNIFIL)

8 November

UN vehicles driving through Gaza | © Olga Cherevko/OHCHR

There must be “due reckoning” for horrific violations, possible atrocity crimes in Gaza – UN Human Rights Chief (OHCHR)

Gaza: Regular attacks put Gaza schools-turned-shelters on the “frontlines of war” (UNICEF)
Gaza: Sigrid Kaag, Senior Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs and Reconstruction in Gaza visited an UNRWA school in Gaza, where she saw the living conditions and daily struggles of the displaced people. (UNIFEED)
Lebanon: UNIFIL Statement (UNIFIL)

7 November

NEW Report: Responding to emergency needs amidst shrinking humanitarian space in the Occupied Palestinian Territory | January – June 2024 (OCHA)

6 November

© UNRWA UNRWA staff continue to work in Gaza where possible.

How has the war in Gaza affected UNRWA’s ability to support Palestinians?

As well as bringing emergency aid to those living in Occupied Palestinian Territory, UNRWA, the agency for Palestine refugees, also provides a range of crucial services. In Gaza, the year-long war has severely threatened their ability to deliver (UN News).

Gaza: Second round of polio campaign in Gaza completed amid ongoing conflict and attacks: UNICEF and WHO (UNICEF)
Middle East: Statement of UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini to the United Nations General Assembly (UNRWA)
Middle East: PGA Remarks at the Informal Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the situation of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East [UNWRA] (UN PGA)

5 November

Gaza: Statement by UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Adele Khodr on the decimation of newborn care in the Gaza Strip (UNICEF)
Gaza: RC/HC Hadi Visit to Gaza (UNIFEED)
Gaza: Intolerable conditions in northern Gaza ‘beyond imagination’ (UN News)

4 November

© UNRWA | A polio vaccine campaign began in Gaza in September 2024

Northern Gaza: The UN-supported polio vaccine campaign concluded in besieged northern Gaza on Monday, with agencies inoculating 94,000 children, but thousands still remain out of reach (UN News).

West Bank: In the West Bank, mobile healthcare teams are a lifeline amid crisis (UNFPA)

3 November

Northern Gaza: Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on a deadly weekend of attacks in North Gaza (UNICEF)

2 November

Gaza: Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee – Stop the assault on Palestinians in Gaza and on those trying to help them (IASC)

1 November

Gaza: Stop the assault on Palestinians in Gaza and on those trying to help them (OCHA)
Gaza: WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing (WHO)
Northern Gaza: Polio vaccination campaign to resume in northern Gaza (WHO and UNICEF)