UN response to the conflict in the Middle East

29 July

In Gaza, mounting evidence of famine and widespread starvation

© WHO A severely malnourished girl in Gaza. Aid teams have repeatedly called for Israel to allow much more aid to enter Gaza to prevent the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.

“The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in Gaza,” UN-backed food security experts said on Tuesday, in a call to action amid unrelenting conflict, mass displacement and the near-total collapse of essential services in the war-battered enclave. (UN News)

UN agencies warn key food and nutrition indicators exceed famine thresholds in Gaza (WFP)
UNRWA Commissioner-General on Gaza: The worst case scenario of famine is now happening in Gaza (UNRWA)
UN Women statement on the escalating humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza (UN Women)
IPC Gaza Strip Food Insecurity and Malnutrition Alert (WHO)

28 July

UN chief: Israeli-Palestinian conflict at ‘breaking point,’ urges push for two-State solution (UN News)
Secretary-General’s remarks to the wrap-up session of the High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the two-State Solution (OSSG)
While Gaza ceasefire remains elusive, UN readies for conference around Israel-Palestine two-State solution (UN News)
Statement of UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini at the International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution (UNRWA)
Amid starvation in Gaza, Sudan, Guterres slams hunger ‘as a weapon of war’ (UN News)
UNRWA welcomes statements of humanitarian pauses and announcements that restrictions on bringing in humanitarian aid to Gaza might be eased (UNRWA)
Syria: Fragile ceasefire in Sweida ‘largely holding’ amid volatility (UN News)
High-Level Conference on Implementation of Two-State Solution (UN)

27 July

Malnutrition rates reach alarming levels in Gaza, WHO warns (WHO)
Türk calls for pressure on Israeli Government to end carnage in Gaza (OHCHR)
WFP Statement on Gaza (WFP)
Statement on Gaza by Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA)

26 July

UNRWA Commissioner-General on Gaza: airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation (UNRWA)

25 July

Gaza needs immediate ceasefire and massive scale-up in food assistance (WFP)
WFP food trucks keep moving inside Gaza as hunger deepens and restrictions persist (WFP)
UNRWA Commissioner-General on Gaza: A constructed and deliberate mass starvation (UNRWA)
Considerations for the delivery of humanitarian aid during a ceasefire in Gaza (OCHA)