The UN and the crisis in the Middle East: What you need to know (Jul-Dec 2025)

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

24 September

Gaza: UN agencies warn of escalating attacks, mass displacement and famine

© UNFPA Palestine/Media Clinic Two children wait at a temporary health centre in Gaza.
© UNFPA Palestine/Media Clinic Two children wait at a temporary health centre in Gaza.
  • UN agencies on Wednesday warned that civilians in the devastated Gaza Strip are facing escalating attacks, more mass displacement and worsening hunger. (UN News)
  • UN Relief Chief warns that Gaza’s children are “trapped in a graveyard” (OCHA)
  • A million Syrians have returned home, but more support needed so millions more can follow (UNHCR)
  • Remarks by UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini at the UNGA Side-Event “Call to Action for Palestinian Children in the West Bank and Gaza” (UNRWA)
  • Attacks on Gaza-bound flotilla defy belief, accountability a must (OHCHR)

23 September

  • The Secretary-General’s remarks to the Security Council on the Middle East (OSSG)
  • Israel seeks permanent control of Gaza, Jewish majority in Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, UN Commission of Inquiry says (OHCHR)
  • UN Human Rights in Occupied Palestinian Territory: Israel’s tactics are inflicting terror on the Palestinian population of Gaza City and forcing tens of thousands to flee (OHCHR)

22 September

Recommit to a two-State solution for Israel-Palestine conflict, ‘before it’s too late’: Guterres

UN News/Shirin Yaseen The Separation wall in the West Bank.
UN News/Shirin Yaseen The Separation wall in the West Bank.

The time has come to free the 48 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza and to stop the bombing, massacres and displacement in the embattled enclave, French President Emmanual Macron told delegates in the UN General Assembly Hall on Monday. (UN News)

  • UNRWA Commissioner-General on Gaza: the recognition of a Palestinian State doesn’t mean much if there isn’t a ceasefire in Gaza (UNRWA)
  • High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution – STATEMENTS (UN Journal)
  • Environmental damage in Gaza Strip harming human health, threatening long-term food and water security (New UNEP report)
  • The Secretary-General’s remarks at the High-Level International Conference for Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and Implementation of the Two-State Solution (OSSG)

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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