The UN and the crisis in the Middle East: What you need to know

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

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

28 August

  • Four children killed as separate attacks destroy humanitarian supplies and damage critical water infrastructure in Gaza (UNICEF)

27 August

  • Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Acting Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process – Briefing to the Security Council on the Situation in the Middle East (UNSCO)
  • The European Union Grants UNFPA EUR 3 Million to Deliver Lifesaving Services for Women and Girls in Yemen (UNFPA/ECHO)

26 August

  • Security Council LIVE: Rising tensions in Gaza, West Bank (UN News)

25 August

  • Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – on the unauthorized entry into and interference with the UNRWA Kalandia Training Centre (OSSG)
  • UNRWA Press Statement on Kalandia Training Centre in occupied East Jerusalem (UNRWA)
  • Statement by the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process ad interim, Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, on UNRWA (UNSCO)

24 August

  • Joint Statement from the Leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Norway on the E1 West Bank Settlement Plan (non-UN source)
  • Japan contributes USD 3.1 million to deliver lifesaving food and nutrition assistance to people in Palestine (WFP)
  • Gaza: Children still at risk despite drop in acute hunger (UN News)
  • New SMART survey provides updated assessment of child and maternal nutrition in accessible areas of Gaza (UNICEF)
  • Secretary-General’s Press Encounter – on the United Nations’ Efforts to Uphold Navigational Rights and Freedoms (OSSG)
  • Global food supply has become ‘collateral damage’ in conflicts: Secretary-General (UN News)
  • UN / NAVIGATIONAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS (UNifeed)

21 August

  • Employment-intensive Infrastructure investments create jobs and improve public services across Lebanon | International Labour Organization (ILO)
  • Middle East – Highlighted (Confirmed) incidents (IMO)

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)

KEY RESOURCES

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA):

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Highlighted (confirmed) incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and the Middle East (IMO)

United Nations

AskDag: Where can I find information about the State of Palestine's participation at the UN?

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