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

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

26 November

• Lebanon: Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on the announcement of a ceasefire in Lebanon (UNICEF)

21 November

• Gaza: Insecurity could bring the humanitarian operation in Gaza to a standstill – Statement by Muhannad Hadi, Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHAUN RC/HC oPt)
• Middle East: Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC on the issuance of arrest warrants in the Situation in the State of Palestine (ICC)
  • Situation in the State of Palestine: ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I rejects the State of Israel’s challenges to jurisdiction and issues warrants of arrest for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant
  • Situation in the State of Palestine: ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I issues warrant of arrest for Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (Deif)

20 November

More than a year into the conflict, “we are at the point where diplomacy has failed in the situation where the geopolitics is superbly difficult,” Tor Wennesland said in an exclusive interview with UN News earlier this week.

• Gaza: Security Council fails to adopt resolution demanding immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as United States casts negative vote (Security Council)

19 November

• With European Union support, WFP and the Ministry of Labour of Palestine help Palestinian workers from Gaza displaced in the West Bank (WFP)

18 November

• Middle East: Press remarks by UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini (UNRWA)
• Middle East: Tor Wennesland Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process briefing to the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East (UNSCO)

15 November

• Gaza: Dismantling UNRWA — Gazans’ Lifeline — Would Breed ‘Resentment and Hatred’, Fourth Committee Speakers Warn, Urging Israel to Cease Attempts to Do So (UNRWA)
• Lebanon: UNIFIL Statement – Artillery shell hits UNIFIL sector west headquarters (UNIFIL)

13 November

• Lebanon: Flash Update #43 – Escalation of hostilities in Lebanon, as of 11 November 2024 (OCHA)

12 November

• NEW: UNRWA oPt Flash Appeal Progress Report (1 January – 30 June 2024)

11 November

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

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

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

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)