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

10 October

• Middle East: “De-escalation now” — WFP warns against spreading Middle East crisis (WFP)
• Middle East: Women, girls see health access deteriorate as hostilities intensify displacements across Gaza, Lebanon and Syria (UNFPA)
• Gaza: UN Commission finds war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israeli attacks on Gaza health facilities and treatment of detainees, hostages (OHCHR)
• Gaza: Statement by UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Adele Khodr on the impact of displacement orders in North Gaza (UNICEF)
• Lebanon: “We need to invest every effort to reverse this cycle of violence and bring Lebanon and Israel – and the region – back from the brink of catastrophe” – DiCarlo (DPPA)
• Lebanon: UNIFIL Statement

9 October

• Ms. Lisa Doughten, Director of Financing and Partnerships Division, OCHA, on behalf of Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Ms. Joyce Msuya – Briefing to the Security Council on Gaza (OCHA)
• Israel: Interfaith engagement strengthens mental resilience in Israel (WHO)
• Gaza: Statement of Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, at the United Nations Security Council (UNRWA)
• Gaza: Hunger deepens as aid plummets (WFP)
• Lebanon: Statement By the Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, Imran Riza, on the One-Year Mark of Escalations in Lebanon (OCHA)
• Lebanon: UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine HennisPlasschaert, remarks at UN Spokesperson’s Noon Briefing (UNSCOL)

8 October

A Palestinian man living in a refugee camp in northern Gaza has talked of the ‘indescribable’ pain he has experienced over the past year as the conflict in the beleaguered enclave continues (UN News)

• Lebanon: The UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL has been operating along the “Blue Line” which separates Lebanon and Israel since the 1970s, and its mandate was just renewed for another year by the UN Security Council. But what is UNIFIL and what is it doing amid the escalating conflict between Hezbollah and Israel Defense Forces (IDF)? (UN News)
• Israel/Palestine: Two bills before the Israeli parliament could put a halt to the lifesaving operations of UN Palestine relief agency, UNRWA, which has been indispensable and irreplaceable “more than ever” over the past year of war in Gaza, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday (UN News)
• Lebanon: UNICEF provides medical supplies for about 2 million people in need in Lebanon (UNICEF)
• Syria: In Syria, UNHCR’s Grandi calls for greater support to those fleeing escalating conflict in Lebanon (UNHCR)
• Gaza: One year after the war in Gaza, violence persists, and the humanitarian crisis continues (UN Video)

7 October

In a message to mark one year since the Hamas-led terror attack during which more than 1,250 Israelis and foreign nationals were brutally killed on 7 October, the UN Secretary-General has called on the international community to loudly condemn those “abhorrent acts” which have triggered a shocking wave of violence across the region. (UN News)

• One year on from the 7 October attacks in Israel: helping the helpers (WHO)
• One year of war – photo gallery – occupied Palestinian territory (UNRWA)
• Message from UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini (UNRWA)
• One year of unimaginable suffering since the 7 October attack (OCHA)
• A year after the 7 October attacks, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Pramila Patten, remembers the victims of the attacks and reiterates her call for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages (OSRSG Sexual Violence in Conflict)

6 October

• Lebanon: The UN High Commissioner for Refugees called on Sunday for greater international support to stem the “humanitarian catastrophe” now engulfing Lebanon following a massive escalation in Israeli airstrikes and a “limited” ground invasion there targeting Hezbollah militants. (UN News)
• Lebanon: Displaced families in Lebanon yearn for peace and a return home (UNHCR)
• Lebanon: UNHCR’s Grandi appeals for urgent humanitarian support and an end to the bloodshed in Lebanon (UNHCR)

4 October

As Lebanon suffered another night of heavy Israeli bombing, UN humanitarians and partners described how people desperate to flee the violence found the country’s main border crossing into Syria cut by a new dawn strike, forcing them to skirt “a huge crater” and rubble on foot, to reach the other side. (UN News)

• Lebanon: As crisis deepens in Lebanon, more flee to Syria and beyond to escape bombs (UNHCR)
• Lebanon: UN experts deplore Israel’s increasing disregard for international law (OHCHR)
• Lebanon: “Bloodied, bruised and broken” – more than 690 children reportedly injured in Lebanon in last six weeks (UNICEF)
• Gaza: Korea International Cooperation Agency provides US$ 7.6 million to empower Palestine Refugee Youth in UNRWA Vocational and Technical Training Centres (UNRWA)
• Gaza: Some Palestinian orphans in Gaza have gotten a glimmer of hope as the tragedies triggered by the grinding nearly year-long war continue to deplete the Strip. (UN News)
• Gaza: Universities must respect peaceful activism and revise repressive policies targeting the pro-Palestinian solidarity movement on their campuses, a UN independent human rights expert said (UN News)
• Gaza: Photo Story – Women of Gaza: A year in crisis (UNFPA)

3 October

• Gaza: Women share stories of crisis and displacement in Lebanon (UN Women)
• Gaza: Geospatial data shows intensifying damage to cropland (FAO)
• Lebanon: Statement by the Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, Imran Riza, on the attacks against healthcare in Lebanon (OCHA)