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Contents

  1. UN Security Council deliberates on the situation in Gaza, West Bank, including East Jerusalem
  2. UN experts condemn Israel¡¯s ¡°discriminatory regime of capital punishment¡±, ¡°policy of ethnic cleansing¡±, and use of sexual violence as a tool of occupation
  3. ¡°Unseen levels¡± of death among women and girls in Gaza and impact of the war on their health
  4. Gaza: deadly attacks on humanitarian contractors, recovery and reconstruction needs for USD 71.4 billion

I. UN Security Council deliberates on the situation in Gaza, West Bank, including East Jerusalem

On 28 April, at the quarterly open debate of Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, the Vice Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People warned about the continuing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. He also condemned the continuing settler violence in the West Bank and the Israeli authorities¡¯ measures aimed at changing the demographic, religious, and cultural character of East Jerusalem, and called for the full implementation of the New York Declaration. The Â鶹APP (UN) Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific stressed that the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is ¡°steadily worsening¡±, and that rampant settler violence, displacement, and accelerating settlement activity are eroding the prospects for a political process and a resolution to the conflict based on a viable two-State solution.

On 27 April, the UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process commended the Palestinian Central Elections Commission for successfully administering the 25 April local elections and ensuring a credible process despite significant constraints, including the humanitarian crisis in?Gaza?and the severe movement and access restrictions in the?West Bank.

More details and related content:

  1. Statement by the UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process ahead of Palestinian local elections (23 April)
  2. UN Human Rights and Palestinian Minister of Interior discuss human rights concerns [EN/AR] (24 April)
  3. UN Deputy Special Coordinator: 25 April local elections an important step in strengthening Palestinian institution (27 April)
  4. “In Gaza the humanitarian catastrophe continues” warns the UN Palestinian Rights Committee to the Security Council (28 April)
  5. “The situation in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is steadily worsening”, tells the UN Assistant Secretary-General to the Security Council (28 April)
  6. Amid a tenuous ceasefire and soaring humanitarian needs, the Security Council hears updates on transitional governance structures and reconstruction efforts in Gaza (28 April)

II. UN experts condemn Israel¡¯s ¡°discriminatory regime of capital punishment¡±, ¡°policy of ethnic cleansing¡±, and use of sexual violence as a tool of occupation

UN human rights experts condemned Israel¡¯s law approved by the Knesset on 30 March, which by effectively providing for the death penalty solely against Palestinians constitutes ¡°a discriminatory regime of capital punishment¡± and a violation of Israel¡¯s obligations under international human rights law. Similarly, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, condemned the law and expressed indignation at the ¡°sharp deterioration in the human rights of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since the start of the regional hostilities on 28 February¡±. Further, UN human rights experts called to end Israeli military attacks affecting civilian shelters in Gaza and expressed serious concern over the forced displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, stressing that ¡°the scale and pattern of these actions¡± showed ¡°the ongoing broader policy of ethnic cleansing across the occupied Palestinian territory¡±. In a 30 April statement, UN human rights experts expressed concern that ¡°Israeli sexual violence has become embedded in Palestinians¡¯ daily lives under occupation¡±. ¡°It is intersecting, structural and systematic, and operates as a tool of control, subjugation and dispossession¡±, they said. They stated dismay at the ¡°inaction of the international community that permits total impunity¡±.

More details and related content:

  1. Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice (A/HRC/RES/61/4) (31 March)
  2. Human Rights Council resolution: Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan (A/HRC/RES/61/32) (1 April)
  3. Human Rights Council resolution: Right of the Palestinian people to self-determination (A/HRC/RES/61/33) (1 April)
  4. Palestine: Human Rights Bulletin (Reporting period: 1 March – 31 March 2026) [EN/AR] (2 April)
  5. Israel¡¯s death penalty law constitutes discriminatory regime of capital punishment: UN experts (2 April)
  6. Regional conflict has eclipsed surge in human rights violations against Palestinians, UN Commission of Inquiry says (8 April)
  7. Palestinians across Gaza unsafe six months on from ceasefire announcement, says UN Human Rights Chief (10 April)
  8. UN experts call for end to attacks on Gaza shelters, forced displacement in West Bank (13 April)
  9. UN experts call for immediate suspension of EU-Israel trade agreement as ¡®minimum requirement¡¯ under international law (20 April)
  10. UN Human Rights in Occupied Palestinian Territory: Child and man killed near school in Al Mughayyir as settler militarisation intensifies (23 April)
  11. Gaza damage assessment must require end to occupation and discrimination of Palestinians: UN experts (29 April)
  12. Sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians driving displacement, warn UN experts (30 April)

III. ¡°Unseen levels¡± of death among women and girls in Gaza and impact of the war on their health

In an advocacy brief released on 17 April, the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) reported that deaths of women and girls ¡°reached levels unseen before in previous wars on Gaza¡±. With a peaking during periods of intensified violence, women and girls continue to be killed despite the October 2025 ceasefire agreement to total of more than 38,000 deaths between October 2023 and December 2025. At the same time, UN Women warned of the deepening health risks for women and girls due to displacement and systematic collapse of reproductive health services, and of the long-term social and protection impact of a rise in women-headed households.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) sounded the alarm on a surge in child marriage and adolescent pregnancy under the pressure of war. UNFPA analysis showed that child marriage is ¡°increasingly driven by survival, not choice¡±, as a coping mechanism for families facing extreme poverty and displacement.

More details and related content

  1. UNFPA: Surge in child marriage and adolescent pregnancy threatens a generation of girls in Gaza (6 April)
  2. UNFPA: Situation Report – Crisis in Palestine (January – March 2026) (17 April)
  3. Where is the humanity, when more than 38,000 women and girls in Gaza have been killed? Remarks by Sofia Calltorp, UN Women Chief of Humanitarian Action ?(17 April)
  4. Advocacy brief: The cost of war in Gaza on women and girls – UN Women [EN/AR] (17 April)
  5. Press Release: More than 38,000 women and girls were killed in Gaza between October 2023 and December 2025 – UN Women ?(17 April)
  6. Watch: Gaza’s women fight for survival [EN/AR] (18 April)
  7. UN Women Palestine Humanitarian Update – Reporting Period: 1 January – 31 December 2025 (20 April)
  8. UN Women feature: Who are the women and girls behind Gaza war¡¯s horrific casualty toll? (20 April)

IV. Gaza: deadly attacks on humanitarian contractors, recovery and reconstruction needs for USD 71.4 billion

The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed that a person contracted to provide services to it in Gaza was killed on 7 April during a security incident and announced suspension of medical evacuations through Rafah crossing until further notice. The UN Children¡¯s Fund (UNICEF) expressed outrage at the killing of two truck drivers, whom it had contracted to provide clean water to families in Gaza in an incident on 17 April. The UN Country Team in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and partners condemned the killing and called for the protection of civilians, including humanitarian workers and essential service providers, an obligation under international humanitarian law, to be upheld.

On 20 April, the World Bank, the European Union and the UN released the ¡°Gaza Strip Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment¡± (RDNA), which estimates recovery and reconstruction needs at around USD 71.4 billion. On 28 April, the UN launched the Horizon Fund, co-chaired by the Palestinian Prime Minister and the UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, to support early recovery and resilience-building efforts, economic revitalization, livelihood recovery, and governance strengthening to promote social cohesion and stability, with a primary focus on Gaza.

On 13 April, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs?(OCHA) reported that the Israeli authorities reopened Zikim crossing into northern Gaza after its closure for more than 40 days. Collection and offloading activities at this crossing are allowed only on alternating days, however.

More details and related content:

  1. Updates by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
  1. Updates by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
  2. UNICEF restores water access for tens of thousands of children in Gaza (2 April)
  3. Security incident in Gaza kills WHO-contracted worker; evacuations halted (6 April)
  4. OCHA: WHO suspends medical evacuations following security incident (7 April)
  5. UNESCO delivers recovery efforts in Gaza with $5.7 million in emergency assistance and calls for continued international support (7 April)
  6. WFP Palestine Emergency Response External Situation Report #85, 9 April 2026 (Reporting period: 1-31 March 2026) (9 April)
  7. Gaza Protection Cluster Snapshot: Protection Monitoring reporting period (1 ¨C 31 March 2026) (9 April)
  8. Statement on WHO’s role in medical evacuation from Gaza via the Rafah crossing to Egypt (9 April)
  9. Report: WHO¡¯s response in the occupied Palestinian territory (January – December 2025) (14 April)
  10. Podcast: Trauma care during the conflict – The Frontline Shift – World Health Organization (16 April)
  11. Statement by UNICEF on the killing of two water truck drivers in the Gaza Strip (17 April)
  12. UN and partners condemn the killing of two civilian contractors supporting UNICEF water deliveries in northern Gaza (18 April)
  13. Press release: Final Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment estimates $71.4 billion for recovery and reconstruction – European Union, Â鶹APP and World Bank (20 April)
  14. Report: Gaza Strip Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment – European Union, Â鶹APP and World Bank (20 April)
  15. FAO: Cash assistance and veterinary kits help herders restart their livelihoods (20 April)
  16. United Nation Mine Action Service (UNMAS) OPT Annual Report 2025 (21 April)
  17. WFP Palestine Emergency Response External Situation Report #87 (Reporting period: 1-14 April 2026) (23 April)
  18. The Ministry of Public Works and Housing and UNOPS sign Memorandum of Understanding to accelerate infrastructure recovery and reconstruction in Palestine [EN/AR] (27 April)
  19. Horizon Fund: Building a bridge to recovery and reconstruction (April 2026) (28 April)
  20. Podcast: Malnutrition in Gaza – The Frontline Shift – World Health Organization (28 April)
  21. Gaza Strip: All remaining herders receive cash assistance to sustain livestock and protein production through joint FAO, ECHO and Irish initiative (30 April)
  22. Video: Gaza’s farmers struggle amid price hikes and devastated lands [EN/AR] (30 April)

 

The Annual Compilation of UN Reports on the Question of Palestine (2025)?brings together key UN reports, briefings and technical assessments published in 2025. Prepared by UN entities and its affiliated agencies, it reflects the breadth of work across political, legal, humanitarian, human rights, social, and economic dimensions, highlighting developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. All reports are available on the UNISPAL website.

The Annual Compilation of UN Resolutions on the Question of Palestine (2025)?presents selected resolutions, decisions and voting records adopted in 2025 by the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and Human Rights Council. Prepared by DPR, the compilation highlights the ongoing work of the UN system in addressing the question of Palestine. All resolutions are available on the UNISPAL website.

The Â鶹APP Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People issued its Quarterly Newsletter No. 27, covering the period January-March 2026. The newsletter provides an overview of the Committee¡¯s activities, including meetings, outreach, and developments related to the question of Palestine.


Document Type: Monthly Bulletin
Document Sources: Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR), Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Office of the Â鶹APP High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Â鶹APP Childrens Fund (UNICEF), Â鶹APP Population Fund (UNFPA), Â鶹APP Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Â鶹APP Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO), World Bank, World Food Programme (WFP), World Health Organization (WHO)
Subject: Access and movement, Accountability, Armed conflict, Assistance, Casualties, Ceasefire, Funding needs, Gaza Strip, Gender-based violence, Health, Human rights and international humanitarian law, Humanitarian relief, Legal issues, Palestine question, Prisoners and detainees, Racial discrimination, Refugees and displaced persons, Settler violence, Violence, West Bank, Women, ethnic cleansing, human rights violations, sexual violence
Publication Date: 18/05/2026