The United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has condemned Israel’s move to set up an Israeli army base in occupied East Jerusalem at the site where an UNRWA office once operated for besieged Palestinians.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said….
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini attends a press conference on the last day of his mandate at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 31, 2026.
Discussions are under way for a U.N. investigation into the killing of more than 390 employees in the two-year Gaza war, the head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency said on Tuesday, making it the deadliest conflict in the global body‘s history.
„I believe that we need to have a panel – a high-level panel of experts to look into the killing of our staff,“ said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General at a press conference in Geneva on the last day of his term.
These are trying times.
When President Metsola invited me in September at the High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly, the world felt already chaotic. I warned of a make-or-break moment for our multilateral system.
Today, only 40 days into 2026:
Venezuela.
Iran.
Greenland.
On top of Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and so many more crises.
The international order is not only under pressure, it is under attack.
And we face a new and more troubling kind of crisis: conflicts waged not even under the pretense of self-defense or respect for international law but often carried out in open defiance of it.
At precisely the moment when we most need cooperation, most need the United Nations, powers, even those who have a special responsibility to protect peace and security, are pulling away from it or even outright attacking it.
This geopolitical shift towards a world where ‘might makes right’, contradicts more than a century of hard, bloody lessons, which people of this region remember all too well.
Rules and standards drawn from these experiences, which were believed to be set in stone, are now openly questioned, dismissed, or violated.
History teaches us that large systems rarely collapse in one dramatic moment.
They erode slowly. Rule by rule. Commitment by commitment.
With those who should defend them, rather staying silent.
Until one day, what seemed permanent simply vanishes.
(February 10, 2026)
In a key address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Annalena Baerbock repeated her call to uphold multilateralism amid “trying times” globally.
She noted that just 40 days into 2026, the world has already seen crises around Venezuela, Iran and Greenland, on top of continuing devastation in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and elsewhere.
“The international order is not only under pressure, it is under attack,” she told lawmakers.
“And we face a new and more troubling kind of crisis: conflicts waged not even under the pretence of self-defence or respect for international law but often carried out in open defiance of it.”
She warned that at precisely the moment the world most needs cooperation and the UN, “powers – even those who have a special responsibility to protect peace and security – are pulling away from it or even outright attacking it.”
Ms. Baerbock recalled that four years ago, when she was Germany’s Foreign Minister, she addressed the General Assembly and called for the UN to stand up for Europe’s peace as Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“Today, I’m coming as President of the General Assembly to Europe, calling for Europe to stand up for the United Nations because the world needs the UN. But right now, the UN and its principles as enshrined in the Charter, needs the world too,” she said, referring to all continents.
Following many months of unsuccessful engagement with Israeli authorities, and in the absence of securing assurances to ensure the safety of our staff or the independent management of our operations, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has concluded that it will not share a list of its Palestinian and international staff with Israeli authorities in the current circumstances.
In March 2025, Israeli authorities announced that organisations seeking registration would be required to provide personal information about their staff. From the outset, MSF raised serious concerns about this request in a context where medical and humanitarian workers have been intimidated, arbitrarily detained, and attacked. Since October 2023, 1,700 health staff have been killed, as well as 15 MSF colleagues. On 30 December, Israeli authorities announced that MSF‘s previous registration had lapsed and was therefore expected to cease operations within 60 days.
Nach monatelangen erfolglosen Versuchen, mit den israelischen Behörden in einen Dialog zu treten, um die Sicherheit unserer Mitarbeitenden im Gazastreifen und im Westjordanland sowie die Unabhängigkeit unserer humanitären Arbeit in den besetzten Palästinensischen Gebieten zu gewährleisten, hat Ärzte ohne Grenzen entschieden, keine Liste seiner palästinensischen und internationalen Mitarbeitenden an die israelischen Behörden weiterzugeben.
Trotz wiederholter Bemühungen ist es uns nicht gelungen, eine Einigung mit den israelischen Behörden über die für uns erforderlichen konkreten Zusicherungen zu erzielen. Dazu gehören:
– dass alle Informationen über Mitarbeitende ausschließlich für die angegebenen administrativen Zwecke verwendet werden.
– dass daraus keine Gefahr für die Kolleg*innen, deren Namen geteilt wurden, erwächst.
– dass Ärzte ohne Grenzen die volle Autorität über alle Personalangelegenheiten und die Verwaltung von medizinischen Hilfsgütern behält.
– dass jegliche öffentliche Kommunikation, die Ärzte ohne Grenzen diffamiert und die Sicherheit unserer Mitarbeitenden gefährdet, eingestellt wird.
Deshalb sind wir zu dem Schluss gekommen, dass wir unter den gegenwärtigen Umständen keine Daten von Mitarbeitenden an die israelischen Behörden weitergeben werden. Auch im Rahmen dieses monatelangen Prozesses haben wir keine Mitarbeitendendaten mit den israelischen Behörden geteilt.
Is it true that MSF has not cooperated with Israel?
For many months, MSF has unsuccessfully sought dialogue with the Israeli authorities on the renewal of our registration to work in Palestine. We remain open to dialogue with the Israeli authorities to maintain our critical medical operations in Gaza and the West Bank and to ensure that MSF can continue delivering essential, lifesaving medical care to people in desperate need, whilst safeguarding our teams. We would consult our Palestinian colleagues on any possible next step.
By accusing MSF, as well as other NGOs, of not cooperating and creating smear campaigns against aid organisations, Israel is using unfounded allegations to arbitrarily restrict access to critical care for Palestinians and limit witnessing from independent organisations working on the ground. This type of accusation contributes to the delegitimisation of humanitarian workers who are delivering vital care and services under extremely challenging conditions.
We observe that such accusations fit within a long-standing pattern used by Israeli authorities, alongside numerous physical and bureaucratic obstacles, to restrict the entry and delivery of aid into Gaza. Similar tactics were used in 2024 against UNRWA. Allegations are used to justify actions which stand in clear contradiction to the Israeli government’s claims that it is facilitating the provision of humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip.
What is the status of MSF’s registration to operate in Gaza and the West Bank?
As of the 1 January 2026, MSF’s registration to work in Gaza and the West Bank has expired and is therefore no longer valid. As such, we are required to cease operations by 1 March 2026.
We are seeking avenues to ensure that our humanitarian response continues in Gaza and the West Bank. We are also engaging with the Israeli authorities to ensure we can continue our activities, the prevention of which is a direct violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2720 – which calls for the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians.
Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Friday it will not submit lists of staff demanded by Israel to maintain access to Gaza and the West Bank, saying it had not been able to obtain assurances over the safety of its teams.
(January 28, 2026)
The fear of handing over staff lists is well-founded. We know Israel targets journalists in their homes. We know its soldiers kidnap doctors – there is still no sign of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of a hospital in northern Gaza detained by Israeli forces in December 2024. We know Israeli troops shoot healthcare workers, as they did last March when they killed, then buried, 15 emergency responders in Rafah.
Israel has no qualms about punishing those who do not bow to its demands. Food, medicine and humanitarian supplies have been cut off. MSF has said that since January 1, international staff have been denied entry into Gaza and critical medical supplies blocked; this is on top of the new registration requirements that could halt operations altogether.
This is another attempt not only to control humanitarian operations, but to suffocate Gaza.
(January 25, 2ß26)
There are no limits to the defiance of the United Nations and international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
After having been stormed and demolished by the Israeli authorities, the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem has now been set on fire.
(January 13, 2026)
In a January 8 letter to Netanyahu, Guterres said the UN cannot remain indifferent to “actions taken by Israel, which are in direct contravention of the obligations of Israel under international law. They must be reversed without delay.”
This outrageous attack by a UN member State against a UN General Assembly-mandated organisation is unprecedented, dangerous, and should spur the international community into action, especially in view of the Provisional measures of the ICJ in the case brought by South Africa and the recent ICJ opinion, confirming that Israel has no right to interfere with UNRWA’s work.
This attack constitutes a grave violation of the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, and an apparent international crime which adds to the long list that Israel continues to commit in the Palestinian territory it illegally occupies.
These actions are part of Israel‘s genocidal strategy that will not pause of its own volition; it must be stopped through tangible actions from States that must ensure accountability and cut ties with Israel.
I call on the Secretary General to request that the General Assembly convene a special session and consider next steps following these unprecedented attacks on UNRWA and the wider UN.
It is time for the General Assembly to suspend Israel’s credentials, pursuant to Article 6 of the UN Charter, and authorise sanctions and embargoes against Israel, especially on the arms trade.”
(January 20, 2026)
Responding to the dramatic development, head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees Philippe Lazzarini described it as an “unprecedented attack” against the UN, whose premises are protected under international law.
The move represents “a new level of open and deliberate defiance of international law, including of the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, by the State of Israel”, the UNRWA Commissioner-General said on X.
(January 20, 2026)
Israel demolished structures inside the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency‘s East Jerusalem compound on Tuesday after seizing the site last year, in an act condemned by the agency as a violation of international law.
Surrounded by Israeli forces, bulldozers razed several large buildings and other smaller structures inside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency compound, where dozens of agency staff once worked.