UN-OIC Conference on Jerusalem, Deteriorating Situation in the West Bank, and Fragile Food Security in Gaza - Action by the UN System Relevant to the Question of Palestine (July 2026 Monthly Bulletin)

Disclaimer: The texts and links cited in this Monthly Bulletin have been?reproduced in their original form. The Division for Palestinian Rights is consequently not responsible for the views, positions or discrepancies contained in these texts.

Contents

UN-OIC Conference: Jerusalem is central to Palestinian rights, and a just and lasting peace.
Rapidly deteriorating situation in the West Bank and “progress far too slow in Gaza”, the Security Council is briefed.
Israeli military intensifies attacks in Gaza; UN calls to release Dr. Hussan Abu Safiya.
Gaza: expanding Israeli-controlled areas; fragile progress in food security and child nutrition.

I. UN-OIC Conference: Jerusalem is central to Palestinian rights, and a just and lasting peace

On 18 July, the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (Committee),?in partnership with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held the 2026 Conference on the Question of Jerusalem in Cairo, Egypt, under the theme “Jerusalem: The Frontline of Displacement and Annexation and the Key to Just and Lasting Peace”. The Conference brought together senior representatives of Member States, the United Nations (UN), the OIC and the League of Arab States, religious leaders and experts, and reaffirmed that Jerusalem remains central to the question of Palestine and to any just, comprehensive, and lasting peace. Participants reaffirmed that East Jerusalem forms an integral part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and that its final status cannot be altered through unilateral measures. Participants called for renewed international engagement to protect the rights, presence, and sovereignty of Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and to ensure respect for the historic and legal status quo at the Holy Sites.

The Chair of the Committee emphasised that Jerusalem is central to Palestinian Rights and a just and lasting peace. He reiterated the Committee’s call to end illegal settlement activity, protect freedom of worship, and preserve the historic and legal status quo at the Holy Sites and East Jerusalem as an integral part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), addressing the Conference on behalf of the United Nations, stressed that Jerusalem must remain a city of coexistence, dignity, and peace for people of all faiths and that unilateral actions cannot alter the city’s status. Mr. Ashraf Al-Awar, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs of the State of Palestine, stated that Jerusalem was not solely a territorial question, but a matter of identity, existence and the national, religious and cultural life of the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, Ambassador Dawas Dawas, Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine and Al-Quds Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, reaffirmed that Jerusalem stood at the heart of the Palestinian cause and was indispensable to any credible path towards peace.

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II. Rapidly deteriorating situation in the West Bank and “progress far too slow in Gaza”, the Security Council is briefed

On 28 July, at the Security Council quarterly debate on the Middle East, including the question of Palestine, the UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process warned that the situation in the West Bank was rapidly deteriorating. In Gaza, he continued, the situation “has improved somewhat – but progress is far too slow”. He recalled having recently witnessed first-hand the “immense hardship amid continued displacement, overcrowded living conditions, widespread destruction, and near-daily casualties caused by ongoing Israeli military operations”. In his remarks at the same debate, the Chair of the Committee stressed that “the current escalation is the continuation of a systematic policy of terror” and that “has been pursued against the Palestinian people to dismantle their presence and deny their inalienable rights”. He further stressed that “the two-State solution must be preserved through action?including by continuing the efforts initiated within the framework of the?2025 Conference on the Two-State Solution”.

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III. Israeli military intensifies attacks in Gaza; UN calls to release Dr. Hussan Abu Safiya

On 21 July, in a statement, the Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned ?that the Israeli military has intensified its attacks in Gaza, resulting in the killing of “at least 57 Palestinians, including six children and eight women” from 13 to 20 July alone, and that among the victims, “34 were killed far away” from the “yellow line”. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) “has so far verified the killing of 685 Palestinians from October 2025 to mid-April 2026, including 283 women and children”, the statement further informs.

Earlier, on 8 July, OHCHR in the OPT issued a statement calling on the Government of Israel to urgently protect, ensure safety, dignity, and physical integrity, and immediately release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, whose lawyer had warned he was at imminent risk of death. The statement stressed that “thirteen other senior doctors remain in Israeli detention without charge” and that also thousands of Palestinians in Israeli custody were held arbitrarily without charge or trial. OHCHR documentation “indicates that torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees is widespread and systematic”.

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IV. Gaza: expanding Israeli-controlled areas; fragile progress in food security and child nutrition

On 1 July, in a statement, the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory sounded the alarm “that the continued??of areas under Israeli control in Gaza since the ceasefire agreement in October 2025 is intensifying risks to civilians and further constraining humanitarian efforts”. The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released on 23 July showed improvements in food security and child nutrition across Gaza. However, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Food Programme cautioned that the progress remains fragile and improvements could be reversed quickly without sustained humanitarian aid, private sector reactivation, funding, and investment in recovery.

On 27 July, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in a press release informed that “for the second time in less than a month, Israeli forces and municipal officials forcibly entered today the Kalandia Training Centre, a United Nations facility located in occupied East Jerusalem”. UNRWA called on the Israeli authorities “to uphold their obligations under international law and to refrain from any further interference with the Agency’s facilities, staff, and beneficiaries”.

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Updates by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Updates by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
- UNRWA Press release: Israeli forces enter UN training centre in occupied East Jerusalem for second time in under a month (27 July)
IOM Occupied Palestinian Territory Emergency Response: Activity Update #57 (1 – 30 June 2026) – [EN/AR] (13 July)
Gaza Strip: Scale-up in FAO’s conditional cash for farmers projected to help feed 100 000 people over the next year (16 July)
UNICEF Humanitarian Situation Update: Mid-Year 2026 Analysis of the Response to the Needs of Children (17 July)
Food security and child nutrition crises persist in Gaza despite fragile gains due to increased humanitarian assistance and commercial traffic – FAO, WFP, UNICEF (23 July)
UN and NGOs jointly decry recurrent Israeli incursions into Kalandia Training Centre in occupied East Jerusalem (28 July)