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

  1. General Assembly adopts resolutions extending UNRWA mandate and demanding Israeli Withdrawal from Occupied Territories. 1
  2. Amendments to Israeli Law Ceasing Operations of UNRWA and suspension of numerous aid NGOs from Gaza 2
  3.  Human rights violations and settler violence in the OPT.
  4. Humanitarian Situation in Gaza and OPT: UN agencies launch appeals and scale-up famine and winter response in Gaza 4

 

I. General Assembly adopts resolutions extending UNRWA mandate and demanding Israeli withdrawal from Occupied Territories

In December 2025, the UN General Assembly adopted several resolutions related to the question of Palestine. On 2 December, with the resolution titled “Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine”, the Assembly demanded that Israel, the occupying Power, comply strictly with its obligations under international law and to bring an end to its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. On 5 December, the Assembly extended the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) until 30 June 2029. By the terms of the resolution on “Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories,” the Assembly commended the work of its Special Committee tasked with investigating those practices and activities “in spite of the obstruction of its mandate”. It deplored Israeli policies and practices that violate the human rights of Palestinians in the occupied territories and expressed grave concern over the critical situation there resulting from unlawful Israeli practices and measures. On 12 December, by a recorded vote of 139 in favour to 12 against with 19 abstentions, the General Assembly adopted a resolution welcoming the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Israel’s obligations in relation to the presence and activities of the United Nations, other international organizations and third States in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Related Content:

  1. General Assembly adopts texts demanding Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories (2 December)
  2. General Assembly resolution: Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine (A/RES/80/72) (2 December)
  3. General Assembly draft resolution: Advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Obligations of Israel in relation to the presence and activities of the United Nations, other international organisations and third States in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory (A/80/L.26) (3 December)
  4. General Assembly adopts 40 Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) texts, addressing 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories, aid to Palestine refugees (5 December)
  5. Work of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories (A/RES/80/80) – General Assembly resolution (5 December)
  6. Operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (A/RES/80/77) – General Assembly resolution (5 December)
  7. Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan (A/RES/80/81) – General Assembly resolution (5 December)
  8. Palestine refugees’ properties and their revenues (A/RES/80/79) – General Assembly resolution (5 December)
  9. Assistance to Palestine refugees (A/RES/80/78) – General Assembly resolution (5 December)
  10. UNRWA Commissioner-General: I salute the overwhelming vote by the UN General Assembly to renew UNRWA’s mandate for three years (5 December)
  11. Advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Obligations of Israel in relation to the presence and activities of the United Nations, other international organizations and third States in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory (A/RES/80/116) – General Assembly resolution (12 December)
  12. General Assembly adopts resolution welcoming International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Israel’s obligations related to occupied Palestinian territory (12 December)
  13. Statement by UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini at the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review (15 December)

II. Amendments to Israeli Law Ceasing Operations of UNRWA and suspension of numerous aid NGOs from Gaza

On 8 December, the UNRWA Commissioner-General posted on his official X account that Israeli police “forcibly entered the UNRWA compound in East Jerusalem, all communications were cut, furniture, IT equipment and other property was seized. The UN flag was pulled down and replaced with an Israeli flag.” The UN Secretary-General strongly condemned the unauthorized entry into the UN Sheikh Jarrah compound held by UNRWA located in occupied East Jerusalem by Israeli authorities. “This compound remains United Nations premises and is inviolable and immune from any other form of interference,” read the statement. Furthermore, on 31 December, the Secretary-General issued another statement condemning the adoption by the Knesset on 29 December of amendments to the Law to Cease the UNRWA Operations. “The Law and its amendments are inconsistent with the status and international legal framework applicable to UNRWA and must be immediately repealed”. Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement calling Israel’s suspension of numerous aid agencies from Gaza “outrageous”. The statement further highlighted that “this is the latest in a pattern of unlawful restrictions on humanitarian access, including Israel’s ban on UNRWA, as well as attacks on Israeli and Palestinian NGOs amid broader access issues faced by the UN and other humanitarians.”

Related content:

  1. Statement by the UN Secretary-General on Israeli unauthorized entry into the UNRWA Sheikh Jarrah compound (8 December)
  2. UNRWA: Israeli authorities forcibly enter UN premises in East Jerusalem (8 December)
  3. UNRWA: Storming of UN compound in East Jerusalem by Israeli police sets a dangerous precedent (9 December)
  4. UN agencies and NGOs call for immediate lifting of impediments to humanitarian access and NGO operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (17 December)
  5. OCHA: UN agencies, NGOs urge immediate lifting of impediments to aid operations (18 December)
  6. UNRWA Commissioner-General: For over two years, a coordinated campaign to dismantle UNRWA has reached unseen levels, using disinformation as a weapon (21 December)
  7. UN Human Rights Office: Outrageous suspension of numerous aid agencies from Gaza (30 December)
  8. Statement by the Humanitarian Country Team of the occupied Palestinian territory on international NGOs (30 December)
  9. UNRWA Commissioner-General on new anti-UNRWA legislation passed by the Israeli Parliament (30 December)
  10. UN Secretary-General condemns amendments to Israeli law ceasing operations of UNRWA (31 December)

III. Human rights violations and settler violence in the OPT

On 3 December, UN Human Rights Office warned that the conduct of Israeli settlers and Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, “is massively shrinking both the physical and the civic space available to Palestinians, while Israel continues to advance its unlawful annexation of the occupied West Bank.” Gaza was described as hosting “the largest group of child amputees in modern history” by the UNRWA Commissioner-General, while the situation for journalists was labeled “the deadliest conflict for journalists in decades” by the UN Secretary-General in a message to International Media Seminar on Peace in Middle East. Simultaneously, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called on all States Parties to take concrete action following its conclusions in a case brought by the State of Palestine against Israel, and urged them to support the implementation of its recommendations, including through appropriate sanctions against individuals, groups or entities inciting segregation or racially motivated violence. The UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process condemned “rising settler violence across the West Bank, which intensified during the olive harvest”. Stressing that “attacks have become more frequent and violent, often with the presence or support of Israeli security forces”, the Deputy Special Coordinator told the UN Security Council that Palestinian farmers “faced assaults, harassment, and obstruction from their lands; olive trees are uprooted or burned, and entire harvests destroyed”.

More details and related content:

  1. Gaza conflict deadliest for journalists in decades, Secretary-General says in message to International Media Seminar on Peace in Middle East (1 December)
  2. “Newsrooms destroyed. Press gear bombed.” Palestinian Rights Committee Chair Remarks at 2025 International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East (1 December)
  3. Crackdown on Palestinian civil society: Union of Agricultural Work Committees raided –OHCHR (3 December)
  4. UNRWA Commissioner-General: Palestine Refugees remain refugees because of the absence of a political solution (4 December)
  5. Screening of “The Voice of Hind Rajab” at the UN Headquarters in New York (4 December)
  6. UNRWA Commissioner-General on Gaza: Gaza now hosts the largest group of child amputees in modern history (5 December)
  7. UNRWA Commissioner-General: In Syria, the enduring consequences of years of conflict remain profound, not least for Palestine Refugees (7 December)
  8. Türk says human rights under attack, yet undeterred, in 2025 (excerpt on the situation in Gaza and West Bank) (10 December)
  9. The unprecedented assault on civic space in the Occupied Palestinian Territory – UN Human Rights Office in Occupied Palestinian Territory (16 December)
  10. “The UN is doing its part to support the ceasefire and meet the staggering needs of the population.” Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process tells the Security Council (16 December)
  11. Belgium files a declaration of intervention in the ICJ proceedings under Article 63 of the Statute of the Court (South Africa v. Israel) (23 December)
  12. State of Palestine v Israel: UN anti-racism panel calls on States to act (24 December)
  13. UN experts urge UK to protect lives and rights of pro-Palestinian detainees on hunger strike (26 December)

IV. Humanitarian Situation in Gaza and OPT

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on 15 December that the UN and its partners continued to deliver assistance to the most vulnerable families in the Gaza Strip, stressing that needs continue to outpace the ability of humanitarians to respond, given the ongoing impediments they face. The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis for Gaza confirmed that no areas of the Strip are currently classified in famine following the October ceasefire and improved humanitarian and commercial access. Without sustained, large-scale expansion of food, livelihood, agriculture and health assistance, together with increased commercial inflows, hundreds of thousands of people could rapidly slip back into famine, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO) jointly warned on 19 December. Meanwhile, UNICEF reported that due to the extreme winter conditions and lack of safe shelters, at least six children lost their lives in December after being exposed to such harsh conditions.

More details and related content:

  1. Updates by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
  2. Updates by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
  3. UNOPS Monthly Overview – UN2720 Mechanism for Gaza – November 2025 (1 December)
  4. UN, partners step up support for children in Gaza as winter looms (2 December)
  5. UNICEF Humanitarian Situation Report No. 44 (Reporting period: 1 – 31 October 2025) (3 December)
  6. WFP Palestine Emergency Response – External Situation Report 74 (1-30 November 2025) (4 December)
  7. Occupied Palestinian territory emergency response: IOM activity update #50 (1 – 30 November 2025) (5 December)
  8. Lessons from the rains: Call for unfettered access to tackle winter hunger in Gaza – WFP (8 December)
  9. IOM: Nights Under the Stars Tell Gaza’s Story of Survival (8 December)
  10. UNDP’s Emergency response to solid waste management in Gaza (8 December)
  11. Born vulnerable: the toll of maternal malnutrition and stress in Gaza – UNICEF (9 December)
  12. Nearly 795,000 displaced Palestinians at flood risk after Storm Byron makes landfall in Gaza (11 December)
  13. Amid violence and displacement: a reproductive health crisis in Gaza – OHCHR (11 December)
  14. Report: Humanitarian response by the UN and humanitarian partners during the first month of the October 2025 ceasefire (11 December)
  15. UNDP/PAPP: This Is Home: Re-building Life Amid Gaza’s Rubble (18 December)
  16. UNDP: Hands That Rebuild: Gaza’s Local Workforce at the Heart of Recovery (18 December)
  17. WFP Press Conference on the situation in Gaza (18 December)
  18. UNDP: Gaza Debris Management Situation Report – December 2025 (19 December)
  19. Gaza Strip: IPC Acute Food Insecurity Situation for 16 October – 30 November 2025 and Projection for 1 December 2025 – 15 April 2026 (19 December)
  20. UN agencies welcome news that famine has been pushed back in the Gaza Strip, but warn fragile gains could be reversed without increased and sustained support – Joint FAO/UNICEF/WFP/WHO Press Release  (19 December)
  21. Joint Statement from the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group – Hungry, Cold, and Left Behind: The toll of food insecurity on Gaza’s women and girls (19 December)
  22. “Children are forced to sleep in flooded tents” UN Secretary-General’s press encounter on Gaza (19 December)
  23. Video: Gaza – children holding on to hope (23 December)
  24. UNFPA: Midwives offer a ray of hope amid horror, as harsh winter grips Gaza (24 December)
  25. UNICEF State of Palestine Appeal for 2026: Humanitarian Action for Children (29 December)
  26. Statement by UNICEF on the death of children in the Gaza Strip due to severe winter weather conditions (30 December)
  27. UNICEF State of Palestine: Humanitarian Situation Report No. 45 (Reporting Period: 1 –30 November 2025) (31 December)

 

The Bulletin can be found in the United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL) on the Internet at: https://www.un.org/unispal/data-collection/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.

 


Download Document Files: https://www.un.org/unispal/wp-content/uploads/2026/12/20260112-December-Monthly-Bulletin.pdf
Document Type: Monthly Bulletin
Document Sources: Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR), General Assembly, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Secretary-General, Security Council, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
Subject: Armed conflict, Assistance to the Palestinian people, Casualties, Ceasefire, Gaza Strip, Hostages, Human rights and international humanitarian law, Internally displaced persons, Israeli settlements, UNRWA, Violence, West Bank
Publication Date: 31/12/2025