NGO Action News – 18 September 2025

This newsletter informs about recent and upcoming activities of Civil Society Organizations working on the question of Palestine. The Committee and the Division for Palestinian Rights of the UN Secretariat provide the information “as is” without warranty of any kind, and do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, or reliability of the information contained in the websites linked in the newsletter.

Middle East

• On 17 September, Al Mezan published an article on the latest Israeli attack on Gaza City. The NGO considered it to be Israel’s most recent escalation of its genocide against the Palestinian people, leaving entire families killed in their homes and hundreds of thousands being forcibly displaced as the city’s neighborhoods are reduced to rubble. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights published an article on this topic as well.
• On 16 September, Al Mezan issued a press release welcoming the new report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, which had concluded that Israel was committing the crime of genocide in Gaza. The NGO called on states party to the Genocide Convention to take all accessible action to prevent the continuation of the genocide in Gaza.
• On 14 September, Physicians for Human Rights issued a statement calling to establish a respectful, dignified, independent, systematic, and long-term aid campaign that addresses immediate needs and rebuilds Gaza’s healthcare system. The NGO also called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire as a precondition for a meaningful humanitarian response.
• On 13 September, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights published an article stating that Israeli forces were attempting to forcibly displace the residents of Gaza City under bombardment and intimidation. According to the NGO, such actions are part of Israel’s plan to depopulate the city of its original residents and displaced persons, imposing a new reality.

Africa, Asia and Europe

• On 18 September, Law for Palestine organized the webinar “The UNGA’s 12-Month Deadline to End the Israeli Occupation Has Passed: What Comes Next After Non-Compliance?” Panelists examined the consequences of the expiry of the 12-month deadline stipulated in GA Resolution A/RES/ES-10/24, demanding Israel to end its unlawful presence in the OPT, and the legal and political consequences of Israel’s failure to comply with the ICJ Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024.
• On 17 September, the Norwegian Refugee Council published a statement from representatives of aid agencies working in Gaza who called on world leaders to urgently intervene to prevent the “evisceration of life in the Gaza Strip”, and to end the violence and occupation. The NGOs added that all parties must disavow violence against civilians, adhere to international humanitarian law and pursue peace, as governments must use every available political, economic, and legal tool at their disposal to intervene to address this situation.
• On 16 September, Amnesty International issued a statement welcoming a report from the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, to the 60^th session of the UN Human Rights Council concluding that Israeli authorities and forces have committed genocide in the occupied Gaza Strip. The NGO urged all states to do all in their power to protect Palestinians and stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza and prevent its possible spread to the rest of the OPT. The Jerusalem Fund, among other NGOs, reported on this issue as well.

North America

• On 16 September, J Street issued a statement in response to the Israeli forces’ ground invasion of Gaza City for what, according to the NGO, may be a months-long operation in Gaza’s largest, most populous city. J Street added that this assault threatened over 600,000 civilians who have been forced to flee their homes and hundreds of thousands who remained in the area. Families who spent nearly two years in rubble and hunger now face increasing bombardment and the impossible choice of fleeing with no shelter, few supplies and nowhere safe to go, the statement reads.
• On 12 September, New Jewish Narrative issued a statement welcoming the United Nations General Assembly vote to endorse the New York Declaration on the implementation of the Two-State Solution. According to the NGO, the New York Declaration, composed under the leadership of France and Saudi Arabia, is a statement of principles for ending the Gaza War, returning Gaza to the Palestinian Authority governance, and achieving a two-State solution.

United Nations

• On 16 September, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People published the monthly bulletin “Action by the United Nations System Relevant to the Question of Palestine”, covering the month of August 2025.

• On 16 September, the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory issued a statement condemning the Israeli military’s destruction of civilian infrastructure as it intensified its bombardment of Gaza City since 11 September 2025, as well as expanding attacks on the northwestern parts of the strip, where the population had sought shelter from previous attacks. The statement further reads that ongoing bombings of residential buildings in Gaza City were destroying the last viable element of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, negating any prospect for the survival of civilians.
• On 15 September, UN experts warned of the severe economic emergency and catastrophic harm to human rights stemming from Israel’s attacks on the Gaza strip and its wider financial stranglehold across the Occupied Palestinian Territory. They stressed that most commercial, agricultural and industrial assets have been damaged. Unemployment has surged to over 80%, GDP has dramatically shrunk, and trade has stalled. The experts stated that there was a liquidity crisis in Gaza, adding that most banks and ATMs have been destroyed, and Israel had blocked the inflow of new currency, with severe cash scarcity driving drastic cost-of-living inflation and a decline in the value of wages.
• On 14 September, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini stated that no place and no one was safe in Gaza. More and more people are forced to leave, disoriented and uncertain, heading into the unknown, he added, as 10 UNRWA buildings have been hit in Gaza City in 4 days. This includes seven schools and two clinics currently used as shelters for thousands of displaced people.