Thursday, 24 September 2026, New York – The latest report by the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) highlights the severe humanitarian, economic, social and political challenges facing the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Palestinian Authority continues to face an acute fiscal and institutional crisis. Settler violence, settlement expansion, displacement and movement restrictions in the West Bank continue to undermine stability and prospects for a viable, sovereign Palestinian State. Nearly one year after the ceasefire took effect, implementation of Security Council resolution 2803 (2025) remains incomplete, and early recovery in Gaza remains well below the required scale.
Prepared for the meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), the report warns that the economic and administrative framework established under previous agreements is increasingly being bypassed. This is contributing to greater reliance on informal arrangements, instability, and pressure on Palestinian institutions, with consequences for governance, public services, financial stability, and broader economic activity.
The report stresses that Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction and the broader political process are mutually dependent. The full implementation of Security Council resolution 2803 (2025) remains central to recovery and reconstruction. All recovery efforts must lay the foundation for our shared underlying political objectives: reunifying Gaza and the West Bank under a single legitimate Palestinian Government and advancing a credible pathway towards Palestinian self-determination and a two-State solution.
“Gaza’s recovery, stability in the West Bank and progress towards a two-State solution are interconnected. We must act now to preserve Palestinian institutions and create the conditions for self-determination and a peaceful future for Palestinians and Israelis,” United Nations Acting Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, stated.
The report also highlights that nearly one year after the ceasefire in Gaza, early recovery remains well below the scale required, while essential services and infrastructure remain severely damaged. There is an urgent need to restore essential services and infrastructure in Gaza, including electricity, water, sanitation, waste management and health services, while addressing the environmental and public health emergency. Winterization is particularly urgent, as shelter needs remain immense and essential supplies and services remain severely constrained.
In the West Bank, the report highlights the continued deterioration of the situation, including settler violence, settlement expansion, displacement and restrictions on movement, access and trade. These trends are undermining Palestinian livelihoods, economic activity and the prospects for a viable and contiguous Palestinian State.
The report identifies five priorities for urgent action:
Scale early recovery in Gaza: Establish the minimum conditions needed to move from humanitarian response to early recovery at scale, including a functioning approvals mechanism, predictable entry of critical and specialist equipment and expertise, and visas. Progress should be measured through concrete improvements in health, water and sanitation, shelter, and winterization before the winter months.
Restore essential systems and services and address the environmental and public health emergency: Restore electricity, including the Gaza Power Plant, sewage and waste management and health services, and allow fuel and engine oil to enter at scale.
Restore the fiscal relationship: Resume clearance revenue transfers in full, regularly and predictably, and address accumulated withheld balances through an agreed and transparent mechanism.
Restore financial channels, access, movement and regulated labour: The parties should secure a longer-term extension of correspondent banking arrangements, align surplus shekel repatriation with market needs, restore predictable commercial access and trade, and reactivate the Joint Economic Committee and its technical committees.
Sustain Palestinian institutions: Provide predictable and front-loaded support to the Palestinian Authority and its partners, while sustaining multi-year support to the Central Elections Commission and Palestinian civil society.
The report emphasizes that recovery in Gaza and stabilization in the West Bank require Palestinian leadership and ownership, supported by coordinated international action. It calls for stronger alignment behind a unified national Palestinian recovery plan, with Palestinian institutions and organizations resourced as implementing partners and national systems and plans used rather than duplicated. It also calls for enhanced aid coordination and a consolidated approach to financing and accountability.
The report also welcomes preparations for the forthcoming Palestinian legislative elections and calls for support to the Central Elections Commission and for all eligible voters to be able to participate freely and without intimidation. It emphasizes the importance of preserving Palestinian institutional capacity and civic space beyond the current electoral cycle.
“The purpose of these measures is urgent and practical: to preserve the institutions, administrative capacity and single Palestinian economic space on which any credible political pathway depends, and to begin recovery in Gaza while the cost of doing so is still feasible,” the report concludes.
Note to Editors: The Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) is the principal policy-level coordination mechanism for development assistance to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The AHLC is chaired by Norway and co-sponsored by the European Union and the United States. The United Nations participates together with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The AHLC seeks to promote dialogue between donors, the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel.
