Daily Peace and Crisis Report

Compiled March 14, 2026, 08:12 AEDT

Middle East: Iran–Israel–US War Enters Day 14

The conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran — which erupted on 28 February 2026 — continued to intensify on 13 March, with Israeli airstrikes hitting Tehran during the annual Al-Quds Day rally, sending thousands of civilians fleeing. Al Jazeera reported that video circulated on social media showed a strike impacting close to the march, which tens of thousands had attended in a show of solidarity with Palestine despite the threat of bombardment.

Iran's military claimed to have targeted Israel's Shin Bet headquarters and the Palmachim and Ovda airbases with drone strikes. Israel confirmed it had launched another "wide-scale" round of strikes across Iran. According to Israeli officials, at least 13 people in Israel have been killed and nearly 2,000 injured since the war began. Al Jazeera reported that Iran's Deputy Health Minister Ali Jafarian stated at least 1,395 Iranians have been killed, with 31 major clinical facilities damaged and 12 hospitals rendered inactive. Nearly 20,000 civilian buildings have been affected by US-Israeli strikes, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian stated Tehran remains committed to regional peace but insists the war can end only if Iran's "legitimate rights" are recognised, including payment of reparations and international guarantees against future attacks. Russia has maintained close contact with Iranian leaders and called for a halt to hostilities. Al Jazeera reported that diplomatic efforts are intensifying, with Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil issuing a joint call for a ceasefire, and ASEAN foreign ministers urging diplomacy. Xinhua (Chin) reported the ASEAN statement calling for an immediate halt to hostilities.

Oil prices have surged to approximately $100 per barrel as attacks on shipping and energy infrastructure disrupt supply routes through the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman, creating global economic shockwaves. UN News reported that the UN Secretary-General has urged all combatants to cease hostilities, uphold international law, and return immediately to the negotiating table.

Lebanon: Humanitarian Emergency Deepens

Lebanon is experiencing what UN officials describe as a "perfect storm" of converging crises. UN Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Beirut on 13 March for a solidarity visit and announced a flash humanitarian appeal of $308.3 million to support civilians. UN News reported that approximately 816,000 Lebanese are now internally displaced, with more than 90,000 people — mostly Syrians — having crossed into Syria. Lebanon's Health Ministry has confirmed at least 773 people killed since the conflict escalated last week.

Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire, stating: "Solidarity in words must be matched by solidarity in action. This aid is urgently needed. The military escalation across the region is taking a terrible toll, including in Lebanon." He warned that access to food, water, healthcare, education, and basic services has been dangerously disrupted, and that evacuation orders now extend across more of the country than ever before.

UN agencies have highlighted particular dangers for pregnant women and migrant workers. UN News reported that women in Lebanon have been forced to give birth on roadsides due to the collapse of healthcare access, as ongoing airstrikes and rocket fire between Hezbollah fighters and Israel continue to disrupt civilian life. The World Food Programme has launched a separate appeal for $200 million to sustain food assistance across the Middle East, warning that rising food prices and supply disruptions are placing millions at greater risk of hunger.

Gaza and the Occupied West Bank

The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains catastrophic. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, as of 4 March 2026, 72,117 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023, with women accounting for more than 12,500 of those deaths. PCBS reported these figures on 8 March 2026.

The UNRWA Situation Report #212 (covering 4–10 March 2026) confirmed that between 26 February and 5 March, 18 Palestinians were killed and 41 injured in Israeli military operations. Since the ceasefire of 10 October 2025, at least 631 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations, according to OHCHR. UNRWA has recorded 391 of its own colleagues killed in Gaza since the start of the war.

All crossings into Gaza except Kerem Shalom remain closed. Medical evacuations are still on hold. According to WHO, 46 per cent of essential medicines and 66 per cent of medical consumables are currently out of stock. An estimated 71,000 displaced people are living in 81 UNRWA collective emergency shelters. Aid access has deteriorated sharply: Gaza has received only 640 aid trucks out of 6,000 expected during the recent period, according to Middle East Monitor. The UN has warned that Trump's Gaza peace plan has stalled as the Iran war dominates US attention.

In the occupied West Bank, between 7 October 2023 and 7 March 2026, 1,062 Palestinians — at least 231 of them children — have been killed, according to OCHA. Three Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli settlers on 7 March, marking six settler-violence deaths since the beginning of 2026. The UN warned on 12 March that more than 1,500 Palestinians have been displaced in the West Bank in 2026 alone, reaching 90 per cent of the total displacement figure for all of 2025.

Ukraine–Russia War: Peace Talks Postponed Again

US-brokered trilateral peace talks between Ukraine, the United States, and Russia have been postponed again, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy citing the US military operation against Iran as the reason for the delay. RBC Ukraine (Ukr) reported that Kyiv remains ready for negotiations "at any moment." The postponement follows an earlier delay in late February when the initial round of talks established frameworks for prisoner exchanges and ceasefire discussions.

On the frontline, fighting continues across multiple sectors. Ukraine struck the Tikhoretsk oil terminal in Russia on 13 March, while Russian forces launched 94 drones against Ukraine, targeting Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. According to the Institute for the Study of War, Ukrainian counterattacks in southern Ukraine are interfering with anticipated Russian spring-summer 2026 offensives in Donetsk Oblast. Russia's cumulative personnel losses now stand at approximately 1,277,620 according to Ukrainian military sources, though these figures cannot be independently verified.

A Russia Matters analysis of a recent Levada Centre poll found that 67.2 per cent of Russians support beginning peace negotiations — a record high — while 24.3 per cent favour continuing military operations. However, the analysis cautions that Russian public support for peace talks is conditional on terms — including recognition of Donbas as Russian territory (75%), Ukraine's refusal to join NATO (71%), and lifting of sanctions (70%) — that are fundamentally incompatible with Ukrainian positions. A January 2026 Kyiv International Institute of Sociology poll found 57 per cent of Ukrainians categorically reject withdrawal from Donbas even in exchange for security guarantees.

A UN independent commission has concluded that Russia's deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children constitutes crimes against humanity. UN News reported that at least 1,205 children have been verified as deported or transferred, with scores still missing across Russia and occupied territories. The commission's findings were presented to the UN Human Rights Council on 12 March 2026.

Sudan: Drone Strikes Kill Hundreds of Civilians

Sudan's civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has entered a dramatically deadlier phase, with drone strikes killing more than 200 civilians since 4 March alone. UN News reported that UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk expressed alarm at the devastating civilian toll, stating: "It will soon be three full years since the senseless conflict in Sudan began, devastating millions of lives and livelihoods. Yet the violence, fueled by these new technologies of war, simply keeps spreading."

In West Kordofan, at least 152 civilians were killed by SAF drone strikes, including at least 50 when a market and a hospital were hit. Attacks on markets in Abu Zabad and Wad Banda on 7 March left at least 40 civilians dead. A lorry carrying civilians was struck by a SAF drone on 10 March, reportedly killing at least 50 people. In South Kordofan, at least 39 civilians were killed by RSF and allied SPLM-North artillery shelling between 4 and 5 March. In White Nile state, a secondary school and health clinic in Shukeiri village were struck on 11 March, killing at least 17 civilians including a health worker. Reuters confirmed a further drone strike on 13 March killed 11 and injured more than 20, according to MSF.

The UN has renewed calls for both sides to fully abide by international humanitarian law, particularly the prohibition on directing attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Myanmar: Five Years of Junta Rule — Crisis Deepens

More than five years after Myanmar's military coup, the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. Presenting his final report to the UN Human Rights Council on 13 March, outgoing Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews warned that waning international pressure and shrinking humanitarian funding could have devastating consequences. UN News reported that airstrikes on civilian targets have risen from nine in 2021 to 1,140 in 2025, and OHCHR confirmed that airstrikes attributed to Myanmar's armed forces killed at least 982 civilians in 2025 — a 53 per cent increase from the previous year — including 287 children.

Nearly one-third of Myanmar's population now requires humanitarian assistance, and more than 12 million people face acute hunger. More than 3.6 million people are displaced nationwide. On 13 March, The Telegraph reported that 18 children were among dozens killed in the latest junta airstrikes. The Arakan Army reported that 116 prisoners of war, including high-ranking military officers and some civilians, were killed on 8 March in a junta airstrike on an AA prisoner facility. More than 100,000 homes have been burned down since the coup, and the use of landmines by junta forces has increased sharply.

Andrews called on the international community to bring to scale measures that have proven effective, including sanctions targeting military-controlled businesses and arms supply networks, warning against abandoning the people of Myanmar "precisely when they need that support the most."

Democratic Republic of Congo: Escalating Violence in Ituri

Violence is escalating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, with the UN raising alarm over growing civilian casualties and displacement in Ituri Province. UN News reported that at least 10 civilians were killed on 12 March near the Bule locality in Djugu Territory during clashes between armed groups. Since the beginning of March, fighting in surrounding villages has left at least 21 people dead and forced many others to flee.

The Plaine Savo displacement site now hosts nearly 136,000 people — roughly double the number recorded two months ago — as communities flee the violence. Humanitarian access remains severely restricted due to insecurity, with aid workers unable to safely reach the site since 8 March. A French UN aid worker was among several people killed after drones struck houses in Goma on 11 March, according to Al Jazeera. The UN has warned there is no military solution to the DRC conflict, with the US, EU, UK, and Switzerland issuing a joint statement to that effect.

The UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed highlighted that in the DRC, a child is reported raped every half hour, underscoring the scale of conflict-related sexual violence in the country.

South Sudan: Conflict Escalates, UN Defies Military Order

South Sudan teetered on the brink of full-blown civil war as civilians fled Akobo County in Jonglei state following a new military operation. The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) defied a government order to shut down its base in Akobo, a town held by opposition forces, stating it would not comply. PBS NewsHour reported the standoff on 10 March.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk urged an immediate ceasefire, expressing horror at growing accounts of serious violations and war crimes fears. The conflict is complicating preparations for elections planned for 2026, with debate intensifying over whether peace or elections should take priority.

Venezuela: Repressive Apparatus Intact Despite Maduro's Removal

Venezuela's repressive state apparatus remains fully operational despite the US-led seizure of former President Nicolás Maduro on 3 January 2026. UN News reported that independent UN human rights investigators presented findings to the Human Rights Council on 12 March, confirming that the machinery of repression — including arbitrary arrests, torture, and enforced disappearances — continues unabated. The Mission documented 135 arbitrary arrests between September and December 2025 alone.

OHCHR stated that "uncertainty in Venezuela must give way to meaningful human rights change," noting that while at least 659 political prisoners have been released between January 8 and March 8, 2026, the broader repressive system remains intact. The Mission concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe Maduro is responsible for crimes against humanity committed against the civilian population.

Haiti: Displacement Reaches Unprecedented Levels

More than 1.4 million people have been displaced by gang violence and instability in Haiti, according to the latest data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) released on 6 March 2026. IOM described the situation as having reached "unprecedented levels." In 2025, nearly 6,000 people were killed in gang violence, according to the Centre for Economic and Policy Research.

A new UN-authorised Gang Suppression Force is due to be deployed next month to curb violence, though analysts question its capacity to impose order. Aid cuts from donors including Switzerland are compounding the crisis as children face deadly hunger and targeted gang recruitment. The UN Deputy Secretary-General warned that lasting peace cannot be achieved while women and girls remain excluded and unprotected, noting that sexual violence against children in Haiti surged dramatically in recent years.

International Diplomacy and Peacekeeping

The UN Security Council adopted a Gulf-backed resolution condemning Iranian attacks on 12 March, with a Russian counter-bid failing. The UN Secretary-General's visit to Beirut on 13 March marked the most high-profile diplomatic gesture of the week, with Guterres calling for an immediate ceasefire and pledging UN support for Lebanon's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil issued a joint statement calling for a pause in the Iran war and a return to diplomatic negotiations. ASEAN foreign ministers similarly urged ceasefire and diplomacy amid the escalating Middle East conflict. Xinhua (Chin) reported the ASEAN statement.

Economist Jeffrey Sachs, speaking on Democracy Now!, warned that the US-Israeli "war of choice" and its assault on the UN Charter could lead to World War III, calling for an immediate return to multilateral diplomacy and international law. Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard, also speaking to Democracy Now!, highlighted the global fight for gender justice and the killing of human rights defenders as part of a broader pattern of impunity.

Key Statistics

This report is compiled from open-source primary sources including UN agencies, international news organisations, and human rights bodies. Source bias tags are applied where relevant to assist readers in contextualising information: (Rus) = Russian state-affiliated; (Chin) = Chinese state-affiliated; (Ukr) = Ukrainian state-affiliated or advocacy outlet. All figures are as reported and subject to revision. This report does not constitute legal or policy advice.