Humanitarian Catastrophe

Hospitals in Gaza are on the verge of total shutdown as more have come under intense bombardment. Almost two thirds of all hospitals in Gaza are now completely out of service, and the rest are struggling to keep functioning while civilian casualties continue to rise. Bombardments and armed clashes around the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City have intensified since Saturday afternoon.

Food is slowly returning to the Gaza Strip amid "apocalyptic scenes", but UN humanitarian officials said on Tuesday that supplies are still desperately inadequate. They issued fresh calls for wider access and more border crossings to be opened, as well as continued financial support. Since the resumption of general food distributions on October 13, nearly half of Gaza's population has received food parcels.

Hunger and child malnutrition rose for the sixth consecutive year in 2024, pushing millions of people to the brink in some of the world's most fragile regions, according to a new report released Friday. The 2025 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) shows that conflict, economic shocks, climate extremes and forced displacement are fueling food insecurity and malnutrition around the world, with catastrophic consequences for many regions.

The United Nations human rights office has condemned the increasing frequency of Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) strikes on schools in the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced Palestinians have sought shelter, carried out "with apparent disregard for the high rate of civilian fatalities." The condemnation follows dozens of IDF attacks on schools-turned-shelters in July, and horrific early Saturday morning strikes that killed up to 100 people.

The ongoing ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is allowing United Nations agencies to provide life-saving food to more desperate people, but the UN warns that greater access is necessary to prevent famine from spreading. Since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, the World Food Programme (WFP) has brought in over 6,700 metric tons of food — enough to feed nearly half a million people for two weeks. However, this falls far short of the daily target of around 2,000 tons.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) says its peacekeepers have stepped up their presence around and inside displacement camps to provide additional security, amid growing fears that the peace agreement will collapse and South Sudan will slide back into war. Meanwhile, high-level political negotiations are underway to convince the country's leaders to avoid the outbreak of a new war, as fighting continues around Ulang in Upper Nile State.

As conflict continues to rage across parts of Sudan, including North Darfur State and the Kordofan region, pockets of relative safety have emerged over the past four months — spurring more than one million internally displaced Sudanese to return home, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Since last year, a further 320,000 refugees have returned to Sudan, mainly from Egypt and South Sudan, some to assess the current situation before deciding to return.

The human rights group Amnesty International (AI) accused Israel of committing acts of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza in a report released Thursday. It's the first time the leading non-governmental human rights organization has leveled such an accusation during an active conflict. Genocide is a term used to describe violent crimes committed against a group with the intent to destroy the existence of the group, in whole or in part.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) says it is deeply concerned by the current political tensions and deteriorating security situation in the country, including the aerial bombardment of the town of Nasir in Upper Nile State, resulting in civilian casualties. Nicholas Haysom, the head of UNMISS, has warned that the country is on the brink of a return to civil war.

While the world's farmers produce more than enough food to feed the planet's 8 billion people, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said "hunger and malnutrition are a fact of life" for billions, as 2.8 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet.  In a message ahead of Wednesday's World Food Day, Guterres said 733 million people worldwide lack food because of "conflict, marginalization, climate change, poverty and economic downturns.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned on Thursday that health threats are surging as the war in Sudan escalates and millions of people, many sick and wounded, flee for safety within Sudan and across borders to neighboring countries where health services are fragile and hard to reach. The war, which erupted more than three months ago between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), is not contained within the country but has profound regional implications.