International Humanitarian Law

In what they call an "unprecedented emergency," United Nations agencies are warning that humanitarian operations throughout the Gaza Strip will cease within hours or days unless Israel reopens border crossings and allows critical fuel supplies into the Palestinian territory. Virtually no aid has entered Gaza in the past five days, and essentials such as fuel, food and water are in dangerously short supply.

A top United Nations official has expressed grave concern over the rapid expansion of the M23 armed group in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo), particularly in North Kivu province and its spillover into neighboring South Kivu province. Briefing the UN Security Council on Monday, Bintou Keita, the UN special envoy to the DRC, described the situation as "one of the most serious, complex and neglected humanitarian crises of our times."

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has expressed grave concern for the safety of civilians and internally displaced people (IDPs) in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) as fighting between the Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) rebel group and the Congolese army further intensifies in South and North Kivu provinces, with the armed group advancing on the North Kivu capital of Goma.

The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is spiraling out of control, with a staggering number of people facing hunger, including extreme conditions, and the United Nations’ ability to deliver aid severely hampered by ongoing conflict, funding shortages, and arbitrary detentions. This was the stark warning delivered on Monday by UN relief chief Tom Fletcher during a briefing to the UN Security Council.

As the number of refugees and migrants crossing the Darién jungle this year reaches an unprecedented 500,000 – more than double the crossings last year – the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned Thursday of a deepening humanitarian emergency in the Americas and called for a comprehensive regional approach to address the serious protection risks and urgent humanitarian needs of people on the move.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights says the devastating human rights crisis in Sudan has created the world's largest humanitarian catastrophe. Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva on Thursday, Volker Türk also warned of an increasing risk of atrocity crimes and mass deaths from famine as a result of the conflict, which began in April 2023.

According to a new United Nations report, the violence against children in armed conflict reached unprecedented levels in 2024. Children bore the brunt of relentless hostilities, indiscriminate attacks, disregard for ceasefires and peace agreements, and deepening humanitarian crises. As conflicts raging across the globe kill, maim, starve, or rape children, 22,495 children were verified as victims.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that casualties, especially among children, are rising in north-west Syria as shelling and airstrikes continue to pound the areas of Idleb and western Aleppo. In its latest situation report, OCHA said Friday that more than 2,300 places have been affected by the violence, resulting in the displacement of more than 120,000 people since the escalation began in early October.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is urgently appealing to Myanmar’s neighboring countries to immediately stop forced returns of Myanmar nationals seeking safety from serious harm. Sending them back to the country is "placing countless lives at risk" and a violation of international law, the UN agency said in a statement released Thursday.

A United Nations-backed food security report has warned that the entire Gaza Strip is classified in emergency levels of hunger, and that the threat of famine persists as aid dwindles and winter approaches. As of October, some 1.84 million people across the Gaza Strip are classified in crisis levels (IPC Phase 3) or worse, including some 133,000 people facing catastrophic food insecurity (IPC Phase 5) and 664,000 in emergency levels (IPC Phase 4).

United Nations humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said Friday that three months into Israel's war in the Gaza Strip, the territory has become uninhabitable, and aid workers are left with the "impossible mission" of supporting more than 2 million people.  Also Friday, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned while thousands of children have already died from violence, living conditions for children continue to rapidly deteriorate in Gaza, raising the risk of mounting child deaths.

While civilians are being targeted or indiscriminately attacked in several regions of Sudan, with hundreds reportedly killed, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that Sudan's humanitarian crisis continues to intensify as cholera spreads throughout the country, flooding displaces communities, and thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) return to areas with little to no support.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that ongoing Israeli airstrikes are deepening the crisis in areas of Lebanon already struggling with displacement, as casualties and the impact of the conflict mount. According to the Lebanese government, more than 2,400 people have been killed and more than 11,000 injured since October 2023, most of them in the past four weeks.

The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip, which is a war crime, the leading international human rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Monday. In a statement, HRW stressed that Israeli forces are deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel, while willfully impeding humanitarian assistance, and depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable to their survival.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that Yemen bears the highest burden of cholera in the world. According to a WHO report released earlier this week, there are approximately 250,000 suspected cases of cholera reported, with more than 860 associated deaths since the beginning of the year, accounting for 35 percent of the global cholera burden and 18 percent of the global reported mortality.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the situation in Sudan's North Darfur State remains alarming as fighting continues to displace families and people face severe shortages of food and clean water. North Darfur has been an epicenter of clashes since the beginning of Sudan’s brutal conflict over two years ago.

Millions of people in Syria remain at risk of death from unexploded ordnance, disease and malnutrition, and urgent assistance is needed, United Nations humanitarian officials said on Friday. Despite some progress, humanitarian needs in Syria remain immense as years of conflict have pushed 90 percent of the population into poverty, with nearly 7.5 million people displaced inside Syria and more than six million living as refugees.