Two years on from the Hamas-led large-scale attacks that triggered Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, it is Palestinian civilians who continue to bear the brunt of this conflict, with widespread atrocity crimes being committed by Israeli forces. Following the latest military assault, the situation in the territory, where a man-made famine has been confirmed, has further deteriorated, leaving more than two million people fighting for survival. Meanwhile, talks on a US-driven peace plan continued on Tuesday in Egypt, raising glimmers of hope for an end to the brutal conflict.
Amid the deepest funding cuts ever to hit the international humanitarian sector, the United Nations relief chief presented a global "hyper-prioritized" appeal on Monday, which aims to help 114 million people facing life-threatening needs worldwide. The US$29 billion plan further prioritizes, but does not replace, the 2025 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO), which was launched last December.
Renewed Israeli airstrikes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday killed hundreds of people, including more than 100 children, and injured hundreds of others, Gaza officials said. The collapse of the ceasefire in Gaza and the large-scale civilian deaths have been met with shock by senior United Nations officials and humanitarian organizations around the world.
2025 set another grim record for violence against aid workers, with 907 killed, injured, or kidnapped, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today on World Humanitarian Day. Although the death toll decreased slightly to 350 last year, it was the second-highest annual toll ever recorded, and the overall level of violence did not ease. 322 aid workers were injured in attacks, and 235 were kidnapped.
The United Nations reports that Israeli military forces continue to kill civilians, including children, with impunity and a total lack of accountability in both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, despite active ceasefire agreements. Persistent Israeli military attacks have repeatedly violated the eight-month-old truce in the Gaza Strip and breached the newly announced ceasefire covering Lebanon and Iran.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the humanitarian community in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been forced to reprioritize its response plan due to critical funding shortfalls. The move is part of a "Humanitarian Reset," following a dramatic drop in funding triggered by the United States' brutal cessation of most contributions and cuts to humanitarian assistance by other major donors around the world.
The United Nations and its aid partners launched their 2026 global humanitarian appeal on Monday to raise a total of US$33 billion to support 135 million people in need through 23 country operations and six plans for refugees and migrants. The appeal aims to save millions of lives in some of the world's most crisis-stricken regions, including those affected by war, hunger, climate disasters, earthquakes, and epidemics.
The newly appointed interim Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Kristine Hambrouck, expressed alarm over the recent wave of attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, noting that they represent a blatant violation of international humanitarian law. Her statement comes as the situation in Sudan is worsening amid ongoing fighting, mass displacement, and mounting health emergencies.
The United Nations has issued an urgent warning to the international community. Escalating funding shortfalls are crippling humanitarian operations in Afghanistan and placing millions at risk, as the country grapples with hunger, displacement, climate shocks, and the ongoing marginalization of women and girls. This warning comes at a time when 22.9 million people, including 12.3 million Children, require humanitarian assistance and protection.
The United Nations humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, and the Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, on Thursday welcomed the news that the crucial Adre crossing between eastern Chad and the western region of Darfur in Sudan will remain open for the movement of humanitarian personnel and life-saving supplies. Since its reopening eight months ago, the Adre crossing has been a vital lifeline for millions of people in dire need in the region.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) released its annual Emergency Watchlist on Wednesday, spotlighting the 20 countries most likely to face escalating humanitarian needs in the coming year. According to the dire ranking, the top five crises are Sudan, the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Myanmar, Syria and South Sudan, as war and climate change fuel new and ongoing humanitarian emergencies around the world.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed alarm on Monday over the continued deadly violence in Sudan, including attacks against humanitarian operations, alongside rising displacement and worsening food insecurity. Meanwhile, a coalition of international aid organizations has called for urgent protection of the nation's upcoming harvest, as Sudan enters a critical period to prevent another catastrophic hunger crisis.
The year is not yet over, but 2024 has already become the deadliest on record for humanitarian workers, with the war in Gaza driving up the numbers, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday, citing data from the Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD). The grim milestone was reached with the recorded deaths of 281 aid workers globally, surpassing the previous record of 2023.
United Nations relief chief Tom Fletcher allocated US$13.5 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) on Wednesday to address the worsening humanitarian crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo). In the midst of a severe funding crisis, $10 million will support the delivery of immediate, life-saving assistance for displaced people in DRC, while $3.5 million will bolster urgent refugee response efforts in neighboring Burundi.
At a time when humanitarian needs are rising and funding is falling rapidly, Tom Fletcher, the United Nations relief chief and Emergency Relief Coordinator, has allocated US$48 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS). This funding will enable UNHAS to continue operating in eight crisis-stricken countries.
A ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas took effect in the Gaza Strip on Sunday at 11:15 am local time, after more than 470 days of war that have devastated the tiny territory and left its two million inhabitants in dire need of the basics to survive. According to the United Nations, more than 630 trucks of humanitarian goods entered Gaza on the first day of the truce, with at least 300 of them going to the northern Gaza Strip, which has been cut off from aid for months.
Top United Nations officials on Monday called for urgent global action to save Palestinians in Gaza, highlighting once again the catastrophic humanitarian crisis. For more than a month, Gaza has been cut off from commercial and humanitarian supplies, leaving more than 2.1 million people trapped, bombed and starving. Meanwhile, Israeli attacks on civilians, including aid workers, journalists, UN personnel, hospitals and ambulances, continue with impunity.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) teamed up on Wednesday to issue an urgent appeal for immediate assistance to communities already impacted by the strongest El Niño on record. They warned that this climate phenomenon could trigger humanitarian disasters across four continents.
Speaking at the United Nations Security Council on Monday, Joyce Msuya, the deputy head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), delivered a blunt warning: armed conflict is driving the world’s most severe hunger crises, and without decisive political action, famine conditions will worsen in several regions. Msuya stressed that today's hunger is overwhelmingly human-made.
