War

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Denise Brown, has strongly denounced a wave of Russian attacks that began Thursday night and lasted through Friday on populated areas across the country. At least 30 civilians were reportedly killed, with more than 150 others injured. Ukrainian authorities said the death toll will likely increase further as rescue operations continue.

UN chief António Guterres says the number of civilians killed in Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip has been “unparalleled and unprecedented” compared to any other conflict since he took office in 2017. The statement comes as de-facto authorities in Gaza reported today that more than 13,300 people have been killed in the tiny enclave since October 7. The casualty numbers include more than 5, 600 children, which means that more than 100 children are killed daily by indiscriminate and disproportionate Israeli bombardments from the air, sea, and land.

With the humanitarian situation in Lebanon worsening by the day, health authorities report that at least 1,116 people have been killed and over 3,000 injured in Israeli attacks since March 2. Meanwhile, displacement continues to surge, with over 1.2 million people in Lebanon – around a fifth of the population – having been forced to flee their homes.

More than 60 million forcibly displaced or stateless women and girls around the world are at high risk of gender-based violence (GBV), according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).  While GBV remains one of the world's most widespread human rights violations, UNHCR warns that the risks are heightened for women and girls living in situations of war and conflict or who have been forced to flee their homes.

As representatives of Iran and the United States reportedly prepared to sign a new peace agreement by the end of the week, the United Nations stressed the urgent need on Monday to open an aid corridor through the choked-off Strait of Hormuz to prevent a global hunger crisis that could lead to an additional 45 million people facing extreme hunger.

The United Nations (UN) says that millions of people in Ukraine are without electricity, water or heating following a wave of Russian missile attacks on Tuesday that hit critical infrastructure in at least 16 of the country’s 24 regions and in the capital, Kyiv.  According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the damage to civilian infrastructure comes at a critical time when the temperature is dropping below zero, raising concerns about a serious humanitarian crisis during the harsh Ukrainian winter if people are unable to heat th

More than 100 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) joined forces on Wednesday to demand an end to Israel’s weaponization of aid, which exacerbates the appalling suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. While famine unfolds in the territory, with people dying daily due to malnutrition and starvation, the Israeli government's threat to ban major aid organizations from operating in Gaza worsens the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe even further.

Sudan is experiencing escalating rates of hunger and malnutrition as the consequences of conflict and displacement spread through the region. At least 25 million people in the region are affected by food insecurity, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned today, while thousands of families are displaced and forced across the borders into Chad and South Sudan every week.

The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory on Sunday issued a stark warning about the deepening humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli authorities maintain a blockade on the delivery of humanitarian aid and commercial goods for more than two months. In a statement, HCT, which coordinates relief efforts in Gaza and the West Bank, also condemned Israeli efforts to dismantle the current aid system.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Monday that it remains gravely concerned about the impact of ongoing military activities in Lebanon on civilians. These concerns include the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs late Thursday, just before the start of the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha. Additional strikes were recorded in the southern village of Ain Qana that same night.

Independent investigators appointed by the United Nations have accused Sudan's warring parties of driving the country into a humanitarian abyss by flagrantly disregarding basic human rights and international humanitarian law. The three-member International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan presented its first oral update to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned that South Sudan is facing a "perfect storm" of ongoing violence, imminent flooding, economic crisis, underfunding of the humanitarian response, and an influx of new arrivals due to the war in neighboring Sudan. The warning comes as 9 million people in the country are in need of humanitarian assistance. Among those in need are 4.9 million children.

Amid growing hopes for a Gaza ceasefire and an end to the war, United Nations humanitarian officials revealed disturbing details on Friday about the ongoing killing and injuring of Palestinians desperately seeking food. Israeli forces continue to target and kill people attempting to access food supplies at militarized distribution centers, UN distribution sites, and near aid convoys.

Leading international humanitarian organizations on Friday have expressed shock and deep concern for civilians in the Gaza Strip after Israel ordered the entire population - more than 1.1 million people - to leave the northern part of Gaza as airstrikes continue and the humanitarian crisis worsens.  Fearing catastrophic consequences, they warn that neither the demand to leave nor the total siege of Gaza imposed by Israel is compatible with international humanitarian law (IHL). 

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called Wednesday for Israel and Hamas to prolong a temporary truce, saying a “true humanitarian cease-fire” is needed in the eight-week-old war. Meanwhile, a last-minute deal was struck on Thursday between Israel and Hamas to continue their cease-fire for a seventh day.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Friday that it had made some breakthroughs in humanitarian access in recent weeks, reaching regions in Sudan that had been largely cut off from aid, including people facing or at risk of famine. WFP stressed the importance of pre-positioning food close to vulnerable populations now, as the rainy season is just weeks away, which will make it extremely difficult for large trucks to travel.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged the international community on Tuesday to create an international body that would assist families of the estimated 100,000 missing persons in Syria to find out the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones. The call came at a time when Syrians, who have suffered 12 years of civil war, are facing the added devastation of the recent earthquake.

After 22 months of relentless conflict, more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip are in the grips of famine, marked by widespread starvation, destitution, and preventable deaths, according to a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released Friday. Projections indicate that famine conditions will spread from Gaza Governorate to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis Governorates in the coming weeks.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that Israeli displacement orders followed by airstrikes continue to drive panic among civilians in Lebanon, particularly in the suburbs of the capital Beirut. According to Lebanese officials, more than 3,300 people, including more than 200 children, have been killed and more than 14,000 injured by Israeli airstrikes since October 2023, most of them within the past six weeks.