Today's top news: Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Chad, Ukraine
#Lebanon
Civilian death and injuries continue despite ceasefire
OCHA reports that the humanitarian situation in Lebanon remains highly volatile despite the ceasefire, and civilians continue to be impacted by the hostilities.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, more than 2,700 people have been killed and over 8,300 have been injured since 2 March. As strikes continue, particularly in southern Lebanon, the toll is rising daily.
Overnight, one emergency worker was killed and three others were injured in an initial strike in the southern municipality of Kfardounine in Nabatieh Governorate. Another emergency worker was injured while responding.
Attacks on healthcare also remain deeply alarming. The World Health Organization has so far recorded 151 attacks on healthcare resulting in 103 deaths and more than 230 injuries. This includes five attacks since the ceasefire announcement on 17 April. These incidents undermine people’s access to care and place both patients and frontline responders at serious risk.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces this morning issued displacement orders for 12 areas across South, Nabatieh and Bekaa Governorates, forcing further displacement of civilians already affected by months of hostilities.
The United Nations and its humanitarian partners continue to support the response. The UN Refugee Agency and partners have reached more than 158,000 displaced people with psychosocial support, dignity kits, cash assistance and other services. However, significant risks persist including movement restrictions, psychological distress, lack of documentation and heightened exposure to exploitation, particularly for women, children and other vulnerable groups.
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
In Gaza, people are confined to less than half of the Strip
In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, OCHA says that 2.1 million people in Gaza remain confined to less than half of the Strip.
People are unable to access parts of Gaza where land reserves and critical facilities such as solid waste landfills are located. They are also unable to travel abroad or access the West Bank, where services such as specialized health care are available.
People who are allowed to exit as part of medical evacuations represent a tiny fraction of those who need services that are unavailable locally.
Restoring local services is hindered by restrictions on the entry of critical items and restrictions on the operations of key humanitarian partners.
Despite the restrictions, shelter partners last week distributed nearly 5,000 bedding items, 600 bedding kits, over 1,500 sealing-off kits and nearly 550 tents to more than 4,400 families.
Partners leading on food security continue to serve about 1.1 million meals every day through more than 120 kitchens.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said yesterday that it has reached more than 1.6 million people with food parcels, hot meals, bread and cash every month.
Yet, more than six months since the declaration of a ceasefire, WFP said hunger hasn’t disappeared, noting high malnutrition levels. Families still rely on food assistance to get by as fresh food remains too expensive. One in five families eats only one meal every day.
Our food security partners warn that cooking gas shortages force nearly seven in every ten families to burn waste, alongside other unsafe means of cooking. This is an increase of 13 per cent compared with last month.
Turning to the West Bank, displacement due to settler violence continues. Over the past week, OCHA recorded the displacement of more than 30 people after repeated threats and attacks by settlers on herding communities in Hebron and Ramallah. Since 2023, more than 5,900 Palestinians have been displaced by settler violence, including about 2,000 people this year alone.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Gaza and the West Bank with urgent support.
#Chad
UN humanitarian chief releases emergency funds ahead of worsening drought
The Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, has allocated US$3 million from the UN's global emergency fund (CERF) to support communities in Chad to get ahead of the humanitarian consequences of drought. The pre-arranged funding will back the Government’s anticipatory action plan for drought.
The release of the funding was triggered by the OCHA-facilitated anticipatory action framework and after approval by Chad’s technical services. The allocation will help protect vulnerable communities in the provinces of Kanem, Bahr-El-Ghazal and Batha ahead of the expected shortage of rain in July, August and September.
The fresh funds will enable the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the WFP and UNICEF, working closely with Chadian authorities, to provide early warnings, cash transfers, repairs to wells and climate-resilient seeds to 70,000 people. This timely support aims to safeguard lives, livelihoods and harvests before drought conditions worsen.
Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Chad with urgent support.
#Ukraine
Humanitarian convoys deliver life-saving aid near the front line
OCHA says that humanitarian convoys continue to reach hard-to-access communities near the front line, even as heavy bombardment in large urban centres across eastern Ukraine is causing civilian casualties, including among first responders.
Yesterday and today, the UN and its partners delivered two humanitarian convoys to support residents in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions.
Yesterday’s convoy to Sviatohirsk Town – one of the hardest hit by the war in the Donetsk region – was led by the Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, and the Head of OCHA in Ukraine, Andrea De Domenico.
Today’s convoy reached people in Kharkiv.
Both convoys delivered solar lamps, medicines, construction materials and hygiene supplies from UN agencies and national and international NGOs.
This year, the UN and its partners have delivered 20 humanitarian convoys, providing critical support to nearly 22,000 residents in front-line communities in Ukraine.
Across the country, some 30 civilians were killed and 170 were injured yesterday and in the early hours of this morning, according to authorities.
Glide bomb attacks and missile strikes killed over 20 residents and left more than 100 injured in the cities of Zaporizhzhia, Kramatorsk and Dnipro. Multiple residential buildings, a dormitory, an education facility and other civilian infrastructure were also damaged.
Yesterday morning, a large-scale attack on gas production facilities in the Poltava region killed at least five and injured nearly 40 gas workers and first responders, who arrived to extinguish the fire, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and the national gas company Naftogaz.
Reacting to the latter attack, Humanitarian Coordinator Matthias Schmale expressed his condolences to the families of those killed and called for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure as required by international humanitarian law.
Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Ukraine with urgent support.