Today's top news: Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan, Ethiopia, Ukraine, Viet Nam
#Lebanon
OCHA reports that that strikes continue to affect civilians and civilian infrastructure on the fifth consecutive day of the large-scale military escalation.
The Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon, Imran Riza, said in a press briefing earlier today that the recent escalation in the country is nothing short of catastrophic, with the surge in violence extending to previously unaffected areas. This has led to the widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure across Lebanon.
“We are witnessing the deadliest period in Lebanon in a generation, and many express their fear that this is just the beginning,” Riza said.
He said that in less than a week, at least 700 lives have been lost, thousands have been injured, and nearly 120,000 people have been displaced, with these numbers continuing to rise as we speak. In total, since October of 2023, more than 1,500 civilians have been killed and over 200,000 people have been forced to flee their homes.
The UN and partners are closely coordinating with the Lebanese Government to support the response efforts. We are delivering food, mattresses, hygiene kits, and emergency medical supplies.
Riza said that critical funding gaps persist in the areas of shelter repair, food, fuel and coordination, among others. Humanitarian organizations are now assessing the amount of funding required to address the increasing number of displaced people and the rising humanitarian needs.
In the meantime, the Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator, Joyce Msuya, has just allocated US$10 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund for the humanitarian response. This in addition to $10 million released earlier this week from the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund.
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
Gaza
OCHA warns that displaced people continue in Gaza to live in abysmal conditions which could further deteriorate in the upcoming cold and rainy winter weather.
The UN and humanitarian partners recently conducted assessments – on 19 and 22 September – in two collective shelters in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis.
At both sites, displaced communities live in overcrowded shelters and lack cleaning supplies, hygiene kits, sanitary pads and diapers, as well as clothes and infant formula for babies.
In the first site – a UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East school-turned shelter in Al Bureij refugee camp in Deir al Balah - hosting more than 3,500 people, our teams found people were crammed into classrooms and worn-out tents, with an average of 80 to 100 people per classroom and 40 people per tent. Access to clean water and health care is extremely limited. Most residents are eating only one meal per day, with some people going the entire day without eating.
The team visited a second site, a makeshift camp in Abasan, in eastern Khan Younis, hosting 2,500 people, including nearly 1,000 school-aged children. The site is in a flood-prone area, adjacent to a site where garbage is being dumped. There are no medical facilities and there is no food support at this site, except for occasional hot meals provided by a charity organization.
OCHA says that humanitarian aid movements in Gaza continue to face significant access constraints. Nearly 90 per cent of coordinated humanitarian movements between northern and southern Gaza so far in September have been either denied or impeded.
West Bank
OCHA says that the number of internal movement obstacles deployed by Israeli forces, increased by more than 20 per cent since June 2023.
Since 7 October, the West Bank has experienced an escalation in movement restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities, marked by the deployment or maintenance of hundreds of movement obstacles and a general closure that affects Palestinian permit-holders and bars them from accessing East Jerusalem and Israel.
The cumulative impact of movement obstacles has been devastating, further entrenching the fragmentation of the West Bank, disrupting access to livelihoods and services for thousands of Palestinians and aggravating the already difficult living conditions there.
Violence continues and in just one week - between 17 and 23 September - 11 Palestinians were killed, including 2 children. This included exchanges of fire, one airstrike and other contexts.
Between 7 October 2023 and 23 September 2024, 693 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This figure includes two individuals who succumbed to injuries sustained before 7 October.
In Israel, attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank resulted in the killing of 10 Israelis and seven Palestinian perpetrators.
Meanwhile, health facilities in the West Bank are also impacted by violence. According to the World Health Organization, from 7 October 2023 to 30 July 2024, 527 attacks – including obstruction of access, use of force, detention and militarized searches – were reported on health care in the region. These have affected affecting 54 health facilities, including 20 mobile clinics, in addition to 365 ambulances.
These incidents not only hinder access to health care, but also jeopardize the safety of medical personnel and patients.
#Sudan
OCHA is alarmed by the reports of intense fighting in Khartoum, Sudan. The situation is evolving quickly, but we have already seen reports of more than a dozen deaths or injuries.
The fighting has displaced dozens of people from the Shambat neighbourhood in Bahri town. That's according to preliminary information from the International Organization for Migration -- however, the agency says the situation remains tense and unpredictable.
We are also deeply concerned about the impact of this latest escalation on the local and community-level organizations providing basic humanitarian assistance to their neighbours.
The parties must adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law to spare civilians and civilian infrastructure, and to allow anyone seeking to leave the area voluntarily to do so safely.
We need to see an immediate cessation of the fighting and a restoration of safe, timely and unhindered access so we can reach these areas with lifesaving assistance and protection services.
#Ethiopia
Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator, Joyce Msuya, allocated yesterday $10 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support anticipatory action in Ethiopia.
The new funding will enabling early interventions to mitigate the impacts of projected drought in the southern and southeastern parts of the country. The allocation will also complement existing programmes and development efforts and will be aligned with anticipatory allocations from the Red Cross, the World Food Programme, and the Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund.
An estimated 19 million people live in areas at risk of drought conditions during the October-December rainy season, many of whom are still recovering from the devastating 2020-2022 drought—the worst in the Horn of Africa's recent history.
#Ukraine
OCHA reports that an overnight attack on Izmail Town in Ukraine's Odesa Region resulted in the deaths and injuries of more than a dozen civilians, including children. Local authorities and aid workers confirmed that the strike also caused significant damage to multiple homes and vehicles.
In the Kherson and Donetsk regions, as well as the city of Kryvyi Rih, authorities say attacks yesterday and today caused nearly 40 civilian casualties, as well as significant damage to homes and infrastructure. In the Kherson and Kharkiv regions, schools and ambulances were affected.
Humanitarian workers have been assisting people affected by these hostilities, including by providing emergency repair materials and psychological support.
Aid organizations also continue to deliver assistance to hard-to-reach areas near the front line. Today, an inter-agency convoy reached a community in the Kharkiv Region, where attacks have severely damaged homes and infrastructure. They delivered hygiene supplies and support to help residents prepare for the coming winter.
#Viet Nam
Today, the UN team, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Disaster and Dyke Management Authority, launched a $69 million Joint Response Plan to support communities most impacted by the devastating Typhoon Yagi, which struck Viet Nam on 7 September.
Pauline Tamesis, the UN Resident Coordinator in Viet Nam, emphasized the importance of having a coordinated approach. She said that the new plan represents our collective commitment to address both the urgent humanitarian needs and long-term recovery of the most vulnerable communities.
Some 3.6 million people in nearly half (26) of Viet Nam’s 63 provinces have been affected by flooding and landslides following the landing of Typhoon Yagi. Hundreds of thousands of homes, thousands of schools and hundreds of health facilities were also damaged.
Last week we announced an allocation of $2 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to the International Organization for Migration, the UN Development Programme and UNICEF to meet immediate needs in the most impacted areas, focusing on emergency shelter and water, sanitation, and hygiene assistance.