Today's top news: Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan, Ukraine, Haiti
#Lebanon
Healthcare under fire as workers killed, injured
OCHA reports that attacks on healthcare continue to have devastating consequences across Lebanon.
On Sunday afternoon, an airstrike in a populated area less than 100 meters from Rafik Hariri Public Hospital killed at least 4 and injured dozens.
Since 2 March, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded 100 attacks on healthcare which have resulted in 54 deaths and 145 injuries among active healthcare workers. These incidents are putting frontline responders at extreme risk and discouraging people from seeking care, with serious consequences for public health.
Despite these challenges, WHO and its partners continue to support the Government in sustaining essential services. To date, nearly 70,000 health consultations have been provided, including more than 800 for pre- and post-natal care. More than 51,000 patients have received medication, and humanitarian partners have supported nearly 300 hospitalisations, including deliveries of babies.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Lebanon with urgent support.
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
WHO suspends medical evacuations following security incident
OCHA says that partners in Gaza continue to respond to people’s needs in the face of persistent impediments and risks.
The Director-General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has confirmed that a person contracted to provide services to WHO was killed yesterday, while two staff members who were present were not injured.
In a social media post, Dr. Tedros noted that WHO suspended the medical evacuation of patients from Gaza through Rafah to Egypt until further notice, noting that the incident is under investigation by the relevant authorities.
Dr. Tedros called for the protection of civilians, including humanitarian workers, and shared that peace is the best medicine.
Meanwhile, colleagues working on mine action report that last week, they carried out nearly 70 assessments of explosive hazards to support debris removal and humanitarian operations by UN agencies and NGOs across the Gaza Strip. They also reached nearly 12,000 people with information on the risks posed by explosive ordnance. However, they still cannot carry out the full range of explosive ordnance disposal activities, largely because some of the required equipment has not been allowed in.
OCHA says that a wider range of essential items must be allowed into Gaza to expand services and reduce risks to aid workers and other civilians.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Gaza and the West Bank with urgent support.
#Sudan
Vaccination campaign underway amid escalating violence, displacement
OCHA says that as humanitarian needs continue to rise, partners are supporting vaccination campaigns and delivering essential supplies to displacement sites in Sudan.
Rising measles cases in crowded sites for displaced people are further straining already fragile health, water and sanitation services. Partners are responding, but insecurity, fuel shortages and damaged infrastructure are making operations extremely difficult.
Those efforts have been further undermined by the recent destruction of a warehouse for health supplies in White Nile State, which has disrupted the delivery of critical medicine, as well as by acute fuel shortages in South Kordofan that are delaying services and driving up costs.
At the same time, escalating violence in several parts of the country are driving new waves of displacement.
In Blue Nile State, thousands of people have been forced from their homes in recent weeks. Some have crossed into Ethiopia, while others are sheltering in schools, public buildings and informal sites. The International Organization of Migration (IOM) report that clashes have displaced more than 28,000 people since mid-January, including over 4,000 people in the past ten days. Those arriving in the state capital, Ed Damazine, face acute shortages of food, healthcare and shelter, and heightened risks of violence and abuse, particularly women and children.
Insecurity has also cut off key supply routes, including the road between the cities of Rahad and Dilling, disrupting both the delivery of humanitarian aid and commercial goods. There are reports about the reopening of the road between Dilling and North Kordofan. However, the situation remains highly fluid, with fighting reported in recent hours. Civilians continue to be under threat, and sustained, safe access for humanitarian assistance remains critical.
Despite these challenges, partners continue to respond, but the situation continues to underscore the urgent need to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, in line with international humanitarian law.
The UN calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities, and for rapid, safe, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access to all those in need.
#Ukraine
Children among those killed in deadly strikes
OCHA reports that hostilities in the past day and a half have caused further civilian casualties and widespread damage to housing, public transport and other civilian infrastructure.
Authorities reported that attacks on densely populated areas and public transport killed 10 people and injured 80, including seven children.
This morning a strike on a public bus in the city of Nikopol, in the Dnipro region, killed several people and injured a dozen others. The Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Mattias Schmale, again stressed that, under international humanitarian law, civilians must be protected as they go about their daily lives. Recent reports from authorities in Dnipro say that another public bus came under attack in the same afternoon with several people injured.
Civilians were also impacted in the regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odesa, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia, damaging residential buildings and civilian facilities.
Humanitarian partners responded in Nikopol and in the Kherson region by providing first aid, psychological support and evacuations of injured people to hospitals. In the Kherson, they also delivered emergency shelter materials and provided legal assistance.
As hostilities intensify, mandatory evacuations continue in 62 towns and villages in Dnipro. Authorities report that all children have been evacuated, with 2,000 civilians remaining. Humanitarian partners, local authorities and police continue to support evacuations, amid shrinking humanitarian access in front-line areas.
#Haiti
Violence forces thousands to flee
OCHA reports that violence in the department of Artibonite has recently triggered a new wave of displacement in Haiti.
According to the latest estimates from the IOM, the violence has pushed the total number of displaced people to more than 13,000 in the affected areas.
More than four out of every five of these people have sought shelter with host families, while the rest have settled in 16 displacement sites.
Together with authorities and our partners, OCHA is supporting people in need, but access constraints and limited resources continue to hamper the humanitarian response.