Today's top news: Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan, Ukraine, Somalia

#Lebanon

Humanitarian crisis deepens as displacement orders strain aid access

OCHA says that the human toll of hostilities continues to grow in Lebanon.

According to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, more than 1,000 have been killed, including at least 120 children. Nearly 3,000 people have been injured.

The humanitarian operating environment remains increasingly constrained due to expanding and repeated displacement orders, hostilities and attacks on civilian infrastructure, including key bridges. This continues to significantly hamper humanitarian access.

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners continue to support people in need, despite the constraints and challenges. To date, they have distributed more than 1.9 million meals and over 810,00 liters of bottled water.

OCHA reiterates that rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to affected people must be guaranteed. Civilian infrastructure – including transport networks, water systems and power stations – is protected under international humanitarian law. The safety of civilians, displaced populations and humanitarian staff must be ensured at all times.

The UN Population Fund received its first shipment of life-saving medicines and supplies in Beirut two days ago. This delivery, made with support from the European Union and in close coordination with the Ministry of Public Health, will help thousands of pregnant women. It includes medicine and equipment for safe deliveries, including C-sections and complicated cases, as well as supplies for survivors of sexual violence, including children.

Cross-border movements to Syria continue. According to Syrian authorities, since 2 March, more than 180,000 people arrived in Syria, including over 157,000 Syrians and more than 22,000 Lebanese people. Reports also indicate the rising use of unofficial crossing points, raising concerns of the risks of exploitation.

*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Lebanon with urgent support. 

#Occupied Palestinian Territory

Conditions worsening as access stalls

OCHA warns that the humanitarian crisis remains dire, despite the efforts of the UN and its partners. 

Over the past week, humanitarian partners provided emergency shelter support – including tents, tarpaulins, kitchen supplies, mattresses, blankets and clothes – to some 12,000 families.

But partners stress that more durable solutions – including repairing people’s homes – are imperative. This requires faster approvals for critical materials – such as timber and cement – which remain heavily restricted.

On health, emergency teams held more than 11,000 medical consultations this week, alongside ongoing trauma and limb reconstruction care. They warn, however, that disruptions in the rotations of international staff in and out of Gaza are significantly reducing their operational capacity and continuity of care. Since the beginning of the regional escalation, these rotations have become inconsistent and limited to once weekly.

OCHA continues to call for the remaining impediments to be removed, including reopening of more crossings and allowing the entry of diverse critical supplies, to enable a faster scale up of the humanitarian response to ensure progress made to date is not reversed. 

In the West Bank, OCHA has warned that violence by Israeli forces and settlers continues to result in Palestinian casualties and fuel further displacement. Just this morning, Israeli forces and groups of settlers raided the Batn al Hawa area in East Jerusalem and began forcible evictions of Palestinian families from residential buildings. Evicted families were forced into the streets and their belongings and homes were taken over by the settlers.

OCHA reports that overall in East Jerusalem, displacement risks remain high, with hundreds of Palestinian families facing imminent eviction due to ongoing eviction cases, amid an increasingly coercive environment. OCHA reiterates that Palestinians in the West Bank must be protected, as required by international humanitarian law, and perpetrators of violations must be held accountable. 

#Sudan

Border clashes threaten humanitarian deliveries

OCHA has warned that rising tensions along the border of Sudan and neighbouring countries are increasing risks to the safety of civilians.

Civilian casualties have been reported in several recent incidents along the Sudan-Chad border.

Near Sudan’s border with Ethiopia, clashes are threatening humanitarian access to the towns of Kurmuk, Sali and Dindraw, south of Ed Damazine, the capital of Blue Nile State. The violence has triggered civilian displacement, with people moving toward Ed Damazine and across the border into Ethiopia.

In the Kordofan region, it was reported that more drone strikes caused civilian casualties in the town of Lagawa in West Kordofan and the town of Dilling in South Kordofan on Monday.

OCHA once again calls on all parties to de-escalate tensions, protect civilians, and ensure rapid, safe, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access to all people in need.

Fires in displacement sites are increasing due to overcrowding, high temperatures, flammable shelter materials, open‑fire cooking practices, and dry, seasonal winds.

On Monday, a fire killed a three-year-old child and uprooted 15 families in the Al Afad site for displaced people in the town of Ad Dabbah in Northern State. On the same day, a fire in the village of Al Bnia Alzain in the locality of Um Dam Haj Ahmed in North Kordofan reportedly displaced 30 families.

*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Sudan with urgent support. 

#