Today's top news: Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territory, West and Central Africa floods, Ukraine

Southern suburbs following airstrikes during first 3 days of October 2024.
Southern suburbs of Beirut following recent Israeli airstrikes. Photo: UNICEF/UNI655547/al Mussawir - Ramzi Haidar

#Lebanon

OCHA says that ongoing hostilities continue to kill, injure and displace people in Lebanon.

Yesterday, a series of unannounced airstrikes hit densely populated areas in Beirut's central district, marking the third significant attack on the city center since 23 September. According to national authorities, 22 people were killed and hundreds more injured.

OCHA reiterates the urgent need for all parties to fully respect international humanitarian law. Parties must take constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects, including homes and essential infrastructure, throughout their military operations.

UN agencies and partners continue to support response efforts.

Since 27 September, the World Food Programme (WFP) and partners have distributed over 1 million meals and more than 143,000 ready-to-eat kits to at least 440 designated shelters. WFP is providing hot meals and cash, among other assistance, to reach nearly 160,000 people in shelters daily. WFP is ready to help up to one million people but stresses the need for ports and supply lanes to remain open, as well as for additional funding.

WFP and UNICEF today dispatched a second humanitarian convoy from Beirut to the village of Rmaych in the south, where 6,000 people are seeking shelter. UNICEF and partners continue to provide protection, psychosocial support, nutrition, health, and water, sanitation and hygiene services.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization delivered enough medical supplies to perform 1,300 surgical procedures for 650 trauma patients in six major Beirut hospitals.

OCHA also warns that while displacement continues, nearly three-quarters of the 1,000 designated shelters are operating at full capacity. Assessments are also underway to evaluate the needs of displaced people outside shelters, particularly with the winter season approaching.

#Occupied Palestinian Territory

Gaza

OCHA visited the Al Rufaida school-turned-shelter in Deir al Balah, Gaza, following an Israeli airstrike that killed several people, including women and children. The assessment team reported severe damage to three classrooms, 20 tents, five bathrooms, three water tanks and the personal belongings of over 60 families. This assessment has prompted and prioritized an urgent humanitarian response to address the needs of those affected.

In a social media post, UNICEF’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Adele Khodr, said the airstrike had killed and injured many mothers and children queueing at a malnutrition treatment point. She added that two health staff of a UNICEF partner had also been killed.

OCHA calls for all parties to the conflict to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, including by taking constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects.

In northern Gaza, OCHA emphasizes that critical aid lifelines into that area have been cut off, with no food and other essential supplies entering since 1 October. The main crossings into the area remain closed, while more than 400,000 people who remain there are under increased pressure to leave southwards.

UNICEF says sudden displacement orders there are once again forcing tens of thousands of vulnerable children onto the roads. In a statement yesterday, the agency said children are being condemned time and again to unimaginable suffering, horror and death. OCHA warns that most displacement is now occurring within the north, where no tents are available to support newly displaced families.

OCHA further tells us that intense fighting prevents thousands of people from seeking safer areas and restricts the access of aid workers. With particularly intense hostilities in Jabalya refugee camp, people there remain largely stranded, with limited access to water or food.

OCHA stresses that civilians in Gaza must be protected, and those who leave must have enough time to do so, as well as a safe route and a safe place to go. They must also have their basic needs met, whether they move or stay.

The latest developments in North Gaza governorate have forced the suspension of protection services, the closure of malnutrition treatment services benefiting about 1,000 children, and the shutting down of five temporary learning spaces managed by our partners for more than 750 children. Kamal Adwan Hospital is seeing an influx of trauma injuries.

According to WFP, kitchens, distribution points and bakeries in northern Gaza have either been forced to shut down or are at risk of shutting down if the conflict continues at this scale. Bakeries are struggling to secure wheat flour, which puts them at risk of shutting down any day.

Despite the challenges, humanitarian organizations are responding to the best of their ability. UNRWA and NGO partners are distributing bread, ready-to-eat or cooked meals, and flour in and beyond designated shelters.

OCHA warns that aid entering the Gaza Strip is at its lowest level in months. WFP says no one has received food parcels so far this month due to constrained access of aid supplies. If this situation continues, WFP will not be able to deliver monthly food parcel assistance to more than a million Palestinians in Gaza. People have run out of ways to cope, food systems have collapsed, and the risk of famine persists.

West Bank

OCHA reports that recurrent operations there by Israeli forces over the past year have caused major damage to critical infrastructure, including systems critical to water, sanitation and hygiene in the West Bank.

These operations have destroyed more than 20,000 metres of water pipelines, sewer networks, and stormwater drainage system. As a result, access to clean water and sanitation services has been compromised for nearly 92,000 people in the West Bank.

Humanitarian partners there have responded to immediate needs through water trucking and the distribution of hygiene kits, but additional support is urgently needed to restore people’s access to essential services as winter approaches.

#West and Central Africa

OCHA reports that the number of people affected by flooding in the West and Central Africa region continues to grow, currently standing at 6.6 million people in 16 countries.

The countries most affected are Chad, with 1.9 million people, Niger with 1.3 million, Nigeria with 1.2 million and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with 1.1 million.

As of last week, humanitarian partners and authorities report that more than 1,400 people have been killed and 980,000 others have been displaced.

With hundreds of schools and health facilities damaged or destroyed, people’s access to basic social services has also been curtailed.

Some 700,000 hectares of farmland has been damaged and around 120,000 heads of cattle killed. This will further aggravate the food security and nutrition crisis in the region.

The UN and humanitarian partners continue to support the response efforts, including by providing food, clean water, cash assistance, sanitation, shelter support and medical supplies across the region.

The Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator Joyce Msuya has allocated US$35 million so far this year from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support the humanitarian response to flooding in five of the affected countries – Chad, Congo, the DRC, Niger and Nigeria. But more funding is urgently needed to prevent the further deterioration of the humanitarian situation.

#Ukraine

OCHA reports that humanitarian organizations continue to provide assistance to people in the south of Ukraine following attacks over the past five days. 

Yesterday, a late-night attack in Odesa region killed four people, including a 16-year-old girl, and injured 10 more civilians. Authorities also reported damage to residential buildings.

The Ukrainian Red Cross Society provided first aid to the affected people, complementing the efforts of the first responders. Aid workers are also delivering emergency shelter kits to cover damages.

Meanwhile, humanitarian partners continue to deliver assistance to front-line communities in the south.

Today, an inter-agency convoy delivered more than 11 tons of food, hygiene supplies and mattresses to the community of Kutsurub in the Mykolaiv Region, which is experiencing continuous shelling. This is the third inter-agency convoy to support front-line communities this week after convoys to the regions of Kharkiv and Kherson.