Today's top news: Lebanon, Syria, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan, Chad, Myanmar, Ukraine
Lebanon
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, said today in a social media post that Lebanon is in the midst of its most devastating humanitarian crisis in a generation and that the ceasefire is our greatest hope for bringing an end to the immense suffering.
The Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon, Imran Riza, stressed that while the ceasefire provides a welcome respite, humanitarian needs in Lebanon remain staggering. In a statement, he said swift, safe and unhindered access to all affected areas is essential to sustain life-saving assistance.
The conflict has devastated lives, with more than 3,800 people killed, 15,800 injured and nearly 900,000 internally displaced, alongside more than half a million people who have fled across borders, according to the authorities. Homes, health care and livelihoods have been destroyed.
The UN will continue to support the Lebanese Government and partners. This morning, on the first day of the ceasefire, 11 trucks from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) delivered emergency supplies to more than 3,000 people in Baalbek, including blankets, mattresses, winter jackets, plastic sheets, solar lamps and sleeping mats.
Since 23 September 2024, UNHCR has delivered more than 330,000 relief items to more than 190,000 people.
UNICEF continues to support children who have been heavily impacted by the conflict, providing emergency psychological support to thousands of children and caregivers. UNICEF has reached more than 9,000 children and their caregivers with psychological first aid over the past two months.
Syria
OCHA is sounding the alarm about the devastating effects ongoing hostilities across various parts of Syria are having on civilians and aid operations.
In a statement today, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, Adam Abdelmoula, alongside the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, Ramanathan Balakrishnan, called for the protection of civilians and civilian assets, including humanitarian workers, following the killing of a Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) volunteer in an air attack in Homs this morning that hit the Ad Dabousiyah border crossing with Lebanon. Several other SARC staff were injured.
The attack also killed three civilians, left more than a dozen others injured, and damaged a number of SARC ambulances.
SARC has been a key partner for the UN in responding to the influx of people fleeing hostilities in Lebanon in recent months. Following today’s attack, all humanitarian operations at border crossings between Syria and Lebanon have been suspended.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, David Carden, expressed deep concern over the impact of the recent escalation of hostilities in north-west Syria on civilians, particularly children.
Yesterday, three boys under the age of 14 were killed, and more than a dozen other children were injured in artillery shelling in Idleb and western Aleppo. All of the children were in an educational institution at the time of the attack.
UN Partners are trying to verify the number of people who may have been displaced by the latest violence.
As of today, at least 35 non-governmental organizations report having suspended humanitarian operations in the area. Health partners say services are no longer operational in at least 14 health facilities, primarily in areas along the front line, due to the fighting.
Private and public schools have also closed, as well as several main roads in Idleb and western Aleppo.
The Bab Al-Hawa border crossing remains operational for aid deliveries, with 10 trucks carrying supplies from the World Health Organization, the UN Refugee Agency and UNICEF crossing into Idleb from Türkiye this afternoon.
Occupied Palestinian Territory
OCHA reports that Palestinians across Gaza are struggling to survive under relentless bombardment and deprivation – as hostilities, insecurity and access constraints continue to strangle the movement of life-saving supplies into and across the Strip.
The World Food Programme says all bakeries in central Gaza have shut down due to severe supply shortages. Bread is a lifeline for many families in Gaza; it’s often the only food they can access. Now, even that is slipping out of reach.
OCHA is also warning of a worsening nutrition situation across Gaza. Of the total number of children admitted for outpatient treatment of acute malnutrition since the beginning of 2024, two thirds were recorded in the past five months. Our nutrition partners report that between November 1st and 23rd alone, more than 3,400 children were admitted for outpatient treatment of acute malnutrition.
Despite the challenges that aid organizations in Gaza continue to face – the World Health Organization and a partner, Relief International, recently established a new stabilization centre for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition in Deir al Balah. This means there are now still only four such centres operational throughout the Strip – one in Khan Younis, one in Gaza city and two in Deir al Balah.
In North Gaza, however, the stabilization centre at Kamal Adwan Hospital has been closed since the start of the Israeli siege more than seven weeks ago, despite spiraling needs in the governorate.
New reporting from health partners reveals that only five out of 486 health service points in Gaza were fully operational last month. Over half were entirely non-functional, while 233 were partially operating.
The health sector is grappling with critical shortages of medicines, supplies, fuel, food, and water.
Despite these challenges, health partners continue life-saving health support wherever possible. They have delivered supplies and are working to establish additional health service points in displacement sites in Gaza City, following a multi-partner assessment over the weekend.
Between 10 and 23 November, more than 40 health partners provided primary and secondary care to over 479,000 people across Gaza, with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East providing most of the primary health services in Gaza.
Sudan
OCHA warns that the escalating fighting in El Fasher, North Darfur, Sudan, continues to harm civilians and hamper the delivery of life-saving assistance.
Since April, more than 400,000 people have been displaced by the violence in El Fasher, with some fleeing to Zamzam and other nearby displacement sites. As you know, Zamzam is located just 12 kilometres south of El Fasher town. As we told you last week, the World Food Programme has provided desperately needed food assistance to people there, with more on the way.
OCHA reports that El Fasher town is still under siege and inaccessible, though a limited number of humanitarian partners are on the ground and working with UN agencies to deliver life-saving assistance and services.
The World Health Organization delivered more than 17 metric tons of supplies for three humanitarian partners last month.
UNICEF has been supporting water trucking and the maintenance and operation of 120 water sources in and around El Fasher, including in Zamzam camp. In the last month, eight of the agency’s non-governmental organization partners have built 300 latrines to serve some 6,000 people in the broader El Fasher area.
UNICEF is also providing support to six outpatient nutrition treatment projects in El Fasher and Abu Shouk camp, which are being managed by a local partner that is screening children for malnutrition in accessible areas of El Fasher. Last week, UNICEF worked with the Sudanese health authorities to deliver critical supplies to Al Saudi Hospital in El Fasher town.
Approximately 3,000 metric tons of UNICEF’s education, health, nutrition, and water, sanitation and health supplies have reached North Darfur since January of this year.
Meanwhile, OCHA is supporting relief efforts in El Fasher through the Sudan Humanitarian Fund, which has enabled our humanitarian partners to provide emergency assistance, including shelter and non-food items; health-care services; food, nutrition and livelihood support; water and hygiene assistance; and protection services.
We commend the essential role being played by local partners, including women-led and community organizations, who continue to serve as the front line of the response in El Fasher and across Sudan, often in the face of unacceptable security and protection risks.
OCHA continues to appeal for, at minimum, a humanitarian pause in the area to allow essential relief supplies in and to allow civilians seeking to leave to do so safely.
Chad
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, arrived in the capital N’Djamena in Chad, where he met the Prime Minister, Al-Lamaye Halina, and other senior officials.
They discussed the humanitarian situation in Chad and the impact of the ongoing influx of refugees fleeing conflicts in Sudan and other neighbouring countries
Fletcher commended the enormous generosity of Chad, where communities are hosting hundreds of thousands of displaced people, including refugees, at a time when resources are severely stretched.
Ukraine
OCHA says attacks and hostilities continued to ravage Ukraine towns along the frontline, yesterday and today, with local authorities reporting scores of civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure.
In the Mykolayiv Region, in the south of the country, local authorities reported yesterday that someone has died and three others injured in an attack, which also struck an aid distribution site. Two staff members of a humanitarian organization were injured, with one of them later dying at the hospital.
Meanwhile, the UN and partners continue to support the humanitarian response across the country. Yesterday, a convoy delivered portable power stations, medicine, warm clothes and hygiene supplies, among other supplies, to a front-line community in the Kherson Region, as winter sets in and residents have no electricity and water supply.
In 2024, the UN and partners delivered, through 42 inter-agency convoys, critical humanitarian supplies to nearly 70,000 people in hardest-to-reach communities in front-line regions in the east, south and south-east of Ukraine.
The International Organization for Migration published new data which says that, as of the end of October, there were some 3.6 million internally displaced people across Ukraine, 10 per cent of whom are people with disabilities.
Myanmar
The humanitarian crisis in Myanmar continues to deteriorate, with mounting civilian casualties caused by the continuing conflict. Twelve of the country’s 15 states and regions have been impacted by the fighting.
People have been forced to flee their homes in record numbers, with 3.4 million people now internally displaced countrywide, according to UN figures.
Humanitarian partners have reached nearly 3 million people with assistance in the first three quarters of 2024, but severe underfunding prevented them from delivering more aid.
As the year draws to a close, the 2024 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, which calls for nearly US$1 billion, is just one third funded, having received $334 million. We appeal to Member States for an urgent contribution of funds.
The UN calls upon all parties to the conflict to guarantee unimpeded humanitarian access and eliminate bureaucratic hurdles so that people in need can be reached.