Today's top news: Middle East, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Afghanistan, Pakistan
#Middle East
UN Relief Chief: humanitarian fallout from stepped up violence ‘increasingly daunting’
Tom Fletcher, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, says the humanitarian fallout from the escalation of violence in the Middle East is increasingly daunting.
In a statement yesterday, he said civilians are paying the price across the region and must be protected. He said that we are constantly assessing the damage and the scale of the growing humanitarian response required, and scaling up where necessary and possible.
OCHA reports that aid operations across the region are being significantly impacted by the current hostilities.
Disruptions to shipping and travel routes are not only affecting humanitarian supply chains and the movement of aid workers, but are also threatening to worsen food insecurity in many areas across the region.
In Lebanon, OCHA says that more than 50 people have been killed and hundreds more have been injured in the past two days, according to the authorities.
Overnight and throughout today, widespread Israeli strikes hit southern Lebanon, Baalbek, Chouf and the southern suburbs of Beirut, causing further casualties and significant destruction.
Yesterday, three paramedics were killed and six injured while responding to an airstrike.
The UN and its partners call on all parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and to safeguard healthcare from attacks.
Civilians continue to flee, often with little more than the clothes they are wearing and what they can carry. Since the onset of hostilities, at least 80,000 people have sought refuge in collective shelters, according to the authorities. However, this represents only a fraction of all people who have been displaced.
Forced displacement orders continue to be issued, including one today covering the entire area south of the Litani River – approximately 850 square kilometres and home to hundreds of thousands of people.
Humanitarian partners are working closely with national and local authorities. Rapid response teams are assessing needs and distributing emergency supplies in affected areas and collective shelters. So far, partners working in food security have reached more than 20,000 displaced people with hot meals and over 15,000 with ready-to-eat food across the country.
Health partners, together with the Ministry of Public Health, are providing medicine and scaling up mobile primary health care services in shelters and other locations. Water and sanitation partners are supporting the continued operation of critical water and wastewater facilities, including by providing fuel.
Even prior to this escalation, the humanitarian community was aiming to reach 1.5 million vulnerable people with humanitarian aid through the $1.6 billion 2026 Lebanon Response Plan. Partners are now responding with fewer financial and human resources than in previous years, limiting the scale and speed of assistance at a time when needs are rising sharply. Urgent additional funding and capacity are required to sustain and expand life-saving operations.
OCHA reiterates the urgent need for de-escalation, the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, and sustained, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access.
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
Aid deliveries into Gaza resume, but flow remains insufficient
OCHA reports that aid workers continue responding to people’s needs while pressing for restrictions on aid deliveries to be lifted.
In a social media post, the Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ramiz Alakbarov, welcomed yesterday’s reopening of the Kerem Shalom crossing and the entry of critical supplies, including fuel into Gaza.
However, Dr. Alakbarov stressed that maintaining a steady and predictable flow of supplies, in sufficient quantities, and resuming of medical evacuations is critical to alleviating the continued suffering of Gaza’s population.
Coordinated movements within Gaza have resumed.
Yesterday, trucks carrying wheat flour, canned food, ready-to-eat rations and other items supplied by partners registered under the UN 2720 Mechanism were offloaded at Kerem Shalom.
Today, the UN and its partners successfully coordinated with the Israeli authorities three missions to Kerem Shalom, to collect cargo and to monitor operations there. Teams collected tents, items for babies, education supplies, hygiene products, medicine and other supplies.
Partners leading on displacement sites management said yesterday that more than 900 out of nearly 1,500 sites across Gaza are at risk of flooding, should the rainy season continue. These sites host hundreds of thousands of people whose homes have been damaged or destroyed. Flooding could worsen the already dire conditions in displacement sites.
The UN and its partners have been supporting people choosing to temporarily relocate from particularly high-risk, flood-prone areas. Eight temporary sites identified by municipalities are now operating across Gaza to support voluntary relocation from flood-prone areas.
However, the UN and its partners still do not have the tools and materials we need to provide more lasting shelter solutions. The entry of these supplies continues to be heavily restricted and they are difficult to find in the local market. These include tool kits, timber and cement to repair people’s homes, and heavy machinery to clear rubble to make more space available for dignified housing.
OCHA once again underscores that more crossings must be open and a sustained flow of supplies, including fuel, must enter Gaza in a safe and predictable manner so aid agencies can continue scaling up humanitarian operations.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Gaza and the West Bank with urgent support.
#Afghanistan/Pakistan
Limited aid reaching communities along border
OCHA reports that hostilities along the Afghanistan–Pakistan frontier have now continued for a seventh straight day.
Access to areas affected by the clashes remains limited, so casualty reports cannot yet be independently verified. Schools and markets in several border districts remain closed amid continued instability, while mortar fire has forces families to flee villages in north-west Pakistan.
Aid workers continue to help people who need humanitarian aid in the south of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but some of their work in border areas has been temporarily suspended.
In Afghanistan, cross-border shelling and airstrikes have reportedly caused civilian casualties and damaged homes.
In Nangarhar Province, it is reported that shelling near the Torkham border crossing injured five civilians, including children, while another mortar strike in Nazyan district injured two people and damaged homes.
OCHA calls on all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, ensure rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access, and uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law.