Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ukraine
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
Civilians killed as strikes continue in Gaza
The Ministry of Health in Gaza today reported dozens of fatalities and injuries over the previous 24 hours, adding that many people remained inaccessible to emergency teams.
OCHA reiterates that all parties must fulfil their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Meanwhile, last night, teams on the ground received 25 additional returnees who had crossed through Rafah. As in previous nights, the UN Development Programme provided transportation to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where OCHA and its partners continue to operate a reception area with protection specialists, psychologists, medical personnel and others provided services and guidance tailored to people’s needs.
Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners supported the medical evacuation of eight patients and 17 of their companions from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah Crossing. Earlier today, they supported the medical evacuation of seven patients and 14 companions.
UN colleagues are working with all stakeholders to address persistent challenges hindering the operations, so that more people can receive the care that they need – safely and with dignity. WHO says their key priority is to ensure the entry of more humanitarian supplies into Gaza and to quickly scale up health services, rehabilitate damaged facilities and expand critical services. These efforts are essential to build a resilient and sustainable health system – thereby reducing the need for medical evacuations.
The UN continues calling for the immediate reopening of the medical referral route to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem – as this would expedite access to care for patients in need. More than 18,500 patients in Gaza still require specialized treatment that is unavailable locally.
In the West Bank, OCHA warns that high levels of displacement continue. Since the beginning of 2026, more than 900 Palestinians have been forced out of their homes or communities, mostly due to settler violence and access restrictions, followed by demolitions. These figures are as of yesterday.
In just two weeks, between 20 January and 2 February, OCHA documented more than 50 Israeli settler attacks that resulted in casualties, property damage or both.
OCHA is carrying out preliminary assessments of damage and needs following these incidents, to inform the humanitarian response by the UN and its partners.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Gaza with urgent support.
#Central African Republic
UN, humanitarian partners ask for more than $260 million to reach people most in need
The Government and the humanitarian community jointly launched this year’s Humanitarian Response Plan, calling for $264 million to help 1.3 million of the most vulnerable people in the country.
This is the lowest requested amount in recent years; although humanitarian needs remain staggeringly high, the UN and its humanitarian partners are focusing on the most urgent life-saving priorities.
Despite some security improvements in some parts of the country, conflict, epidemics and climate disasters continue to disrupt lives, leaving 2.3 million people, one third of the population, in need of humanitarian aid. More than 40,000 Sudanese refugees have crossed the border into the Central African Republic, while more than 21,000 people have returned to the country.
In 2025, humanitarian partners on the ground received just over one third of the funding need to reach only half of the people in need of aid, leaving many communities without support.
More than 1.2 million people could be left without critical assistance if funding is not received this year. This would mean malnourished children going untreated, families going without food or shelter, and communities losing access to healthcare.
#Chad
UN, partners launch nearly $1bn appeal for Chad
Today, in N'Djamena, the UN and its humanitarian partners, together with the Government, launched the 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan to support millions of people across the country.
The Plan calls for $986 million – including $540 million dedicated to refugees – to help 3.4 million people. This is out of the 4.5 million people – or one in five people in Chad – who urgently need life‑saving support.
Chad continues to face one of the most severe humanitarian crises in the Sahel, driven by conflict, large-scale displacement, climate shocks, food insecurity, malnutrition and disease outbreaks. The country is hosting more than 1.5 million refugees, along with hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people and returnees.
We and our partners will focus our efforts on the most affected regions, including the east, the Lake Province and parts of the south.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Chad with urgent support.
#Democratic Republic of the Congo
Aid operations suspended amid fighting in Ituri
Renewed violence has stuck the province of Ituri, in the east of the country, which continues to severely disrupt life saving humanitarian operations.
Since yesterday, fighting in and around the town of Bule has claimed the lives of at least two civilians and injured several others, according to humanitarian partners on the ground.
The fighting has forced the suspension of food distributions scheduled to begin today. More than 78,000 displaced people in and around Bule haven’t been able to receive assistance since early December, leaving families facing shortages of food, healthcare and clean water.
OCHA continues to be in close contact with local authorities adapting operations as conditions change.
The UN reminds all parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and ensure the safety of humanitarian workers and assets. We need safe, predictable and unimpeded humanitarian access to prevent a further deterioration of the situation.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in DRC with urgent support.
#Ukraine
Deadly strike hits street market in Donetsk region as evacuations accelerate
Hostilities in front-line areas continue to kill and injure civilians and damage to infrastructure in Ukraine.
As reported by authorities, a deadly attack on a street market yesterday in the town of Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region killed several civilians and injured a dozen others, including many older residents who were buying food. This latest incident comes on the heels of others in recent days that killed several civilians and injured dozens of others in the front-line regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk, as well as in the capital city of Kyiv.
Evacuations continue and, in January alone, nearly 6,000 people were evacuated from the region of Donetsk, and the numbers continue to increase, according to local authorities and partners on the ground.
Today, Edem Wosornu, Director of OCHA’s Crisis Response Division, and the Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, visited a transit site in the town of Lozova in the region of Kharkiv, receiving evacuees from the region of Donetsk where displaced people are provided with basic and medical supplies as well as humanitarian cash assistance.
In 2025, aid organizations helped evacuate 260,000 civilians fleeing hostilities near the front line. Humanitarians provided transportation support; distributed cash assistance, food and other supplies; and assisted people in collective sites.