Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Cuba, Venezuela, Ukraine

#Occupied Palestinian Territory

Gaza sewage pours into displacement sites as sanitation system buckles

OCHA continues to receive reports of gunfire and strikes hitting residential areas across Gaza, causing civilian casualties.

Yesterday, in Jabalya Camp, a UN school sheltering displaced families was hit by gunfire, and two people were injured.

OCHA reiterates that, under international humanitarian law, civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected.

Meanwhile, humanitarians working on sanitation say that four in every five sewage pumping stations are not functioning. As a result, every day, about 40,000 cubic metres of untreated sewage flow into the sea and areas where families are staying. Restrictions on the entry of essential items, such as generators and spare parts, must be lifted so that water can be properly pumped and to prevent further collapse of these systems.

On food security, the Food and Agriculture Organization said yesterday that it has now provided cash assistance to every herding household with at least one sheep or goat that survived the hostilities, with more than 2,000 herding households reached, one quarter of them headed by women.  

This has supported local production of milk and protein, which are powerful means of combating malnutrition, especially among children.

In the West Bank, last week, the Israeli authorities delivered final eviction notices, by mid-May, to seven more families in the Batn al Hawa area of East Jerusalem to make way for settlers to take over the building, placing more than 40 people, half of them children, at risk of imminent displacement.

So far in 2026, 17 families – including 30 children – have been forcibly evicted from their homes in that neighbourhood.

OCHA calls once again for the protection of civilians. Evictions, demolitions and violence have grave physical, social, economic and emotional impacts, and they deepen humanitarian needs.

*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Gaza and the West Bank with urgent support.

#Cuba

Energy crisis threatens life-saving healthcare

OCHA reports that the humanitarian situation continues to worsen in Cuba, as the energy crisis deepens following the US Executive Order and other sanctions.

Healthcare, waste collection, water deliveries to remote areas, food distribution and other essential services are being heavily disrupted.

Health officials say more than 96,000 patients – including 11,000 children – have had surgeries postponed because of power shortages. People who need dialysis and newborns who rely on incubators are also struggling to get timely treatment or transport to care.

The UN and its partners are working to support people, with the World Food Programme (WFP) providing food and nutrition assistance. WFP also continues to respond to humanitarian needs resulting from Hurricane Melissa, having reached more than 900,000 people since the storm struck Cuba late last year.

The UN has a Plan of Action to deliver life-saving aid to 2 million people, for $94 million. So far, only about a quarter of the funding has been secured.

The Secretary-General calls on Member States to facilitate the timely and unimpeded delivery of life-saving aid, including fuel for humanitarian purposes, and to increase their financial contributions to the Plan of Action. 

#Venezuela

Top UN aid official releases emergency funds after water system collapse

The Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, has allocated $2 million from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund to support the humanitarian response following the collapse of a water system in the northern state of Sucre in Venezuela.

An earthquake in late February triggered a landslide that blocked a major water system tunnel, leaving nearly 640,000 people without reliable access to clean water.

Over the past month, the lack of safe water has sharply increased public health risks, especially for children, pregnant women, older people and those living with chronic illness. Cases of hepatitis B, acute diarrhoea and amebiasis, a serious intestinal infection, have already been reported, with the risk of further disease outbreaks growing by the day.

The new funding will help nearly 80,000 of the most vulnerable people in Sucre to meet their water, sanitation and health needs. In addition to this allocation, the UN-managed humanitarian fund in the country has also allocated another $1 million to bolster the response.

As efforts to repair the water system continue, our humanitarian partners, together with the authorities, have reached 11,000 people across 32 communities with water purification tablets, sanitation kits and other aid.

This year’s Humanitarian Response Plan for Venezuela has received only 14 per cent – or $90 million – of the $632 million needed.

#Ukraine

UN, partners mark 250th aid convoy to frontline regions

OCHA reports that between Monday and the early hours of today, the UN and its humanitarian partners reached front-line communities in eastern and southern Ukraine through six aid convoys, delivering urgently needed assistance in the regions of Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson.  

The convoys reached 4,000 people with food, hygiene items, dignity kits, generators, clothing and first-aid kits.

With these latest deliveries, the total number of UN and NGO aid convoys has now reached 250 since the start of the full-scale war in 2022.

Meanwhile, over the past day, attacks and hostilities across Ukraine reportedly killed at least two civilians and injured 58 others, with the regions of Dnipro, Sumy, Kherson, Kharkiv and Odesa among the hardest hit. Homes, a school, railway infrastructure and shops were damaged.

Humanitarian partners responded quickly in Odesa and Dnipro, providing shelter, psychosocial support, legal aid, hot meals, hygiene kits and materials for emergency repairs. In Dnipro, drone strikes also damaged or destroyed humanitarian vehicles, though thankfully no injuries were reported.

Local authorities, with support from humanitarian partners, evacuated nearly 370 people, including 25 children, from frontline areas of Donetsk since yesterday.

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