Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Sudan, Ukraine

A damaged building in Izyum, Kharkiv Region, Ukraine, following a strike that killed dozens of civilians. Photo: Relief Coordination Centre.
A damaged building in Izyum, Kharkiv Region, Ukraine, following a strike on 4 February 2025 that killed dozens of civilians, including children. Photo: Relief Coordination Centre.

#Occupied Palestinian Territory

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher is visiting Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Today, he visited Nir Oz in southern Israel, where every fourth resident was killed or taken hostage in the Hamas-led attack on 7 October, 2023. In a social media post, Fletcher stressed that the ceasefire must hold, all civilians must be protected, and all hostages must be freed.

He also held several meetings with Israeli officials last night and today. They discussed ways to sustain the scale-up of humanitarian support to Gaza, as well as challenges in the West Bank.

OCHA reports that as of yesterday, the movement of displaced families between the south and north of Gaza along the two main roads has normalized.

As of earlier today, the UN and its humanitarian partners estimate that more than 565,000 people have crossed from the south to the north of Gaza since 27 January. More than 45,000 people have been observed moving from the north to the south.

OCHA reports that life-saving activities continue across the Strip. Today, 829 trucks entered Gaza, according to information obtained by the UN on the ground through interactions with the Israeli authorities and the guarantors for the ceasefire deal.

Meanwhile, the UN and its partners are working to mitigate the effects of the widespread destruction of critical water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure throughout the Strip.

Partners working to support water, sanitation and hygiene continue to scale up their presence in northern Gaza. Some 40 new water points have already been established over the past week, and partners are now trucking water to 272 water points across North Gaza governorate, delivering more than 1,000 cubic metres of safe drinking water and nearly 900 cubic metres of domestic water to 177,000 people each day. 

Efforts are also ongoing to dispatch water pipes purchased by UNICEF to northern Gaza to prevent key facilities from overflowing before it rains.

To address water shortages, the UN Office for Project Services delivered 40,000 litres of fuel to Gaza city yesterday to power water pumps and facilitate trucking. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme is expanding fuel storage capacity in the Strip. 

As part of the Gaza shelter and winter response, partners distributed tarpaulins and winter clothing to more than 2,000 households between Thursday and Sunday.

In southern Gaza, 10,000 tarpaulins were distributed between 25 January and 2 February, with an additional 200 tarpaulins distributed in Gaza governorate. Over the past two days, a humanitarian partner also distributed 600 tarpaulins to 300 households in Khan Younis. 

In the West Bank, OCHA reports that Israeli forces continue their operations in Jenin, Tulkarm, Tammun and Al Far'a camp, restricting access to essential services and causing further internal displacement.

#Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Humanitarian Coordinator in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bruno Lemarquis, urged in a statement today the urgent reopening of the airport in Goma.

Lemarquis stressed that the airport is a lifeline and that the survival of thousands of people depends on its reopening to facilitate evacuation of injured people, delivery of medical supplies and arrival of humanitarian reinforcements.

Meanwhile, OCHA reports that thousands of civilians are still on the move in Goma. Reports indicate significant numbers of people have left displacement sites along the Kanyaruncinya road and have moved towards Rutshuru. Other displaced persons are also moving towards the Minova area.

Hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced, living in displacement sites or with host communities in North Kivu, including along the Goma-Sake road where large numbers of displaced people remain in displacement sites.

OCHA and partners have been visiting displacement sites outside Goma over the last several days to assess conditions. These efforts will continue in the coming days.

#Syria

OCHA says that continued hostilities in Syria's north-east are affecting and endangering civilians.

Yesterday, in the city of Menbij in eastern Aleppo, 19 women and one driver were killed when a car bomb exploded near a vehicle transporting women agricultural workers, according to caretaker authorities. At least 13 other women and five children were injured, with some in critical condition.

Another car bomb incident in Menbij this weekend killed at least four civilians and injured nine others – six children were among the casualties. 

OCHA reiterates that all parties must uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians.

Meanwhile, in other parts of Syria, where security conditions permit, the UN and its humanitarian partners continue to provide assistance and scale up assessment and monitoring missions.

Yesterday, on 3 February, OCHA completed a cross-border mission from Türkiye to Idleb to assess a cash distribution and a Women and Girls Safe Space supported by the Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund. So far in 2025, the UN has completed 40 cross-border missions to Syria, mostly to monitor and assess projects – nearly double the number of missions at the same time last year.

Last week, on 30 January, OCHA also led a UN mission to As-Sweida governorate, in the south-west of the country, to engage with caretaker authorities and assess the situation at the national hospital. The mission also reveals that water for drinking and agriculture purposes is a major need due to increased drought over the years. This was also the first UN mission to As-Sweida since October 2023.

#Sudan

OCHA remains extremely concerned over the continued mass displacement of civilians from Al Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, Sudan, due to escalating violence since April last year. Over the past 10 months, more than 600,000 people have fled Al Fasher and other localities in North Darfur, according to the International Organization for Migration.

In recent weeks, attacks have been reported across much of Al Fasher and surrounding areas, including the Abu Shouk displacement camp, Saudi Hospital and western areas of the town. Famine conditions were confirmed in Abu Shouk camp in December and are expected to persist through May.

OCHA is also alarmed by escalating hostilities in South Kordofan, amid fighting between the Sudanese army and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North.

In the state capital Kadugli, more than 50 people were reportedly killed yesterday – mostly women and children – following a series of artillery strikes. Over two dozen others were said to be injured.

The town of Diling was also reportedly targeted, though details remain limited due to communications disruptions.

In a statement, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, condemned the relentless and intensifying shelling and air and drone strikes against civilians in Darfur, Kordofan and other conflict-affected areas. She said this is not warfare but a “ruthless assault on human life.”

Nkweta-Salami called once again on all sides to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law, stop targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, and allow immediate, unimpeded humanitarian access to those in need.

As hostilities continue across Sudan, civilians there also face the threat of explosive remnants of war. Last week, two children were killed by unexploded ordnance in Gereida, in South Darfur State, according to a local humanitarian partner. The extensive use of explosive weapons since the conflict began in April 2023 has resulted in widespread contamination, posing long-term risks to the population.

This year, more than 13 million civilians in Sudan need support to address the threats of explosive hazards, but funding for response efforts remains limited.

OCHA stresses that under international humanitarian law, parties to the conflict have a clear obligation to refrain from directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, including vital infrastructure. They must also take constant care to spare them, whether they are carrying out attacks or defending against them.

#Ukraine

The Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, has condemned today’s deadly missile strike that hit an administrative building in the town of Izyum in the Kharkiv Region, in the east of the country.

The attack caused dozens of casualties, with several civilians killed and scores more injured, including children, according to local authorities. Following the strike, humanitarian partners immediately responded, providing legal and psychosocial support to affected people and distributing shelter materials to cover damaged buildings. 

In other regions of Ukraine, hostilities today and yesterday killed or injured 20 civilians and caused damage to homes and civilian infrastructure, according to the local authorities.

In the early hours of this morning, drones struck civilian areas of the capital Kyiv and Cherkasy City, in central Ukraine – though fortunately no casualties were reported.  

The UN and its partners continue to provide critical support to communities on the front lines of the conflict. OCHA reports that today, two inter-agency convoys delivered humanitarian supplies to Myrnohrad Town in the Donetsk Region and Stanislav Village in the Kherson Region, where access is very limited. These two communities suffer from daily shelling and have no access to basic services, such as electricity, heating and water supplies. Aid workers brought generators, medical items, hygiene kits, thermal blankets and solar lamps.