Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Haiti, Ukraine

Big pots of food are being cooked in what appears to be a kitchen. A man wearing overalls is stirring one of the pots.

Humanitarian workers prepare hot Ramadan Iftar meals for displaced families in southern Gaza. The meals initiative by American Near East Refugee Aid, an US non-governmental organization and World Central Kitchen, is one of 122 relief projects currently supported by the Occupied Palestinian Territory Humanitarian Fund. ANERA

Occupied Palestinian Territory

The Humanitarian Coordinator, Jamie McGoldrick, visited the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia, in the north of Gaza. The World Health Organization (WHO) has supported the establishment of a nutrition stabilization center at this hospital to treat children with severe acute malnutrition with medical complications – these children are at risk of imminent death if they don’t receive swift treatment. Mr. McGoldrick also went to the Al Mawasi area, where he visited the UK Med Field Hospital.

During his visit, the Humanitarian Coordinator spoke with mothers whose children were suffering from malnutrition, brought about by a serious shortage of food in the area.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military operation in and around Al Shifa hospital in Gaza city continued for a fourth straight day.

All parties to the conflict must respect international humanitarian law. Civilians and the infrastructure they rely on – including hospitals – must be protected.

Al Shifa hospital only recently restored minimal health services – and hostilities in and around the facility put those services – and patients and medical staff – in jeopardy.

People in Gaza – particularly in the north – are experiencing shocking levels of disease and hunger. We and our humanitarian partners continue to do everything we can to meet the overwhelming needs of the civilian population.

However, we are being repeatedly prevented from doing our job, especially in the besieged north. Security risks, unceasing bombardments, the collapse of civil order, and access constraints continue to impede the humanitarian response.

With hostilities now in their sixth month – and Gaza moving ever closer to famine – we must flood Gaza with aid. The fighting must stop, the rules of war must be respected by all parties at all times, and aid organizations must have safe, sustained and unconditional access to people in need.

Haiti

The World Food Programme (WFP) continues to distribute hot meals in Port-au-Prince. But, yesterday, due to roadblocks, WFP was only able to reach 10 of the 14 displaced sites they had intended to. Only 11,500 hot meals were delivered instead of the planned 14,000.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and its local partners have delivered blankets, solar lamps and kitchen kits to 3,800 displaced people.

Meanwhile, between 16 March and yesterday, UNICEF, IOM and their national partners delivered more than 36,000 gallons of water to displaced sites, reaching over 15,000 uprooted people.

The Pan American Health Organization and WHO supported the national health department by distributing water purification tablets, chorine, gloves, boots, buckets and other items in sites for displaced people. They are also supporting the few operating health facilities by supplying medicine and supplies.

For their part, the UN Population Fund and its partners yesterday deployed a mobile clinic in a site for displaced people to address sexual and reproductive health, as well as sexual and gender-based violence. More than 200 people received assistance. They also distributed hundreds of dignity kits to women and girls. Psychosocial support remains a critical service for thousands of traumatized people.

Our humanitarian partners continue to do their best to deliver aid but, as we have repeatedly said, we are only able to do a portion of what is needed.

We have supplies in the country at the port in the capital, but they are at risk of being looted. We also need air transportation and our maritime services to urgently scale up our operations. We are calling on all parties to ensure safe, unhindered access to reach people in need.

As reminder, 5.5 million people – or nearly half of the country’s population – need humanitarian aid.

Ukraine

Early this morning, a densely populated area in Kyiv came under massive attack. According to local authorities, at least a dozen civilians were injured in the attack. Homes, schools and other civilian infrastructure sustained damage.

Yesterday, in the east of Ukraine, an attack in the city of Kharkiv, resulted in the deaths and injuries of civilians, as well as damage to homes and electricity infrastructure, according to the authorities.

Meanwhile, also yesterday, hostilities in front-line regions reportedly resulted in another dozen civilian casualties and damaged houses and other civilian infrastructure, according to the authorities. The Donetsk and Kherson Regions, east and south of Ukraine, were the most affected.

Humanitarian organizations promptly mobilized an emergency response after the attacks in Kharkiv and Kyiv, and in other parts of Ukraine, including by providing emergency shelter materials and psychological support.