Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lebanon, Syria, Ukraine, Sudan

#Occupied Palestinian Territory

OCHA reports that humanitarian partners providing nutrition support in the Strip are working to re-open a medical point in Gaza Governorate, after mass evacuation orders and escalating hostilities forced three other medical points there and in North Gaza Governorate to shut down. Those closures have compromised the treatment of about 2,000 acutely malnourished children in northern Gaza.

Meanwhile, the distribution of nutrition assistance continues for children under the age of five, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women. Since January, partners have provided nearly 586,000 one-month nutrient supplements, and some 147,000 children have received high-energy biscuits.

More than 85 per cent of children in Gaza are estimated to face severe food poverty as of last month. They are consuming less than two types of food every day, which indicates nearly non-existent levels of dietary diversity.

Humanitarian partners report that despite several attempts to scale up nutrition support, they continue to face severe constraints, including supply chain complications, shrinking space for humanitarian operations, and ongoing displacement. 

Meanwhile, they warn that the reduction in access to health services due to sweeping evacuation orders and hostilities – especially in northern Gaza – will further delay the detection and start of treatment for malnourished children and compromise efforts to follow up with children already being treated. 

Partners working to support Gaza’s beleaguered health system are doing everything possible to reach people across the Strip with life-saving support – and that includes the polio vaccine, with the second round of the vaccination campaign continuing today.

The World Health Organization reports that nearly 157,000 children in central Gaza have received the second dose of the vaccine over the past two days, with 93,000 vaccinated on the first day and 64,000 on the second. At the same time, more than 128,000 have received vitamin A supplements. The UN and partners continue to call for the parties to respect the agreed-upon humanitarian pauses required to ensure the vaccination campaign can proceed safely and on schedule.

In the past 12 months, health partners have provided a range of services despite immense challenges, including some 9 million primary health-care consultations, 476,000 trauma and emergency interventions and 1.4 million basic psychosocial support and psychological first-aid sessions. Additionally, they conducted more than 480,000 ante- and post-natal consultations, as well as some 1.7 million consultations for the management of non-communicable diseases.

#Lebanon

OCHA reports that people continue to be killed, injured and displaced by hostilities in Lebanon.

Today, multiple airstrikes were reported in Nabatieh and nearby areas in southern Lebanon. So far, according to local authorities, six fatalities have been confirmed, including the mayor of Nabatieh as well as members of the Disaster Risk Management Unit killed in the strike on the municipality building during a relief management meeting. 

OCHA reiterates the call for all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law and protect civilians, including aid workers and civilian infrastructure.

Humanitarian partners working in health report that the violence continues to push an already overwhelmed health system to the brink, with devasting impacts on medical care amid huge health needs.

Since 17 September, the World Health Organization (WHO) says that it has verified 23 attacks on health care. It also flags the impact of intense bombardment and insecurity which are forcing a growing number of health facilities to shut down, particularly in the south. Out of 207 primary health care centers and dispensaries in conflict-affected areas, 100 are now closed.

Despite the challenges, WHO and its partners continue to support Lebanese health authorities and to provide medical supplies for trauma care, cholera prevention. WHO also continues to coordinate with the Lebanese Red Cross and hospitals to equip blood banks with adequate supplies and is working with Ministry of Public Health of Lebanon to establish trauma centers within the existing referral hospitals and to plan for the upcoming deployment of Emergency Medical.

On education, Lebanese authorities report that 77 per cent of public schools cannot provide education services due to either being used as collective shelters or being in directly affected areas.

Meanwhile, the UN and partners continue also to support the response, including by providing food, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene assistance – but they warn that they are facing operational challenges due to the volatile security situation.

We face challenges in delivering aid due to difficulties accessing affected areas due to security threats and unpredictable movements of displaced people, amid ongoing airstrikes and delays in obtaining security assurances and safe passage for aid convoys. In the south of Lebanon, attacks have increasingly targeted essential infrastructure, disrupting basic services such as electricity, water, and healthcare, which in turn severely hampers our ability to provide timely and adequate humanitarian aid.

#Syria

OCHA warns about the impact of an uptick in hostilities in Idleb and western Aleppo, Syria.

OCHA stresses that all parties should respect their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, as applicable, and avoid attacks that could harm civilians and damage civilian infrastructure.

Local health authorities in Syria report that since yesterday, two civilians – including a five-year-old girl – were killed in separate shelling attacks, and at least 11 people were injured.

Critical infrastructure has also been affected, as the area experiences its first series of airstrikes in three months. Yesterday, two airstrikes hit a power station west of Idleb city, knocking out electricity to water stations serving as the main water source for some 30,000 people living in 17 surrounding villages. 

On Monday, at least three airstrikes hit just a few kilometres from a tent settlement in Idleb, where a UN delegation – led by Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator David Carden – was overseeing a World Food Programme (WFP) distribution to displaced families. 

The UN delegation – comprised of staff from OCHA, WFP and the UN Refugee Agency – also visited a community centre that is providing legal assistance and psychosocial support to displaced families, including those who fled from Lebanon.

WFP is appealing for international support to address the escalating humanitarian crisis in Syria, amid the influx of people fleeing the war in Lebanon. The food security situation in Syria is worsening – with more than half the population facing food insecurity and some 3 million people in the grip of severe hunger conditions.

Syrians – who are struggling to cope themselves – are stepping in to host families escaping the violence in Lebanon, making a tough situation even more critical. WFP’s Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau warned that people are reaching a breaking point, saying the international community needs to step up.

#Ukraine

The Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, led an inter-agency humanitarian convoy today to Kherson City carrying vital aid, including hygiene kits, dignity kits, solar lamps and power stations.

Attacks in the front lines regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson yesterday and today resulted in civilian casualties and damage to residential building and a school, according to local authorities.

Meanwhile, ongoing hostilities also led authorities in the Kharkiv region to further expand mandatory evacuations to some 7,000 people, most of whom are older people.

Humanitarian organizations continue to provide assistance to affected people across the country. So far this year, humanitarians have supported more than 7 million people across Ukraine.

#Sudan

OCHA is deeply concerned about people continuing to be displaced by conflict in several parts of Sudan.

In West Darfur, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that an estimated 27,500 people were uprooted by insecurity and attacks in the town of Selea and surrounding villages in Jabal Moon earlier last week. Thousands of people have reportedly crossed the border into Chad.

IOM estimates that some 40,000 people have been newly displaced inside Sudan in the first half of October alone, amid escalating hostilities in some parts of the country as the rainy season ends. This brings the total internally displaced in Sudan since the conflict began in April of last year to nearly 8.2 million people.

With the rains subsiding and more roads now passable, this is a crucial time for aid organizations to move vital supplies to areas where needs are most acute. OCHA calls on all parties to the conflict to stop the fighting, protect civilians, and facilitate humanitarian access.  

Meanwhile, the UN and partners are working with Sudanese health authorities to scale up the cholera response – including through large-scale immunization, raising awareness, and providing access to safe water and sanitation. As of yesterday, more than 24,000 cholera cases – including about 700 related deaths – have been reported since mid-July.

Meanwhile, according to UN refugee agency (UNHCR), nearly 3 million refugees and returnees have now fled Sudan after 18 months of war, crossing borders to seek safety in neighbouring countries and further afield – mainly fleeing to Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Uganda. Many of these countries were already hosting large numbers of refugees, migrants and internally displaced people before the crisis.

Due to the intensifying conflict in Darfur, close to 25,000 people have arrived in eastern Chad in the first week of October alone, the highest number of new arrivals in 2024 within a single week – and higher than in the whole month of September. Chad is host to 681,944 Sudanese refugees – more than any other country.

UNHCR reports that they are seeing a surge of families arriving in Chad exhausted, many having walked for days through conflict zones. Some refugees have told UNHCR that fleeing was their only option left after their villages had been burned. The Birak Health Centre in Chad has been overwhelmed, treating injured civilians fleeing the violence just across the border. UNHCR has been working tirelessly to coordinate the relocation of thousands from the border areas. However, teams report that funding limitations are slowing down the provision of basic services such as shelter and clean water.

The Regional Refugee Response Plan appeal for $1.5 billion to support refugees, returnees and host communities in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, and Uganda is only 27 per cent funded, stretching the ability of humanitarian partners to protect and assist people in dire need.