Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Madagascar, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
UN calls on more countries to accept Gaza patients for treatment
OCHA says the Rafah crossing has reopened.
Over the weekend, OCHA, the UN Department of Safety and Security, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator Suzanna Tkalec undertook an advance mission to assess road conditions, and the World Health Organization (WHO) carried out a technical mission to examine the compound area and access roads, to ensure appropriate and dignified conditions.
Today, UNDP is set to provide bus transportation for returnees from the internal checkpoint to Nassar hospital in Khan Younis where OCHA – together with several UN and NGO partners – has set up a reception area.
A reception desk is staffed with psychologists and protection specialists and equipped with nutrition items, information materials and internet connectivity to provide people returning with immediate support and referrals so that they can access critical services as needed. WFP and the UN Human Rights Office are among those operating the reception desk.
Also today, WHO supported medical evacuation efforts from Gaza. The limited re-opening of Rafah allowed some patients and their companions to exit directly to Egypt, while others transited through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing. WHO tells us that the last medical evacuation through Rafah crossing was in May 2024.
OCHA welcomes the re-opening of Rafah. Civilians must be allowed to leave and return voluntarily and safely, as international law requires. Ultimately, essential humanitarian supplies must enter in sufficient quantities and with fewer restrictions through Rafah and other crossings.
More than 18,500 patients, including 4,000 children, are still awaiting medical evacuation from Gaza for treatment that is not available locally. The most effective option would be to resume referrals to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and rehabilitate damaged health facilities in Gaza.
Until that happens, OCHA calls on Member States to accept more patients so that everyone receives the treatment that they need.
Meanwhile, OCHA continues to be concerned over the impact of continued strikes on civilians. Following reports by the Ministry of Health of dozens of casualties over the weekend, OCHA says humanitarian teams are assessing damage and emerging needs among civilians. More than two dozen families had their shelters damaged due to attacks hitting nearby targets. The UN and its partners have provided families with shelter materials and other essential items.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Gaza with urgent support.
#Madagascar
Homes damaged, thousand displaced in wake of Cyclone Fytia
OCHA reports that Tropical Cyclone Fytia, which passed across the country over the weekend, caused significant flooding and damage, particularly in north-western districts.
According to preliminary reports from the authorities, at least seven people died, one person is missing and seven others have been injured. More than 20,000 people have also been displaced.
There has been extensive damage to homes, with more than 14,000 houses flooded, damaged or destroyed. Some 250 classrooms have also been damaged or destroyed.
Flooding was also reported in the capital, Antananarivo.
The Government is leading the response and has deployed several hundred tons of food assistance to affected districts.
Humanitarian partners are mobilizing available – though in limited amounts of – pre-positioned stocks to reach accessible areas.
Humanitarian partners working on food security report that they currently have no food stocks available to support the response.
Access to the most affected districts, notably Soalala and Mitsinjo, remains severely constrained. Both areas are currently accessible only by air.
An aerial assessment is planned for tomorrow to determine impact figures and priority needs.
Continued rainfall and rough sea conditions are constraining assessments and the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
#Somalia
Half a million people uprooted as drought deepens
OCHA reports that severe drought conditions continue to displace people across the country.
According to authorities and humanitarian partners, nearly half a million people have now abandoned their homes since September of last year. Families are on the move in search of water, pasture for their livestock and food.
This is putting additional pressure on already overcrowded displacement sites.
Authorities estimate that more than 4.6 million people – nearly one in four people in Somalia – have been impacted by the drought. The worst-affected areas include the central regions of Galgaduud and Mudug.
Education has also been affected, with 150 schools in the northern regions closing or attendance declining as families migrate in search of water and livelihoods. This has forced more than 45,000 students to drop out of class.
The UN and its humanitarian partners are providing food, cash, water, health, shelter and nutrition assistance, but are severely constrained by funding shortfalls.
The situation is projected to get worse as rains are not expected until April, at the earliest. Widespread crop failure, which would compromise the summer harvest, is anticipated.
This year, the UN and its humanitarian partners will need $852 million to support 2.4 million people.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Somalia with urgent support.
#Syria
UN continues to deliver aid in northeast Syria as thousands remain displaced
OCHA reports that the humanitarian situation in northeast Syria remains fragile despite the suspension of fighting.
The UN and its partners have reached more than 150,000 people with humanitarian assistance since fighting broke out in Aleppo in December.
Yesterday, a 50-truck UN convoy carrying humanitarian aid from Damascus reached the city of Qamishli in Hasakeh Governorate. It was the third humanitarian convoy to reach the city in the past week.
Today, a second convoy consisting of two dozen trucks and one mobile clinic arrived today in the city of Ain Al Arab in Aleppo Governorate to deliver ready-to-eat food, health supplies and fuel.
The city continues to face shortages of water, communications, medical supplies and food, among other basic services. Communities are relying on bakeries as the primary source of food.
As of 25 January, more than 170,000 people have been forced to flee their homes across 178 communities across the northeast of Syria, mostly in Al-Hasakeh Governorate. The overwhelming majority of these people – more than 90 per cent of them – are women and children, and they face heightened risks of violence and abuse.
Nearly three quarters of displaced families are living with host communities, significantly straining limited housing and water supplies, as well as basic services and livelihoods.
While some people have returned to their communities, many displaced families are unable to move back to their homes due to explosive ordnances, damaged infrastructure, winter conditions and limited access to basic services.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Syria with urgent support.
#Ukraine
Dozens killed in attacks as extreme cold batters Ukraine
OCHA says that new attacks over the weekend killed more civilians and triggered further disruptions of electricity and heating as temperatures dropped to –26°C, or –15°F, in some regions.
Between 30 January and this morning, some 30 civilians were killed and around 90 injured, mainly in the regions of Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Donetsk. That's according to local authorities.
Yesterday, in the region of Dnipro, drone strikes hit a bus carrying coal miners, killing over a dozen and injuring as many others. Also yesterday, the World Health Organization reported that attacks in the city of Zaporizhzhia damaged three health facilities, including a maternity hospital supported by the UN Population Fund, injuring staff and a patient. The hospital suffered major damage, and the patients were relocated.
Central, western and southern regions, including the capital, were hit by a massive blackout, which also affected heating and water supply, due to technical failures of the strained energy system, severe weather and resumed attacks on energy facilities, according to the Energy Ministry.
Aid workers provided emergency shelter and protection assistance in the regions of Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro and supported heating centres across the country where people can warm up, have hot meals and charge their devices.
Edem Wosornu, OCHA’s Crisis Response Director, is currently in Ukraine. Yesterday, she visited Odesa and Mykolaiv to discuss humanitarian priorities, including winter assistance amid continued attacks on critical infrastructure, with humanitarian partners and regional authorities.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Ukraine with urgent support.