Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Myanmar, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
Hostilities imperil civilians and aid response in Gaza
OCHA reports that hostilities across the Gaza Strip continue to exact a devastating toll on civilians, causing further death, displacement and destruction of critical infrastructure.
Thousands of families are on the move once again, fleeing bombardment, shelling and repeated displacement orders issued by the Israeli military. However, as OCHA has warned repeatedly, there is no safe place in Gaza.
OCHA stresses that civilians must be protected, whether they leave or stay. Those fleeing fighting must be allowed to do so safely, and they must be able to voluntarily return when the situation allows.
Meanwhile, OCHA reports that humanitarian operations remain severely constrained. This is due to the expansion of military operations, as well as the ongoing blockade of humanitarian aid and commercial goods, which has lasted for more than five weeks. There have also been deadly attacks on aid workers and humanitarian facilities.
OCHA reports that humanitarians continue to face extreme movement restrictions within Gaza. Just since yesterday, the Israeli authorities denied eight of 14 attempts by UN aid workers to coordinate access to people in need of urgent assistance.
Overall, since the intensification of hostilities on 18 March, the Israeli authorities have denied 68 per cent of the UN’s 170 attempts to coordinate access to reach people across the Gaza Strip and assist them.
They also continue to reject all attempts to pick up supplies that were brought into Gaza and dropped at the crossings prior to the cargo closure on 2 March.
OCHA underscores that these denials prevent humanitarians from carrying out critical and life-saving missions.
Despite the increasingly challenging conditions, the UN and its humanitarian partners remain committed to staying and delivering. With what limited resources remain inside Gaza, they continue to serve those most in need and are actively advocating for the reopening of crossings to allow sustained humanitarian operations.
Today, protection partners report that they have resumed services in northern Gaza, focusing on urgent case management, psychological first aid and psychosocial support for traumatized communities.
Protection monitoring teams from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have identified severe protection risks in shelters hosting displaced people in northern Gaza, including extreme overcrowding, and acute shortages of food, water and hygiene supplies.
Physical hazards such as rubble, debris and broken glass were observed in 75 per cent of the shelters surveyed – posing further risks to displaced families, especially children and older people.
#Myanmar
UN delivers vital aid to quake-hit Sagaing region
Nearly two weeks since the devastating earthquakes in Myanmar, the UN and its partners continue to scale up response efforts and work to reach affected people with life-saving aid*.
Yesterday, a UN mission led by the Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim, Marcoluigi Corsi, visited Sagaing region, one of the areas most affected by the earthquakes. The mission accessed sites where affected people were taking shelter to both assess the situation and deliver much-needed aid.
A UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination team also managed to reach the affected locations to conduct assessments.
In the past two days, 13 trucks of humanitarian supplies were delivered to affected areas in Sagaing, including tents, household kits, hygiene and dignity kits, and child learning materials. Three of those trucks today travelled to remote village locations in Sagaing, where distributions will take place tomorrow.
The UN and its partners are in the process of establishing a logistics hub in Sagaing, from where assistance can reach different parts of the region. They plan to set up temporary warehouses and potentially a small UN physical presence.
Continued access to earthquake-affected people is crucial to deliver life-saving aid and help vulnerable communities recover from the disaster.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Myanmar with urgent support.
#Sudan
Hostilities displace civilians in Darfur
OCHA warns that insecurity continues to uproot thousands of people across Sudan’s Darfur region, as humanitarian conditions rapidly deteriorate.
In North Darfur state, more than 4,000 people have been newly displaced in the past week alone due to escalating violence in El Fasher, as well as in Zamzam displacement camp south of the city and other areas.
This includes the area of Um Kadadah, where the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that some 2,700 people fled two villages during the first week of April. In Zamzam and El Fasher, another 1,500 people were displaced between 5 and 7 April alone.
These families – including many women and children – urgently need shelter, water, food and medical assistance. However, severe funding gaps and logistical challenges are hampering the ability of aid agencies to respond. One partner at Zamzam camp reports that rising costs and fuel shortages have forced the suspension of water trucking for newly displaced people there.
Since Sudan's current conflict began in April 2023, more than 400,000 people have been displaced within or from El Fasher locality.
Meanwhile, in Central Darfur state, some 600 people fleeing conflict have reportedly arrived in the capital Zalingei in the past few days, according to local community leaders, who warn that those displaced face urgent needs that are growing by the day.
Across the country, hostilities continue to put civilians at risk.
In Khartoum state, intensified fighting disrupted a period of calm in the western neighbourhoods of Omdurman. There are reports of new displacement of civilians, who urgently need protection and humanitarian assistance.
Meanwhile in northern Sudan, drone attacks earlier this week forced the suspension of operations at the Merowe Dam, triggering widespread power outages across several states. The strikes reportedly caused civilian casualties and damaged critical infrastructure, underscoring the growing impact of hostilities on essential services.
Once again, OCHA calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and unhindered humanitarian access across Sudan. It is also critical that donors scale up funding to keep life-saving services running and to help aid agencies reach people in need in areas hit by violence and acute hunger.
#Democratic Republic of the Congo
Cholera spreads in eastern DRC amid new clashes
OCHA reports that persistent violence in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to drive people from their homes and fuel disease outbreaks.
In North Kivu province, new clashes yesterday between armed groups in the Muhanda area, near the town of Masisi, displaced more than 45,000 people, according to local humanitarian partners.
This surge in violence follows a three-day period of relative calm. OCHA is closely monitoring the situation and assessing the impacts on humanitarian operations and access.
In a separate incident in Walikale territory, local sources report that on 5 April, armed men raided two critical health facilities – Kibua Hospital and Kitshanga Health Centre – looting their stocks of medicines and medical supplies. This attack further cripples access to healthcare for more than 120,000 people in the area of Kibua.
Meanwhile, OCHA warns that cholera continues to spread in the east of the country, with outbreaks now declared in four provinces: North Kivu, South Kivu, Tanganyika and Maniema.
OCHA is also concerned about the situation in South Kivu’s Fizi territory, with at least eight confirmed cholera cases reported in the Mulongwe refugee camp in a neighbourhood of the city of Uvira.
The camp, hosting nearly 15,000 refugees from Burundi, faces acute risks due to poor hygiene, limited access to clean water and inadequate sanitation. Response efforts are hindered by strained healthcare capacity and logistical challenges.
In South Kivu’s Kalehe territory, particularly in the Minova area, cholera cases surged to 77 between 31 March and 6 April – nearly five times the epidemic threshold that should trigger emergency response. Humanitarian organizations are working alongside local authorities to contain the spread, but the situation remains critical and supplies limited.
#Haiti
Conditions deteriorate as attacks flare in Centre, Ouest departments
OCHA is sounding the alarm over rising violence and worsening humanitarian conditions in Haiti, especially in the departments of Centre and Ouest.
Since 13 March, armed attacks in the Centre department’s communes of Saut d’Eau and Mirebalais have displaced more than 30,000 people, with the vast majority remaining in the department, according to IOM.
The UN and its humanitarian partners are providing assistance, including food, hygiene kits, safe water and psychosocial support.
Since the start of the year, more than 1,500 people have been killed and over 570 others have been injured, according to a recent report by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Integrated Office in Haiti.
The same report notes that 262 people were killed in the commune of Kenscoff alone between 27 January and 27 March. The attack was particularly violent – with men, women and children executed inside their homes and others shot on roads and paths as they tried to flee the violence. Homes were also burned in the attack, and at least seven women and girls subjected to sexual violence. More than 3,000 people fled the area.
The UN and its humanitarian partners are committed to continue providing aid as security permits.