Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Nigeria, Sudan, Ukraine
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
Mass casualties reported in Gaza as hostilities continue
OCHA warns that the situation on the ground in the Gaza Strip continues to worsen by the day.
Hostilities across Gaza have reportedly caused mass casualties. In the last two days, partners reported scores of people killed and injured, apparently while gathering to receive supplies near militarized distribution centers in Rafah and Deir al Balah.
Attacks against health facilities have also continued. Yesterday in North Gaza, Noura Al Kaabi Centre for dialysis was reportedly hit. The Ministry of Health in Gaza reports that more than 40 per cent of dialysis patients in Gaza have died since the escalation of the hostilities in October 2023. This is because the centres were either struck or unreachable.
As hostilities continue, people have once again been forced to flee. On Saturday, Israeli authorities issued another displacement order in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah. This has affected about 100,000 people living in more than 200 displacement sites. Two primary healthcare centres and five medical points are within the displacement area – while three hospitals, three field hospitals, seven primary healthcare centres and 20 medical points are located within 1,000 metres of it.
Overall, since 18 March, humanitarian partners estimate that more than 640,000 people – nearly a third of Gaza’s entire population – have been displaced again across the Strip.
The latest displacement order also deprived at least 8,000 students of learning, as tens of functioning temporary learning spaces and a dozen public schools had to suspend their operations. These closures constitute a severe setback for children’s education, limiting access to a safe and structured learning environment.
The UN and its humanitarian partners continue efforts to identify and treat malnutrition whenever possible and as dwindling supplies allow. Last week, they distributed supplements to about 40,000 children, despite severe challenges and restrictions on humanitarian assistance.
Meanwhile, as people endure deprivation, hunger and the absence of adequate food distribution, looting incidents continue to be reported. The vast majority are people taking flour directly from open trucks, out of clear desperation. However, humanitarian teams have also started observing some criminal looting again.
The UN and its partners continue to call for the full lifting of the restrictions on aid and other essentials to ensure the needs of civilians in Gaza are met.
This comes as people continue to suffer from frequent water shortages. The pipeline in Deir al Balah, which supplied at least 12,000 cubic metres every day, is still not operational – and humanitarians’ attempts to carry out coordinated missions to repair it have been denied. Today, five missions to distribute potable water in the displacement camps in Jabaliya were also denied by Israeli authorities.
Partners working on protection report that last week, five organizations suspended their services due to ongoing hostilities, displacement and access restrictions in Gaza city and North Gaza. However, despite the trauma, exhaustion, and anxiety among displaced workers and volunteers, partners reached thousands of individuals with life-saving protection services during the last two days. In view of the desperate conditions on the ground, needs for safe shelter, mental healthcare and basic aid remain acute.
Over the weekend, the UN and its partners kept working to bring supplies from the Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. More than 100 truckloads of food and medical supplies were picked up on Saturday and Sunday, bringing to more than 300 the number of truckloads picked up from the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing since it was reopened.
Today, one of our attempts to collect supplies from Kerem Shalom was denied. Another was still ongoing, awaiting a green light from Israeli authorities, a pause in the bombing along the route, and the allocation of a viable path.
Because of the Israeli weekend and holiday, the border was kept closed, preventing the UN from bringing more supplies through Kerem Shalom since Saturday.
OCHA stresses that even when the crossing is open, severe restrictions on what humanitarians can bring in – both in terms of volume and variety – mean that the supplies currently entering Gaza are still just a trickle and fall far short of what people need.
#Nigeria
Deadly floods displace thousands
OCHA reports that the UN and its humanitarian partners continue to support the response to the devastating floods in the north-central part of Nigeria.
On 29 May, in the early hours of the morning, intense rainfall triggered floods in the Mokwa local government area of Niger state. According to authorities, at least 153 bodies have been recovered as of 1 June.
More than 500 households have been affected, and over 3,000 people have been displaced. Hundreds of houses have been damaged. The flooding also damaged key roads and bridges, disrupting transport and local economic activity. The main needs include food, water, sanitation, hygiene services, emergency shelter and psychosocial support.
The Government is leading the response and rescue operations, including food, water and medical support.
The UN and its partners are supporting the Government. The World Health Organization is preparing a shipment of medicines and medical equipment to support essential primary healthcare.
For its part, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) will provide 1,000 tarpaulin sheets for temporary shelter and other essential non-food items, while the UN Population Fund plans to establish temporary clinics and safe spaces for women and girls, offering maternal and reproductive health services, psychosocial care and dignity kits. The agency is also working with the Government to deploy nurses and midwives.
According to the UNICEF, more than 1,600 children aged 12 years and below have been displaced.
#Sudan
UN Relief Chief urges halt to attacks on civilians, critical infrastructure
OCHA reports that civilians and civilian infrastructure in Sudan continue to come under attack as the conflict escalates, cholera spreads and displacement increases across the country.
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, expressed alarm over these attacks, including the shelling of the World Food Programme’s premises in El Fasher.
Last week, a hospital in Al Obeid, North Kordofan state, was also struck in a drone attack that killed at least six health workers and injured more than 15 others.
In a social media post, Fletcher said civilians, medics and aid workers are in the line of fire and stressed that these attacks must stop. The Acting Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Kristine Hambrouck, also condemned the attacks in a statement yesterday, reiterating that international humanitarian law must be respected – and civilians, health workers and aid staff must never be targeted.
In Khartoum, attacks on electricity infrastructure have worsened water shortages, forcing many people to use unsafe sources and putting more than 1 million children at risk of waterborne diseases, at a time when cholera continues to spread.
Daily cholera cases in Khartoum state have dropped compared to previous weeks, thanks to the tireless efforts of health workers and community volunteers. However, the overall numbers there remain staggering — with more than 16,500 cases and over 340 deaths reported since the outbreak began. The rainy season is fast approaching, and increased movement of people is raising fears of another wave.
In South Darfur state, dozens of cholera cases emerged in the state capital Nyala and surrounding areas, prompting officials to declare a health emergency. They are appealing for urgent support to contain the outbreak before it spreads further.
In Northern and River Nile states, cholera continues to spread, with more than 200 cases and several deaths reported since mid-May.
Local health authorities – with UN support – have set up treatment centres and launched surveillance and community health activities, but critical gaps in supplies, funding and support for overstretched health workers persist. Last week, UNICEF announced the arrival of 3 million oral cholera vaccine doses for high-risk areas, including Khartoum and North Kordofan states.
At the same time, conflict continues to displace families at an alarming rate. IOM reports that nearly 14,000 people fled fighting in West Kordofan last week alone. Many have sought safety in neighbouring North Kordofan.
The UN and its partners are scaling up their response, but they face mounting constraints, with funding shortfalls* and the movement of supplies and personnel across conflict lines remaining fundamental challenges. OCHA urges the international community to act swiftly to ensure that resources reach people where they are most needed, to prevent the further spread of cholera, and to protect the millions of civilians caught in this crisis.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Sudan with urgent support.
#Ukraine
Recent attacks leave scores of civilian casualties
OCHA reports that intense hostilities continue to have a devastating impact on civilians in Ukraine.
According to authorities, attacks over the weekend and today have killed more than 20 civilians, including one child. More than 100 others were injured, also including children. Civilian infrastructure – including homes, healthcare and education facilities, as well as power and gas lines – was also damaged. The regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia were among the hardest hit.
Aid workers are providing support and delivering materials for emergency repairs, along with legal and psychological assistance to impacted families.
Humanitarian organizations also continue to evacuate people from areas of intense hostilities. Over the weekend, authorities announced evacuations from a dozen front-line communities in the Sumy and Dnipro regions.
On 30 May, an inter-agency humanitarian convoy delivered vital aid to residents of the front-line Mylivska community in the Kherson region. The assistance included solar lamps, charging stations, kitchen sets, diapers, food, hygiene kits and first aid kits for at least 700 people, including people with disabilities.
This year, 11 convoys have reached 16,000 people in the Kherson region, delivering much-needed supplies to hard-to-reach areas devastated by the war.