Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan, Yemen
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
Deadly hostilities continue in Gaza as Internet blackout disrupts aid operations
OCHA warns that a complete collapse of Internet and data services is paralyzing aid operations across the Gaza Strip. Partners working on telecommunications say this is due to damage to the last fibre cable route serving central and southern Gaza, likely caused during heavy military activity.
They warn that this is not a routine outage, but a total failure of Gaza’s digital infrastructure. Lifelines to emergency services, humanitarian coordination, and critical information for civilians have all been cut. There is a full Internet blackout, and mobile networks are barely functioning.
In a context already limited by physical access restrictions and widespread damage, emergency services are cut off, and civilians cannot access life-saving support.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East reported earlier today that it has lost contact with colleagues in Gaza. This is true for most agencies, which are largely cut off from their teams on the ground.
Meanwhile, OCHA warns that the fuel blockade – imposed by Israeli authorities for more than 100 days now – has reached a critical point. Fuel is running out fast, and essential services that keep people alive are now dangerously close to shutting down.
This includes health, water and sanitation facilities. Partners working on healthcare now warn that nearly 80 per cent of health facilities providing life-saving services may very soon run out of fuel. Sixty-seven out of 85 such facilities would be affected – including 17 hospitals, seven field hospitals and 43 primary healthcare centres. They warn that lives are on the line, particularly newborns who depend on incubators and ventilators, as well as other patients in critical care units.
Hemodialysis services are also expected to cease. Ambulance services and patient referrals are expected to come to a halt, effectively eliminating the so-called "golden hour" critical for trauma care – the crucial first hour after traumatic injury, when medical treatment is most likely to save a person's life.
Other critical services that could be affected by fuel depletion are water wells and desalination systems.
More than a dozen attempts to retrieve fuel from northern Gaza were denied by Israeli authorities prior to the looting of 260,000 litres. Today, an attempt to retrieve fuel was initially approved, after weeks of repeated access denials, but it could not be accomplished. The Executive Director of the UN Office for Project Services, Jorge Moreira da Silva, said in a statement today that shelling forced the team to turn back, with one fuel truck driver sustaining injury. “We need to be able to run our fuel operation and our team should not have to risk their lives to do so,” Moreira da Silva said.
OCHA calls on the Israeli authorities to urgently restore the entry of fuel into Gaza and facilitate access to reserves that are already inside the Strip in hard-to-reach areas.
Meanwhile, OCHA warns that civilians also continue to be displaced in Gaza. Today, Israeli authorities issued displacement orders for six neighbourhoods across three governorates: Gaza North, Gaza and Khan Younis. Together, these orders encompass over three square kilometres, which were already covered by previous displacement orders. OCHA notes that – just like fuel – for more than 100 days, the Israeli authorities have not allowed any tents or other shelter materials into the Gaza Strip.
Yesterday, UN humanitarian teams collected more than 50 truckloads of food supplies from the Kerem Shalom crossing and brought them to northern Gaza. This is the first time since before the full blockade on all supplies, including aid – which started in early March – that teams have been allowed to use the Zikim entry point, also known as Erez West. This made it relatively safer for humanitarians to reach the north, where the supplies have already been distributed. Efforts continue to bring more supplies to Kerem Shalom.
Yesterday, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation reported that Palestinians involved in distributing supplies were attacked, with some of them killed. While the UN does not have independent information on this – particularly given the telecommunications outage – OCHA reiterates that civilians must never be attacked, let alone those trying to access or provide food amid mass starvation.
#Sudan
UN Relief Chief issues call to action for protection and accountability for the people of Sudan
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, warned in a statement that Sudan has become a grim example of twin themes of this moment: indifference and impunity.
“Again and again, the international community has said that we will protect the people of Sudan,” Mr. Fletcher said. “The people of Sudan should ask us if, when and how we will start to deliver on that promise.”
The Under-Secretary-General underscored that Sudan is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with 30 million people – half the population – in need of life-saving aid. From Kordofan to Darfur, the war has left civilians trapped and starving, without the basics they need for their survival. Indiscriminate shelling, drone attacks and other air strikes continue to kill, injure and displace people in staggering numbers.
Fletcher appealed for funding and accountability.
“We call on all with influence to step up,” he said. “Protect civilians. Guarantee safe access for humanitarians. Fund their work. Insist on agreements to humanitarian pauses and other arrangements that can allow us to safely reach the areas and people worst hit. Work harder to secure a lasting, inclusive and just peace.”
#Yemen
UN Deputy Relief Chief urges sustained aid funding
The Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Joyce Msuya, told the Security Council this morning that despite an operating environment beset by multiple risks and serious challenges, aid operations in Yemen continue to forge ahead, and humanitarians remain committed and engaged.
For the first three months of this year, a little over 4 million people a month on average received life-saving humanitarian assistance, and nearly 340,000 children and pregnant and breastfeeding women were treated for malnutrition.*
“Humanitarians are clearly doing their best, but our response is constrained by the lack of funding – and falls short of what the people of Yemen need,” Msuya said.
She called on the Security Council to respond with scaled-up, flexible funding based on needs to sustain aid operations; take real action to see that the UN and other detained colleagues are released; and maintain unified support for efforts toward lasting peace.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Yemen with urgent support.