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

#Occupied Palestinian Territory
OCHA reports that as hostilities continue in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, there is no safety for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Once again, OCHA stresses that civilians must be protected wherever they are.
The past five days have seen ongoing attacks on displacement shelters in Gaza, with significant casualties reported in Jabalia al Balad and Khan Younis.
Meanwhile, OCHA reports that Israeli authorities continue to deny UN-led efforts to reach people with vital assistance.
Today, two attempts to reach hospitals in North Gaza governorate were denied. The missions were meant to evacuate patients from the Al Awda and Indonesian hospitals and to deliver food, water, fuel, hygiene kits and cleaning supplies.
Access to Al Awda Hospital in Jabalya remains extremely limited as the Israeli siege in North Gaza governorate continues. Al Awda is the only hospital still partially functioning in North Gaza governorate, but it faces critical shortages of fuel and medical supplies.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Hospital remains out of service. Essential equipment has been destroyed, and the facility lacks water, electricity, hygiene supplies and adequate staff. The UN was last able to reach the hospital with limited supplies late last month.
In Gaza governorate, five bakeries supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) are now operational, after one reopened last week. However, these bakeries are functioning at half capacity due to fuel shortages. Partners are distributing flour to households, but access constraints and supply shortages could jeopardize future deliveries.
Earlier in the week, the World Health Organization (WHO) reached Al-Shifa Hospital. The agency delivered 9,700 liters of fuel, as well as blood and plasma units for distribution to other hospitals in Gaza city. The WHO team also transferred three patients and eight companions for onward medical evacuation outside Gaza.
Meanwhile, UNICEF and the Palestinian Water Authority distributed more than 8,000 hygiene kits to some 50,000 people in shelters and other areas where displaced people have sought safety.
The UN and its partners are doing everything possible to reach Palestinians in need with extremely limited resources. However, ongoing hostilities and violent armed looting – as well as systematic access restrictions – continue to severely constrain our efforts to reach those in need. Road damage, unexploded ordnance, fuel shortages and a lack of adequate telecommunications equipment are also hampering the humanitarian community's work.
After 15 months of intense hostilities, the entire population of Gaza needs humanitarian assistance. It is imperative that vital aid and commercial goods can enter the Strip through all available border crossings without delay and at the scale needed.
#Syria
OCHA says that the humanitarian response in Syria continues amid security and logistics challenges.
Across the country, the UN and its partners report that more than 2.4 million people have received bread between the end of November and 12 January. More than 380,000 people also received other food assistance, including hot meals.
Humanitarian partners also continue to distribute winter kits, which include blankets, mattresses and winter clothes, to displaced families.
Explosive ordnance remains a threat across Syria. Since late November and as of 12 January, partners have identified 120 minefields and other areas with explosive remnants of war in Idleb, Aleppo, Hama, Deir-ez-Zor and Lattakia. Since 26 November, partners have carried out 516 clearance operations.
Meanwhile, OCHA is concerned about rising fuel costs, which make it difficult for people who need to travel to safe spaces and health facilities. Increasing fuel prices are also affecting humanitarian operations due to the surging cost of running generators, vehicles and heating equipment.
#Haiti
More than one million people were displaced in Haiti – many multiple times – by the end of 2024. That’s according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
This marks a threefold increase since the end of 2023. In the capital Port-au-Prince, displacement surged by 87 per cent, fueled by violence, the collapse of essential services, particularly healthcare, and worsening food security.
Floods in November and December last year affected more than 315,000 people across the country.
Despite these challenges, the UN and its partners continue to respond. WFP assisted 1.7 million people across Haiti in 2024 by providing emergency aid, school meals and social protection. IOM today reported that last year it provided access to 18 million liters of clean water to uprooted people in camps and rehabilitated water pumps in affected communities, benefiting thousands of families.
However, much more is required to meet the needs in Haiti. In 2025, the UN and its partners will need US$900 million to support 4 million people.
#Ukraine
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, visited the Kharkiv region in Ukraine today. He travelled to the village of Shevchenko, which is about 30 kilometers from the front line, and also to the city of Kupiansk, located on the front line.
The UN is working with its local partners in these areas to provide transport for people living close to the front line – many of them older or with low mobility – so that they can access services.
Fletcher also visited the city of Kupiansk, located on the front line, where people using these transport services are living. The transport assistance is partly funded through OCHA's managed Ukraine Humanitarian Fund.
At a press conference with the governor of the Kharkiv region and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, Fletcher stressed the UN’s sustained commitment to stay and deliver for people as the war rages on around them.
His visit continues tomorrow in the capital Kyiv where, on Thursday, the Under-Secretary-General will launch the humanitarian and refugee response plans for 2025, together with Grandi and the Government of Ukraine.
*B-roll and soundbites from the Under-Secretary-General’s visit to Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro earlier this week are available in OCHA’s Media Centre
*Additional photos from 12–13 January in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro.