Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, Lebanon, Myanmar
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
OCHA reports that Israeli authorities continue to deny UN-led efforts to reach North Gaza governorate with vital aid. This includes the most recent attempt today.
Across the Strip yesterday, only 10 out of 21 UN planned humanitarian movements were facilitated by the Israeli authorities. Seven were denied outright, three were impeded, and one was cancelled due to security and logistical challenges.
Meanwhile, OCHA is deeply concerned about the impact that dwindling fuel supplies are having on essential services in Gaza. Palestinian telecommunication providers are now warning that their services may start to shut down tomorrow due to fuel shortages.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said today that Al Awda Hospital – the last partially functioning hospital in North Gaza governorate – is critically low on fuel and essential medical supplies. Parts of North Gaza – namely Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalya refugee camps – have been besieged for more than three months now, and Al Awda has been overwhelmed with patients, particularly after the Kamal Adwan and Indonesian hospitals were rendered out of service following repeated attacks, raids and forced evacuations.
WHO has been working to access Al Awda Hospital to resupply it and to assess the situation at Kamal Adwan Hospital, which is out of service. However, damaged roads, as well as insufficient facilitation of access by the Israeli authorities, has made it impossible to safely reach these facilities.
WHO urgently calls for immediate action to make roads passable and to facilitate access to Al Awda Hospital to keep it up and running.
In the West Bank, new reporting from OCHA indicates that during the first week of this year, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians, including a child, and injured 38 others across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Meanwhile, armed Palestinians shot and killed three Israeli settlers and injured eight others near Qalqiliya.
OCHA also reports that during the first week of this year, Israeli settlers injured 18 Palestinians across the West Bank, including nine in Silwad village in Ramallah governorate. Meanwhile, more than 50 Palestinians in the West Bank were displaced by home demolitions, the majority in Silwan in East Jerusalem.
Regarding the ongoing operation by Palestinian forces in the Jenin refugee camp, where clashes with armed Palestinians have continued for over a month, OCHA reports that access to the camp has been heavily restricted since the operation began.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East estimates that some 3,400 people remain in the Jenin camp amid dire conditions, and more than 2,000 families have been displaced to Jenin city. OCHA mobilized partners to respond to the needs of the affected families both inside and outside the camp.
#Syria
OCHA reports that the first UN cross-border aid delivery of the year from Türkiye to Syria took place yesterday.
A convoy of 23 trucks carrying 200 metric tons of medical, health, hygiene and education supplies, provided by the WHO and UNICEF, crossed Bab Al-Hawa into Idleb. The supplies will support at least 500,000 people, enable 8,000 emergency surgical procedures, and provide enough medication to treat infections and support mental health for 10,000 people over the next three months.
The UN also continues to conduct regular cross-border missions from Türkiye to Syria, with 13 missions having taken place over the past five days, including roads and civilian infrastructure assessments. Humanitarians have also met with people to assess humanitarian needs in different locations.
The UN and partners continue to support the response across the country as security and logistical conditions permit. However, the needs are massive and as winter conditions have arrived in many parts of the country, the humanitarian situation is even more dire, especially for millions of displaced people in the country.
More than 620,000 people were forced to flee their homes in November and December, on top of the over 7 million people who had previously been displaced.
The UN calls on donors to support the humanitarian response in this transition period.
#Lebanon
The Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon, Imran Riza, today announced a US$30 million allocation from the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund to support the response in the country.
The funds will enable humanitarian partners, including local non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations, to deliver assistance in the areas of food security, shelter, nutrition, protection, healthcare, water and sanitation, and education.
Riza said the new allocation will provide a vital lifeline, enabling support to both those returning to areas where infrastructure has been damaged and to those who remain displaced.
#Myanmar
The Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim in Myanmar, Marcoluigi Corsi, said today in a statement that the humanitarian community in the country is deeply alarmed by recent reports of civilian casualties in Rakhine State.
On 8 January, an aerial attack in Kyauk Nima Village in Ramree Township reportedly killed over 40 civilians, including children and women, and injured more than 20 people. It is reported that some 500 homes were allegedly destroyed.
Fighting in Rakhine has escalated recently. Civilians are facing acute food insecurity and a near total collapse of critical public services.
The UN and the humanitarian community reiterate the call on all parties to the conflict to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians, including humanitarian workers, as well as hospitals, schools and humanitarian assets. They also stress the need to facilitate unimpeded humanitarian access to the most vulnerable people.