Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, Sudan

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Occupied Palestinian Territory

Intense bombardment of the Gaza Strip continues to cause casualties and destroy and damage critical civilian infrastructure.

Humanitarian partners continue to raise concerns over repeated denials of access to areas north of Wadi Gaza. They are also increasingly warning of a potential collapse of health services in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, where hostilities have intensified, resulting in more casualties, insecurity, and impediments to aid delivery.

The ongoing hostilities in Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis – coupled with evacuation orders in nearby areas – are putting three hospitals at risk of closure: Al Aqsa, Nasser and Gaza European.

Yesterday, more shelling was reported in the vicinity of the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah.

Our humanitarian partners say that as of yesterday, just one-fifth of the 5,000 beds needed to meet trauma and emergency needs in Gaza are available. And out of 77 primary health centres, more than three quarters are not functioning – leaving many people in Gaza without access to basic health services.

Some 350,000 people with chronic illnesses and about 485,000 people with mental health disorders continue to experience disruptions in their treatments.

Those internally displaced by the conflict in Gaza – some 1.9 million people – are at high risk of communicable diseases due to poor living conditions, overcrowding of shelters, and lack of access to proper water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.

Our humanitarian partners are working to scale up sanitation services to support internally displaced people in Rafah and Khan Younis, but aid organizations continue to face major operational challenges, including material shortages, logistical difficulties in transporting supplies, and limited space for latrine construction due to severe overcrowding in southern Gaza.

The combination of water trucking, desalinated water, and the restoration of one of three main water supply lines late last month has yielded just 7 per cent of water production in Gaza, compared with the supply prior to 7 October.

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Syria

Our humanitarian colleagues continue to be concerned over the impact of hostilities in north-west Syria.

Over the weekend, shelling struck Sarmin and Idleb city, killing a two-year-old girl and injuring seven other people. This came just a week after shelling and airstrikes claimed the lives of seven civilians and injured 30 others in Idleb and western Aleppo.

Since the escalation in hostilities began on 5 October, more than 100 people have been killed and nearly 440 others injured, according to local health authorities.

We and our partners are supporting health facilities, distributing medical kits, and providing winter assistance in displacement camps and communities, among other assistance.

Today, the World Health Organization completed the agency’s first cross-border mission of the year to assess mental health support and medical supply stocks in four health facilities in Idleb. Additional staff missions are being planned in the coming days.

But underfunding is overstretching the operation, and we are already seeing the consequences of this shortfall in the new year. One of our partners reported having to suspend support to three water stations serving 250,000 people in Idleb city, due to underfunding. That means that residents have been relying on costly water trucking since the start of the year.

Another partner reported having to end support for non-formal education activities in 28 primary schools in Jandairis, one of the areas hardest hit by last year’s earthquakes, due to the lack of funding.

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Sudan

OCHA is deeply concerned by the scale of displacement due to the spreading conflict – which has fueled the largest displacement crisis in the world.

Since April, more than 6 million people have been displaced inside the country – including more than half a million due to the clashes that erupted in Aj Jazirah State last month. More than 1.3 million others have fled across Sudan’s borders.

OCHA is also alarmed that fighting is disrupting critical humanitarian operations in Sudan, amid a worsening cholera outbreak. Nearly 9,000 suspected cases – including 245 deaths – have been reported in nine states, an increase of more than 40 per cent compared to the caseload one month ago. That’s according to the World Health Organization and Sudan’s Federal Ministry of Health.