Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Zambia

#Occupied Palestinian Territory

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, said the conflict in Gaza is at another critical juncture, warning that Israel’s latest evacuation orders and ground operations will bring more death and displacement.

In a statement yesterday, Griffiths said civilians must be protected and have their basic needs met, whether they move or stay – and those who evacuate must have enough time to do so, as well as a safe route and safe place to go.

The Under-Secretary-General stressed that the UN remains committed to providing aid to people regardless of where they are. OCHA’s teams are still in Rafah, which is where well over one million people, including 600,000 children, have been sheltering. Griffiths said we are also extending our presence northwards to assist families who have moved there.  

OCHA reports that most people being displaced from Rafah are traveling to Khan Younis and Deir Al Balah using cars, trucks, tok-toks and donkey carts via the three main roads connecting those areas with Rafah.

Meanwhile, the Rafah crossing into Gaza remains closed, while Israel has said the Kerem Shalom crossing is open on the Israeli side, according to reports.

We are engaging with all involved on the resumption of the entry of goods, including fuel, and so that we can again begin managing incoming supplies. However, the situation remains extremely fluid, and we continue to confront a range of challenges, amid active hostilities.

We count on cooperation and facilitation to get these crossings operational again since stocks of critical supplies, including fuel, are being depleted by the hour. 

OCHA reports that a daily average of 48 trucks and more than 160,000 litres of fuel entered Gaza via the Rafah crossing between 1 and 5 May. We need that fuel to sustain our humanitarian operations.

Health partners say all of the key medical facilities in Rafah could soon become inaccessible or inoperable. For example, one of the three hospitals in Rafah – Al Najjar – had to be abruptly vacated yesterday, as it was located in the area subject to Israel’s evacuation order. According to the World Health Organization, this facility has the only dialysis department still operating in Gaza – a lifeline for some 200 patients.

The Director of Affairs in Gaza for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Scott Anderson, said earlier today that there have been military operations around the Rafah crossing, with bombardments throughout the day.

Ongoing hostilities and the continued blockage of critical humanitarian supplies from entering Gaza will have serious consequences for the provision of food and nutrition services – and make it impossible to improve conditions at new and existing displacement sites.

#Zambia

The UN and its partners launched an appeal yesterday to mobilize resources for Zambia's drought response. This comes after the Government declared a national drought disaster at the end of February.

The US$228 million appeal seeks to assist 4.6 million people between May and December of this year.

Zambia is experiencing its driest agricultural season in more than 40 years, resulting in significant crop losses, increased livestock deaths and worsening poverty. Nearly half of the 2 million hectares of maize planted in the country have been destroyed by the drought. According to authorities, the cereal production is forecasted to decline by nearly 50 per cent this year.

More than 9 million people – or nearly half the population –are now food insecure and in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the government data.

To kick-start the drought response, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, has released $13.5 million in April this year from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund to shore up support to address the El Niño-induced drought in Southern Africa.

$5.5 million of this CERF allocation went to Zambia - in addition to an earlier $2.5 million allocation for cholera response - to scale up life-saving assistance. The allocation aims to enhance the resilience of drought-affected communities by providing farming households with access to water to engage in off-season farming and reducing harmful coping mechanisms.