Today's top news: Syria, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lebanon, Sudan
#Syria
OCHA is gravely concerned by the escalation of hostilities in Syria, including the latest developments in the city of Hama and reports of heavy fighting in Homs.
In Hama, local authorities say tens of thousands of families in the city have been displaced, some of whom have fled to Homs. Hama had previously been a destination point for people fleeing hostilities in and around Idleb and Aleppo.
Prior to the latest fighting in Hama, the UN had been working with humanitarian partners in the city, including the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, to provide assistance to those newly displaced, including health support and essential items.
In Homs, some 3,000 families had already been newly displaced to the city. The UN had been working with partners, mainly the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and non-governmental organizations, to provide them with assistance, including food, health care, and other critical items.
The UN and partners continue to provide support wherever possible to people displaced by the hostilities. Yesterday, the Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, David Carden, led a UN cross-border mission to Idleb to assess the situation. He was accompanied by OCHA, UNICEF, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the UN Department of Safety and Security.
The team visited a reception center in Dana hosting dozens of households newly displaced by the hostilities and spoke with families who fled their homes in western Aleppo.
During the visit, UNHCR and a local partner provided mattresses, blankets, cooking materials and other items. People at the reception centre urgently need water and sanitation support, as well as heating materials.
Carden and the UN team also visited the Sham Surgical Hospital, which is treating patients wounded by recent attacks. From 27 November to 2 December, this hospital alone provided life-saving care to more than 200 people, while its ambulance system supported more than 130 people.
WHO is providing medical supplies to the hospital, including trauma kits, but health workers there are working for free due to underfunding.
Since the start of the escalation of hostilities, more than 30 health facilities in north-west Syria have ceased operations, putting immense strain on the remaining functional hospitals.
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling up to assist people affected by the escalation of fighting in the north-west. The agency is providing ready-to-eat rations and hot meals and has so far served more than 10,700 people.
The provision of hot meals is being ramped up with the help of partners on the ground. One WFP-supported kitchen began operations in Aleppo on Tuesday, and another is now operating in Homs.
The agency is providing food to displaced people wherever they are, on both sides of the front lines and in all areas of control. WFP is working to negotiate safe supply corridors to allow a rapid and substantial response to all those in need.
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
OCHA reports that hostilities across the Gaza Strip continue to kill and injure civilians, including health and aid workers.
In central Gaza, an Israeli airstrike hit a UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East school in Deir al Balah yesterday, leaving 130 people without shelter.
In the south, another airstrike hit a group of tents last night in Khan Younis near Al-Rashid Street, killing nearly 50 people, according to the head of the community. OCHA carried out an assessment today and stated that the airstrike burned around 40 tents. The UN and humanitarian partners are mobilizing response efforts to support those who lost their shelters.
Also in Khan Younis, a paramedic from the Palestine Red Crescent Society was fatally shot yesterday after transporting patients for treatment.
Over the past 14 months, hundreds of health and humanitarian workers in Gaza have been killed.
Once again, OCHA stresses that civilians – including patients and health care workers – and hospitals must be protected.
In North Gaza governorate, humanitarian access has been almost non-existent for the past two months, since the start of the Israeli siege, and civilians there are coping with catastrophic shortages of the essentials for their survival.
In the West Bank, OCHA reports a sharp increase in attacks by Israeli settlers since the start of the olive harvest season in October, which is threatening the safety and livelihoods of Palestinian farmers.
In just three days late last month, settlers vandalized more than 700 Palestinian-owned trees and saplings – mostly olive – in Palestinian villages in Hebron, Ramallah and Salfit.
Between October and November, OCHA documented about 260 settler-related incidents directly linked to the harvest season across nearly 90 communities in the West Bank. Most of these incidents resulted in casualties, property damage or both. This marks at least a three-fold increase compared to each of the preceding three years.
#Lebanon
The UN and partners continue to support the Lebanon Government-led response.
Today, a humanitarian convoy reached the city of Nabatieh, in the south of the country, and delivered food for more than 4,000 people in the area.
Since 23 September, more than 9 million packages of food have been distributed by the UN and partners to people affected by the crisis.
OCHA also reports that, in addition to the destruction of their homes and essential services in their communities, families in southern Lebanon continue to face insecurity and restricted access. These include the risk posed by unexploded ordnance and daily warnings from the Israeli Army, urging civilians to avoid returning to many villages in the south. This complicates aid and recovery efforts.
#Sudan
OCHA is alarmed by the effects of violence on civilians in the Zamzam camp for displaced people in North Darfur, Sudan.
Amid reports of ongoing shelling and insecurity, people continue to flee the camp. The International Organization for Migration reports that on Wednesday, more than 2,100 people were displaced from Zamzam, mostly to other locations within the localities of Al Fasher and Dar as Salam.
OCHA stresses once again that civilians sheltering in Zamzam camp must be protected, and all parties have obligations in this regard. International humanitarian law requires that constant care be taken to spare civilians throughout military operations. This includes taking all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm when planning and carrying out attacks, as well as protecting civilians in areas under their control against the effects of attacks.
The World Food Programme (WFP) warns that any attacks on Zamzam could delay the arrival of aid convoys on their way to the camp, which is the only place in the world where famine is confirmed. WFP recently delivered vital food supplies to Zamzam via the Adre border crossing with Chad. The agency says all of the food assistance that arrived in that convoy has been distributed to families.
WFP that a regular flow of food and nutrition aid is the only way to stop famine and save lives.