Today's top news: Syria, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lebanon, Sudan and Chad, Haiti, Ukraine

#Syria
OCHA is gravely concerned about the impact of fighting and violence in north-west Syria on civilians along the front line.
At least dozens of civilians have been killed and many more injured, including a large number of women and children, according to local authorities. The extent of civilian casualties in many areas remains unclear due to insecurity. Since yesterday, there has been an escalation in shelling and airstrikes in Idleb and Aleppo. In Idleb, at least eight civilians—including one woman and three young children—were killed, according to local health authorities. At least 59 others were injured, including 29 children and 20 women.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by the recent hostilities, particularly in Idleb, Aleppo and Hama. There are also reports of large numbers of people moving from parts of Aleppo to north-east Syria. The situation remains highly fluid. Priority needs include food, non-food items, cash and shelter – especially as winter sets in.
People’s movements have been seriously disrupted due to ongoing security concerns. There are reports of people trying to flee who are trapped in front-line areas. Yesterday, reports indicated that the Khanaser-Atharaya road – a critical exit route for people fleeing Aleppo – was cut off.
The UN and humanitarian partners’ operations across parts of Aleppo, Idleb and Hama remain largely suspended due to security concerns. Humanitarian workers are unable to access relief facilities, including warehouses. This has led to severe disruptions in people’s ability to access life-saving assistance. The UN remains committed to staying and delivering and is working to carry out assessments and expand humanitarian response efforts as soon as possible.
Humanitarian activities in other areas continue. This includes assistance for those newly displaced in parts of north-west Syria, with at least 15 NGOs actively supporting reception centres, as well as distributing food, water, fuel, tents, blankets and hygiene kits. They are also working on health and waste removal. The three border crossings from Türkiye used by the UN to deliver assistance into north-west Syria remain open.
However, essential services in many affected areas have largely been suspended. A key water station for western Aleppo City remains inoperable, as maintenance teams cannot access the site due to ongoing hostilities. Schools have been closed in many areas, with at least 13 schools in north-west Syria damaged by hostilities over the past week.
Public health concerns are escalating, including due to the presence of unburied bodies and lack of potable water. Aleppo University Hospital sustained damage that has left hundreds of patients without essential care. At least 24 health centers in Idleb and Western Aleppo have suspended operations due to hostilities. The main hospital in Idleb has also been affected.
The World Health Organization reported that 56 amputations were performed in four days at hospitals in north-west Syria. In Hama, more than 40 facilities have suspended life-saving and life-sustaining services.
Syria is already one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with more than 16.7 million people in need of assistance and over 7 million people internally displaced. More than 500,000 people have also fled from Lebanon to Syria in recent weeks. Winter conditions will only exacerbate needs in the coming weeks.
These latest hostilities also come as the humanitarian response for Syria faces its largest funding shortfall ever, with less than 30 per cent of the US$4.1 billion humanitarian appeal for 2024 received to date.
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
OCHA warns that the situation in Gaza is rapidly worsening, as the death toll continues to rise. Palestinians in the Strip are being displaced repeatedly and face critical shortages of food and water.
The UN and humanitarian partners continue to risk their lives to provide assistance. On Saturday, Israeli air strikes killed four humanitarian workers – three from World Central Kitchen and one from Save the Children – raising the total number of aid workers killed since October of last year to 341. In response, World Central Kitchen suspended its operations in Gaza.
In a statement, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Muhannad Hadi, stressed that “the continued killing of humanitarian workers is an unacceptable violation of international law and further intensifies the catastrophic humanitarian situation.” He reiterated his call for humanitarians to be granted safe, sustained and unimpeded access.
This comes as Gaza is on the verge of famine, with more than 2 million people facing severe food shortages amid high disease rates, inadequate shelter, and limited access to safe water and sanitation.
Humanitarian partners warn that local food systems have been devastated by military ground operations, the bombardment of civilian areas and the presence of unexploded ordnance.
They report that access to food remains the most critical concern raised by community members and across all groups – that’s women, men, girls and boys.
The World Food Programme (WFP) say that for more than 50 days, barely any food has entered besieged areas of North Gaza governorate – that’s Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalya – with two exceptions. On 11 November, permission was granted to allow WFP to deliver two trucks of food and water to a shelter in Beit Hanoun. Ultimately, the aid was distributed, though not as planned, as the situation on the ground made it impossible to reach the intended shelter. The same day, Israeli authorities issued an evacuation order in the area and shelling began. Yesterday, WFP was able to send 200 food parcels with a humanitarian mission – led by the World Health Organization – to Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya. That assistance has successfully arrived.
These are the only times that humanitarian food assistance has entered North Gaza governorate over the past 50 days, a drop in an ocean of needs. Food security across the Strip is worsening, with people becoming more vulnerable by the day. Bakeries, a lifeline to the people of Gaza, are unable to operate due to a lack of fuel and flour, making bread scarce.
This is deepening the desperation of people trying to feed their families. On Saturday, 30 November, two girls and a woman died during a crowd surge at a WFP-supported bakery in Deir al Balah. In a statement, the agency said the tragic loss highlights the dire food shortages driving people into desperation, urging authorities to ensure secure conditions for aid delivery.
Meanwhile, WFP notes that commercial cargo into Gaza is at its lowest point in months. Fresh food and meat are rare and when available, prices are alarmingly high. In central Gaza, a bag of wheat flour can cost as much as US$200, and eggs up to $100 a tray.
Across Gaza, more than a million people who rely on WFP’s food rations have not received it in two months. As the operating environment for aid organizations becomes even more challenging, the agency has been forced to reduce rations and prioritize hot meals and bakeries. In September, October, and November so far, WFP was only able to reach half a million people with reduced parcel rations.
The breakdown of public order and safety is compounding the myriad challenges that aid organizations are facing in reaching people in need. Yesterday, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) announced it will pause the delivery of aid entering through the Kerem Shalom crossing, which is currently the main entry point for humanitarian aid into Gaza. UNRWA cited the reason as the acute insecurity along this road, where and large convoys of aid trucks have been repeatedly stolen by armed gangs.
WFP has not been able to pick up any aid from Kerem Shalom since mid-November due to breakdown of public order and safety. The agency continues to seek solutions that will allow for the delivery of critical assistance without placing transporters, supplies, staff and the people of Gaza at risk.
Once again, OCHA stresses that facilitating humanitarian aid, as well as commercial goods, both into and within Gaza is essential to address the challenge of looting and respond to people’s needs.
Cigarette smuggling has become increasingly organized and permeates the entire humanitarian supply line into Gaza. Aid workers find more and more cigarettes in food parcels, flour bags, medicine boxes, shelter items and the wooden frames of aid palettes. These smuggling operations have fueled the breakdown of public order and safety in Gaza.
OCHA reiterates that the solution lies not just in taking active measures to curb cigarette smuggling, but also in opening more entry points into Gaza and allowing the use of additional internal routes. These steps require action by the Israeli authorities.
During today’s ministerial conference in Cairo to enhance the humanitarian response in Gaza, Muhannad Hadi, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, warned that every civilian in Gaza – man, woman and child – lives in the shadow of death. If not killed by bombs or bullets, they risk dying from the lack of food, water and medical care. Meanwhile, nearly all of Gaza’s residents have been displaced – many multiple times.
Speaking on behalf of Tom Fletcher, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Hadi added that so far this year, UN trucks have been looted 75 times. Armed groups have also broken into UN facilities 34 times.
#Lebanon
OCHA says that the UN and partners are pivoting efforts in Lebanon to meet the needs of displaced people who have started to return to their communities, those who remain displaced, host communities and those who never left conflict-affected areas.
According to the International Organization for Migration – in the first 24 hours after the ceasefire, nearly 580,000 people began returning to their communities. As of 30 November, national authorities report that nearly 90 per cent of displaced people in collective shelters have left, though more than 22,000 people remain in approximately 400 sites.
The UN Refugee Agency in Syria says that more than 28,000 people have crossed from Syria into Lebanon since 27 November. More than 560,000 people had crossed into Syria from Lebanon since late September.
Though people are returning to their communities in Lebanon, OCHA says that challenges remain, including damaged infrastructure, limited services, safety concerns and the threat of unexploded ordnance.
With more than 970 injuries and 330 deaths recorded in a week, between 21 and 27 November, and health systems under strain, the World Organization Organization is prioritizing repairs to 14 hospitals and addressing the risk of disease outbreaks.
UNICEF continues to support water supply systems, with some 1.5 million people benefiting from 95 infrastructure repairs since September 2024. UNICEF is also providing emergency water, hygiene and sanitation support for half a million people.
To date, UNICEF has also conducted 14 humanitarian convoys, reaching more than 49,000 people in hard-to-reach areas, with plans to continue this assistance.
A new assessment by UN Habitat and its partners estimates that more than 15,000 buildings have been partially or fully destroyed in South and Nabatiyeh Governorates, while the World Bank reported earlier in November that around 100,000 housing units have been partially or fully damaged.
#Sudan and Chad
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, has stressed that after nearly 20 months of war, the polycrisis in Sudan deserves the world’s attention.
In a statement issued at the end of his visit to Sudan and Chad late last week, Fletcher warned that the world is not responding with the solidarity and support needed.
He traveled to both El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, as well as the Chadian border town of Adre, where displaced people spoke of their need for shelter, nutrition, health services and schools for their children.
Local communities in Chad, who have welcomed hundreds of thousands of their Sudanese neighbours since the conflict began, told Fletcher that resources are wearing thin.
The Under-Secretary-General reiterated that the people of Sudan – and the humanitarians and communities supporting them – need funding to meet the scale of needs, they need access constraints to be lifted, they need the laws of war to be upheld and they need the fighting to stop.
Meanwhile, OCHA says hostilities in Aj Jazirah State continue to push civilians into desperate circumstances. OCHA stresses that whether they leave or stay, civilians must be protected – and safe passage must be ensured for those who flee.
Fierce fighting continues to displace people in Aj Jazirah at a massive scale. The International Organization for Migration reports that as of Saturday, 28 November, more than 393,000 people fled locations across Aj Jazirah in less than six weeks since 20 October.
The UN and humanitarian partners continue to provide a range of support – including food, water, nutrition and shelter assistance – for those displaced, most of whom have been arriving in Gedaref, Kassala and River Nile states.
#Haiti
OCHA says that the situation in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, remains fluid and volatile, but despite the challenges, the UN and humanitarian partners continue to do their best to support Haitians in need.
The World Food Programme (WFP) continues to scale up its operations to meet escalating food needs. WFP has reached one million people in Haiti in November, marking the highest monthly coverage in 2024.
In the past week, WFP and its partners delivered more than 350,000 hot meals to people across Haiti who had recently been displaced by violence in Port-au-Prince.
They are also ramping up assistance to people facing emergency-level hunger in neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince controlled by armed groups, as well as to people in the departments of Artibonite and Nord Est.
#Ukraine
OCHA says that the UN and partners continue to support people across Ukraine amid ongoing hostilities.
In the first 10 months of the year, more than 630 humanitarian organizations provided assistance to 7.7 million people across Ukraine.
Between 29 November and 1 December, hostilities resulted in many civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, including schools, railways and gas facilities, as reported by local authorities and aid workers in front-line regions.
In response, humanitarian organizations delivered emergency aid – including hot meals, warm blankets and emergency shelter materials – to repair the damage and ensure people are prepared for harsh winter conditions as temperatures begin to drop.
Meanwhile, OCHA reports that attacks in October resulted in deaths and damage to homes, schools and hospitals, prompting people from the front-line Kharkiv and Donetsk Regions to seek safety elsewhere in the country. At least 24 health facilities and more than 50 educational institutions were destroyed or damaged, primarily in front-line regions experiencing relentless fighting, according to the World Health Organization and the Human Rights Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.