Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Somalia
UNOCHA - United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Humanitarians scale up Gaza response despite ongoing impediments
The UN and its partners continue working to help hundreds of thousands of vulnerable families across the Gaza Strip.*
In recent weeks, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has been leading a number of assessments across Gaza to areas where people are living or have moved, including in close proximity of the so-called "Yellow Line," where Israeli ground forces remain present.
Humanitarian teams note that communities in these areas urgently need aid - and it is essential that services are restored quickly. These assessments will inform a rapid response by the UN and its partners to the most critical needs, which include water, food, shelter, hygiene supplies and healthcare.
As winter takes hold, partners working on shelter distributed thousands of tarpaulins, blankets, mattresses and clothing kits to vulnerable people across Gaza on Monday. Regarding ongoing efforts to improve access to healthcare, partners report important progress, with 27 health service points reopened or newly established across Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect.
However, multiple impediments are still restricting humanitarians' ability to scale up the response as quickly and efficiently as they have the capacity to do. Once again, the UN and its partners underscore the need to open additional crossings, resolve bottlenecks, fully facilitate the operations of humanitarian agencies, and provide safety guarantees for humanitarian convoys.
Partners working to support water, sanitation and hygiene note that various equipment needed to improve critical infrastructure and address public health risks remains blocked by Israeli authorities from entering Gaza. Such equipment includes machines that are urgently needed to contain and properly dispose of medical waste. Not having this equipment inside the Strip increases public health risks and contributes to the already dire sanitation and hygiene situation across Gaza.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Gaza and the West Bank with urgent support.
Somalia
Drought, funding shortfalls compound humanitarian crisis
OCHA reports that severe drought in Somalia is putting millions of people's lives at risk, with humanitarian aid still severely limited due to dwindling funding.
On Monday, the Government declared a nationwide drought emergency. The drought is particularly severe in the eastern and northern regions, but it is spreading to central and south Somalia as well.
Approximately 3.4 million people in Somalia are currently experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity - with more than 620,000 of them facing emergency levels of food insecurity.
Between October and December of this year, more than one in five people in Somalia - or at least 4.4 million people - are projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity.
The nutrition situation is equally alarming, with nearly 1.9 million children under the age of 5 expected to suffer from acute malnutrition between August of this year and July of next year.
The new Government drought declaration calls on humanitarian agencies to scale up life-saving efforts in the areas of nutrition, health, water and food security.
The appeal comes as aid organizations have been forced to reduce or suspend emergency assistance due to crippling funding shortfalls. The US$1.4 billion Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan is only 22 per cent funded, with $317 million received.
OCHA warns that as a result, the number of people receiving emergency food assistance will drop sharply - from 1.1 million in August to 350,000 this month. This means that less than one in 10 people who need food assistance for survival in Somalia will receive aid.
Posted on 13 November 2025
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