Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan, Ukraine
UNOCHA - United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Seven children reportedly killed while waiting for water in Gaza
OCHA reports that over the weekend, strikes and shelling intensified across Gaza, resulting in mass casualties, including among children.
Yesterday in An Nuseirat, seven children were reportedly killed while waiting for water at a distribution site. This tragic incident follows a previous one last Thursday, when several children and women were killed while waiting for nutrition supplies.
As UNICEF has said, this is an outrage and must end. Civilians must be protected and treated with dignity. No one, including children, should risk their life to get food, water or any other aid.
In a statement last week, UNICEF also called on the Israeli authorities to urgently review the rules of engagement and ensure full compliance with international humanitarian law.
Meanwhile, health teams in Gaza continue to suffer some of the worst impacts of hostilities. Yesterday, the Ministry of Health reported that another doctor, a specialist in surgery and endoscopy, was killed over the previous 24 hours.
The health system has been decimated, and despite being on the brink of collapse, hospitals continue to respond to mass casualty incidents as much as they can.
In a joint statement on Saturday, UN agencies warned that the fuel shortage in Gaza has reached critical levels - and that without adequate fuel, they will be likely forced to stop their operations entirely, directly impacting all essential services in Gaza. This means more people closer to death, with no health services, no clean water, and no capacity to deliver aid.
UN agencies and partners reiterated that fuel must be allowed into Gaza in sufficient quantities and consistently to sustain life-saving operations.
Last week, small quantities of fuel entered Gaza. However, the amount allowed in hardly suffices to support the operations of essential services for even a single day.
Meanwhile, the risk of famine remains. UNICEF says that last month, more than 5,800 children were diagnosed with malnutrition in Gaza, including more than 1,000 children with severe acute malnutrition. This is an increase for the fourth month in a row.
The small quantities of aid and critical supplies that have entered Gaza so far are nowhere near enough to meet the immense needs of 2.1 million people. The Israeli authorities must allow the urgent entry of aid at scale through all possible routes and corridors.
Amid ongoing hostilities and destruction, Israeli authorities have continued to issue displacement orders. Last Friday, the Israeli authorities put out a displacement order for the Rimal area of Gaza city, where about 70,000 people were staying at a dozen displacement sites. More than 86 per cent of Gaza is either under displacement orders or located within the Israeli-militarized zone.
Meanwhile in the West Bank, OCHA warns that high levels of violence continue. On Friday, two Palestinian men in their early 20s - including a US national - were killed near Ramallah during a settler attack.
In the first half of 2025, more than 700 attacks by settlers against Palestinians have been recorded, affecting over 200 communities across the West Bank, primarily in Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron governorates. These numbers only include incidents resulting in casualties, property damage, or both.
Sudan
Humanitarian conditions worsen amid hostilities, heavy rains
OCHA warns that escalating violence, displacement and heavy rains are deepening the needs of civilians who have already endured nearly 27 months of conflict in Sudan.
The UN is gravely alarmed by escalating hostilities in El Fasher, in North Darfur State. For the first time since the siege of El Fasher began over a year ago, large numbers of fighters from the Rapid Support Forces reportedly entered the city on Friday. Local sources are reporting civilian casualties due to fierce fighting in recent days, particularly in the southwest and east of El Fasher. The situation remains highly volatile and unpredictable, with a serious risk of renewed violence, as well as further displacement and disruption of humanitarian operations - which are already under severe strain.
Meanwhile, in North Kordofan State, growing insecurity forced 3,400 people to flee their homes over the weekend, according to the International Organization for Migration. Local reports indicate that at least 18 civilians were killed, and homes were burned in several villages.
OCHA reminds all parties that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international humanitarian law. Civilians must be protected at all times.
Meanwhile, heavy rains have been reported in West and Central Darfur states, which may affect the conditions of roads in some locations and compound humanitarian access challenges. With the rainy season continuing through October, the risk of floods, access constraints and disease outbreaks is growing - especially during this critical lean season, a time between harvests when food stocks traditionally run low.
Despite the crisis, there are signs of small-scale returns in West Darfur State, where displaced families from Chad have begun arriving back in Sirba, Jebel Moon and Kulbus localities to cultivate their farms. Local authorities report about 40 people returning daily to Kulbus, with 300 returnees over the past week.
OCHA calls on all parties to enable safe and unimpeded access to all people in need across Sudan. It is also urgent that donors step up their support for vulnerable people in Sudan*. Across the country, some 30 million people - more than half of the population - need vital aid and protection this year.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Sudan with urgent support.
Ukraine
Missile, drone strikes cause civilian casualties
OCHA says that a wave of deadly missile and drone attacks were reported across Ukraine over the weekend - with at least 27 civilians killed and 128 injured, including children, according to authorities.
The strikes hit urban centres in western Ukraine, including Chernivtsi, Lviv and Lutsk. Hostilities also intensified in the north and east - notably in the Sumy and Donetsk regions - and continued in the south, particularly in the Kherson region.
Authorities report that multiple houses and education facilities were damaged, and critical services were interrupted. In Chernivtsi, which had previously been less affected by hostilities, two people were killed and 26 were injured. More than 100 apartments, a kindergarten, a social services building and several shops were also damaged.
Following the attacks, aid workers rapidly mobilized to provide emergency medical and psychological support to those affected and to distribute shelter materials to repair damage caused by the strikes.
Meanwhile, over the past three days, more than 400 people - including 60 children - have been evacuated from Ukraine-controlled areas of the Donetsk region. These efforts are being led by the authorities, with support from humanitarian partners.
OCHA's latest reporting indicates that humanitarian access for aid organizations remained challenging in Ukraine's front-line communities in May and June due to intense hostilities in the most-affected regions - Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia - with long-range strikes posing threats to aid workers. Increased attacks further from the front line are also increasing risks and driving humanitarian needs across the country.
Posted on 14 July 2025
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