Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Haiti
UNOCHA - United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Occupied Palestinian Territory
People reportedly continue to be killed, injured as they seek food
OCHA says large numbers of people reportedly continue to be killed and injured searching for food in the Gaza Strip. According to our human rights colleagues, more than 100 people were killed in the past two days alone, with hundreds of others injured, along food convoy routes or near Israeli-militarised distribution hubs.
OCHA reiterates that no one should ever be forced to risk their life to find food. Civilians must always be protected and community-level aid delivery at scale must be facilitated, not obstructed.
The months-long deprivation of most life-sustaining basics has led to a deepening of the crisis, which can only be addressed through unrestricted flow of aid into Gaza. Humanitarians must also have rapid, safe and unfettered access to deliver aid in a safe and dignified manner.
As market prices remain highly volatile and out of reach for many, our colleagues were able to distribute cash to 10,000 families over the past two weeks. OCHA has warned that humanitarians cannot address this crisis alone - commercial supplies must also be allowed to enter to help address people's needs.
The World Health Organization (WHO) today reported that they were able to bring 11 trucks bearing medical supplies - including trauma, laboratory and water testing supplies - safely to its warehouse in Deir al Balah. WHO and its partners stress that access to healthcare must be facilitated. This means safe access to health facilities for the people, as well as rapid facilitation of entry permits for Emergency Medical Teams into Gaza.
Nearly a week since the Israeli announcement to allow the scale up of aid and tactical pauses to allow safe passage for our convoys, OCHA says that the aid that has entered Gaza so far remains insufficient, and our convoys continue to face impediments and danger along the routes provided to us by the Israeli authorities.
Fuel remains in short supply, though limited quantities have been entering Gaza in the recent days. Yesterday, the UN was able to collect approximately 150,000 litres of fuel from Kerem Shalom crossing and delivered it to a UN-managed fuel station last night. The UN and our partners need hundreds of thousands of litres of fuel every day to power critical facilities, including health, water and sanitation, as well as emergency telecommunication services.
Delays and impediments of humanitarian movements continue to be reported. While fewer humanitarian movements are denied outright, missions that are approved still take hours to complete due to having to wait at different points along routes. The fuel mission yesterday took 18 hours to complete because the team had to wait many hours along the way. For reference, the distance between Deir al Balah and Kerem Shalom is only about 24 kilometers. In addition, the routes that Israeli authorities instruct our teams to drive through remain insufficient and are often dangerous, congested or impassable.
Haiti
Women, girls most affected by escalating violence
OCHA warns that escalating violence by armed groups in the departments of Artibonite, West and Centre in Haiti is severely affecting women and girls, who form the majority of people displaced since June. Essential services for them are also in a state of disarray.
Drawing on data from the International Organization for Migration, OCHA reports that more than 45,000 people have been displaced since June, of whom 55 per cent are women, in the Artibonite and Centre departments alone. In total, nearly 240,000 people are now displaced in those two departments, as the humanitarian response remains critically underfunded.
For example, just 8 per cent of the United Nations Population Fund's nearly $29 million appeal has been funded. Despite this, under OCHA's coordination, UNFPA and its partners continue to deliver aid, with more than 12,600 people having received sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence services between June and July.
OCHA urges immediate support to sustain and expand this response to protect the most vulnerable.
Posted on 1 August 2025
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