Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Afghanistan, Ukraine
UNOCHA - United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Thousands of people flee south as Gaza city offensive intensifies
OCHA reports that over the past month, bombardments on Gaza city have intensified, while air strikes, bombardment and shelling have continued across the Gaza Strip.
OCHA continues to call for the immediate protection of civilians. Issuing displacement orders does not absolve parties to a conflict from their responsibilities to protect civilians in the conduct of their hostilities.
The Ministry of Health reports that the Rantissi Children's Hospital in Gaza city was damaged after being struck multiple times overnight. There were 80 patients at the facility, including 12 children and babies in intensive care. Half of the patients and their caregivers were forced to flee, under fire, in search of safety.
Meanwhile, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) warns that Israel's offensive in Gaza is forcing women to give birth in the streets, without hospitals, doctors or clean water. UNFPA says that 23,000 women are going without care, and about 15 babies are being born each week with no medical help.
Humanitarian partners report that since the collapse of the ceasefire in March, 80 medical points and primary healthcare centres providing sexual and reproductive health outpatient services have been affected, with 65 out of service.
The Palestine Telecommunications Company reported a complete Internet outage across Gaza city and the north today. This is preventing people and humanitarians from receiving critical information.
Today, the Israeli army once again ordered people to leave Gaza city - within the next 48 hours - and move south along a temporary passageway on the Salah ad Din road.
Thousands of people continue to flee, amid active hostilities. Roads are congested, people are hungry, and children are traumatized.
Between Monday and yesterday, partners monitoring the movement of people in Gaza recorded nearly 40,000 displacements to the south. Since mid-August - and as of yesterday - some 200,000 movements have been recorded, with many women, children and older people walking for hours.
Partners have set up three support points in areas receiving displaced people in southern Gaza to assist separated, orphaned and injured children.
They report that heavy bombardment in Gaza city is further fueling people's distress, especially among children. In the Rimal area, for example, ongoing hostilities are preventing people - mainly those with disabilities - from reaching support centres. Assistive devices - such as wheelchairs and crutches - are mostly unavailable.
Yesterday, two humanitarian movements to collect food cargo from the crossings into Gaza were either cancelled or denied. Other missions were facilitated but faced impediments on the ground. The Zikim crossing remains closed for a fifth consecutive day.
Afghanistan
Humanitarians reach over 100,000 people with food aid after earthquakes
In the wake of the recent devastating earthquakes that struck eastern Afghanistan, OCHA reports that some 103,000 people have been reached with food aid, with more vulnerable groups receiving specialized nutrition support. More than 27,000 people have been provided with drinking water, and over 3,400 families have gotten emergency shelter materials.
Aid workers have carried out joint humanitarian assessments in nearly a third of the more than 400 villages affected by the earthquakes. They report that in the areas they have reached so far, over 6,300 homes have been destroyed, with nearly 2,200 others damaged. Thousands of families in these villages are sheltering out in the open, exposed to the elements, with most having lost their household belongings, including blankets and clothes.
OCHA reports that the earthquakes have also taken a heavy toll on water and sanitation infrastructure, with more than 130 water sources reportedly damaged or destroyed in the areas where humanitarians have carried out assessments. Given severe shortages of essential hygiene and sanitation items, humanitarian partners are deeply concerned about the risk of waterborne disease outbreaks, including cholera, which is already endemic in the region.
OCHA stresses that additional support for response efforts is urgently needed*, as outlined in the dedicated response plan launched last week. As the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said earlier this week, female humanitarian workers are absolutely indispensable to the response - and it is intolerable that they are coming under pressure and facing further challenges as they carry out their critical work.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Afghanistan with urgent support.
Ukraine
Drone strike injures aid workers in Kherson region
OCHA reports that two humanitarian workers were injured and a humanitarian vehicle damaged in a drone strike in Ukraine's Kherson region on 15 September.
This latest attack underscores a worrying trend: Between January and August, at least seven aid workers were killed and 44 were injured across Ukraine, with the Kherson region bearing the highest toll.
The Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, condemned the attack, stressing that aid workers must never be a target and must be able to carry out their missions safely.
Meanwhile, humanitarian partners reached Novovorontsovska, a rural settlement in the Kherson region, with an inter-agency convoy on 15 September. The community - which has been heavily affected by hostilities and the Kakhovka Dam destruction in 2023 - received water, medical items, hygiene kits and other essential relief items for the 4,000 residents. The operation was part of ongoing efforts to ensure civilians in hard-hit areas continue to receive the assistance they urgently need.
From January to August, humanitarian partners assisted nearly 180,000 people in the region of Kherson, including with food, water and healthcare support. Over that period, 23 convoys provided critical aid to 22,000 residents, despite ongoing insecurity.
Humanitarian needs remain pressing as hostilities continue. Between yesterday and today, authorities reported more than 60 civilian casualties across the country. The regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson were most affected.
Casualties were also reported in the regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Kropyvnytskyi. Homes, schools, health facilities and energy infrastructure were damaged, leaving thousands without electricity and disrupting railway traffic in central Ukraine.
Posted on 17 September 2025
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