Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine, Global Humanitarian Funding
UNOCHA - United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Occupied Palestinian Territory
UN and partners work to scale up humanitarian response in Gaza
OCHA says that since the ceasefire plan came into effect, the UN and its humanitarian partners have been able to move more freely across parts of Gaza from which Israeli forces have withdrawn, without coordination with Israeli authorities. This improved access has allowed partners to scale up the response to the most urgent needs.
Briefing the press remotely from Gaza, OCHA Spokesperson Olga Cherevko told journalists that aid workers have wasted no time, with thousands of tons of humanitarian aid and other supplies having entered the Strip over the past three days.
Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that within 24 hours of the ceasefire, an emergency medical team was deployed to Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza city, and eight trucks carrying medical supplies entered the Strip, including insulin, lab supplies and essential medicine.
WHO teams also reached the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis to retrieve cancer and other life-saving medications, as well as intensive care unit equipment - including incubators, ventilators and patient monitors - and transferred them to Nasser Hospital, also in Khan Younis.
The UN and its humanitarian partners have also installed a solar panel for a desalination unit in Deir al Balah, as well as new telecommunications hardware to improve connectivity for affected people and humanitarian operations. Efforts to clear debris from roads, particularly those leading to crossing points, are also underway.
Since yesterday, the Israeli authorities facilitated four UN-led missions to collect medical, health and shelter supplies from the Kerem Shalom and Kissufim crossings.
The UN and its partners are also assessing people's needs in areas that had previously been inaccessible so that they can adjust their response efforts.
Today, an OCHA team visited one of these areas, the Al Kateeba neighbourhood in Khan Younis. They reported extensive destruction, with large amounts of rubble visible throughout. Partners have begun clearing main roads to facilitate movement and humanitarian access within the area.
Before October 2023, about 17,000 people lived in Al Kateeba. Community members expressed their eagerness to re-establish makeshift shelters near their damaged homes. Residents told OCHA's team that clearing roads, leveling land, restoring water access and receiving shelter support are essential first steps to enable people's safe return and recovery.
The UN and its partners will continue scaling up operations under their 60-day response plan to reach as many people as possible with life-saving assistance.
Much more can be done, and for this to happen, the humanitarian community needs more crossings to open, as well as the sustained entry of fuel and cooking gas; security guarantees for convoys; basic infrastructure to be restored; protection of humanitarian workers; the facilitation of NGO access, including through ensuring they are not de-registered; and the rapid injection of funding to support humanitarian operations*.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Gaza and the West Bank with urgent support.
Ukraine
UN Relief Chief condemns attack on humanitarian convoy
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, described today's attack on a UN humanitarian convoy in the Kherson region as an unacceptable violation of international humanitarian law.
OCHA reports that the aid convoy was struck while delivering medicine, hygiene items and shelter materials to the front-line town of Bilozerka. The town, heavily impacted by the war, had not received assistance for months.
The UN convoy - clearly marked and led by OCHA - was hit by drones while offloading supplies, with two trucks set on fire. No humanitarian workers were injured. The Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, condemned the attack by the Russian Federation Armed Forces, stressing that such attacks are a gross violation of international humanitarian law.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission reports that civilian casualties rose by more than 30 per cent in 2025 compared with last year. In September alone, 214 civilians were killed and 916 injured, mostly near the front line in the Donetsk and Kherson regions. Short-range drones caused nearly one third of all casualties, while long-range missile and drone strikes accounted for another 30 per cent. Attacks on energy infrastructure increased by 15 per cent month-on-month, including 12 incidents in the Kherson region.
Meanwhile, authorities report that hostilities yesterday killed five civilians and injured nearly 30 others nationwide. The heaviest impact was recorded in the Kharkiv, Donetsk and Kherson regions - where homes, a hospital and a church were damaged. In the region of Krovohradsky, strikes left several areas without power.
Evacuations of civilians from front-line areas continue, with more than 200 people - including 40 children - having been moved yesterday.
Global Humanitarian Funding
Brutal aid cuts exact devastating toll on people in need
OCHA warns that with fewer than three months left in the year, the 2025 appeal to meet global humanitarian needs is less than a quarter funded.
As of the end of September, just 21 per cent - or nearly US$9.6 billion - of the more than $45.3 billion needed to support life-saving action around the world this year had been received. This is a staggering decrease of over 40 per cent compared to the same time last year.
OCHA stresses that these funding gaps are having devastating consequences for millions - leaving people without healthcare, families without food, and children without education.
In Afghanistan, more than 420 health facilities have closed this year, forcing 3 million people to go without critical care. In Somalia, food aid had to be slashed - meaning that only 350,000 people will receive support in November, compared to 1.1 million in August.
And in Bangladesh, half a million Rohingya refugee children have lost access to education in Cox's Bazar.
The UN and its partners are doing all they can to reach as many vulnerable people as possible with the limited funding available. In June, OCHA launched a hyper-prioritized global appeal within this year's broader Global Humanitarian Overview - a plan that aims to meet the most urgent needs of 114 million people.
OCHA also calls on donors to step up their investment in humanitarian aid. At a time when global needs are immense, more support is critical to save lives.
Posted on 14 October 2025
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