Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti
UNOCHA - United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Occupied Palestinian Territory
In Gaza, UN Relief Chief witnesses humanitarian scale-up
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, wrapped up his visit to the Gaza Strip over the weekend. On Saturday, he went to a UNICEF nutrition centre in Gaza city, where humanitarians are working to get hunger levels down.
While in Gaza city, Mr. Fletcher also visitedthe Patient Friendly Hospital, a pediatric facility in urgent need of more supplies and staff. Additionally, he saw a road clearance project run by the UN Development Programme, which is allowing aid trucks to drive through and giving humanitarians access to people in need of aid. He stressed that more trackers and bulldozers are urgently needed in Gaza.
Farther south in Deir al Balah, Mr. Fletcher visited a community kitchen run by partner organization World Central Kitchen. The site is producing 50,000 hot meals each day, with plans to further increase.
Later on Saturday, the Under-Secretary-General exited Gaza through Kerem Shalom. On Sunday, he met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, where they discussed the massive humanitarian needs in Gaza, the 60-day aid scale-up*, the importance of sustaining the ceasefire, the situation in the West Bank, and the path to long-term peace.
Today in Jerusalem, Mr. Fletcher met with the Humanitarian Country Team of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which brings together about 15 UN entities and representatives of some 200 NGOs - both international and local.
Also today, Mr. Fletcher and the Minderoo Foundation announced a contribution of AU$10 million from the Minderoo Foundation for humanitarian efforts in Gaza, delivered in close coordination with the UN-coordinated 60-day plan.
With the ceasefire in place and as more areas become accessible, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said yesterday that the agency is expanding the number of temporary learning spaces set up in community shelters for displaced people.
In Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, partners have successfully resumed the distribution of food parcels to thousands of families for the first time in months. In the north, preparations are underway to do the same.
Over the weekend, the UN and its partners continued to collect aid from the Kerem Shalom and Kissufim crossings. This included post-partum and hygiene kits, medical supplies, fuel, water and food.
Yesterday, for the first time, Israeli authorities allowed the UN to deploy monitors at the Kissufim crossing. This is a welcome development, as it provides much-needed visibility into that segment of the pipeline.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Gaza and the West Bank with urgent support.
Settler attacks affect Palestinians in over two dozen villages in West Bank
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the security situation in the West Bank remains tense amid this year's olive harvest season.
Between 7 and 13 October, OCHA documented 71 settler attacks, half of which were related to the ongoing olive harvest season. The incidents, which affected Palestinians in 27 villages, included attacks on harvesters, theft of crops and harvesting equipment, and vandalism of olive trees - resulting in casualties, property damage or both.
Sudan
Civilians flee escalating violence in Darfur and Kordofan
OCHA warns that violence continues to imperil civilians and drive new waves of displacement in various parts of Sudan.
In the states of North and West Darfur, fighting has escalated in recent days, with drone strikes and clashes reported in several areas. Yesterday, a drone attack on the main market in Saraf Omra, North Darfur, reportedly killed at least seven civilians. Strikes in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, also caused casualties.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that more than 3,000 people were newly displaced in North Darfur last week alone, including 1,500 from El Fasher, the besieged state capital, and another 1,500 from Abu Gamra village, following renewed fighting.
Tensions have also risen sharply in the Kordofan region. IOM reports that nearly 1,000 people were displaced from Lagawa town in West Kordofan State on Saturday due to heightened insecurity.
The previous day, a drone strike in the El Mazrub village in North Kordofan State reportedly killed at least 17 people, including a prominent community leader, while over 200 people were displaced from the area.
In South Kordofan State, artillery shelling and drone attacks reported last week heightened tensions. The town of Dilling and the state capital Kadugli remain under siege, with supply routes cut off and shortages of basic goods worsening by the day.
Meanwhile, in the south-eastern state of Blue Nile, ongoing insecurity displaced 600 people from Bout town in At Tadamon locality last week, as clashes between rival armed groups forced families to flee in search of safety.
Civilians across Sudan are bearing the brunt of this relentless violence. OCHA reiterates the Secretary-General's call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the protection of civilians, and unimpeded humanitarian access to all those in need.
Despite the challenges, humanitarians continue to provide vital assistance to displaced people in areas that the UN and its partners are able to safely access.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Hostilities devastate health system in eastern DRC
OCHA is sounding the alarm over the collapse of the health system in North and South Kivu provinces, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where hostilities continue to impact civilians and devastate critical civilian infrastructure.
In North and South Kivu, 85 per cent of health facilities are affected by shortages in medicine, while nearly 40 per cent have seen an exodus of health staff, further undermining the delivery of services.
In North Kivu alone, partners working in health report that more than a third of all health facilities in the province's conflict zones have been destroyed, looted or abandoned, leaving millions of people with extremely limited access to healthcare. The remaining facilities are overwhelmed and face critical shortages of essential supplies, including kits for survivors of sexual violence, cholera treatments and routine vaccines.
This is happening as the province battles deadly epidemics. Since the beginning of the year, health partners have recorded over 8,600 cases of cholera, 8,000 cases of Mpox, and more than 10,500 cases of measles, which has already claimed dozens of lives.
Partners on the ground estimate that without urgent action, more than 6,000 preventable deaths could occur between now and the end of the year. They also project a potential 40 per cent increase in maternal mortality in the hardest-hit areas.
The US$2.5 billion Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for DRC is currently just 16 per cent funded, with $410 million received so far. Partners working in health urgently need $6 million to procure essential supplies and maintain these life-saving services.
Urgent measures are needed to ensure the continued functioning of healthcare facilities in all areas affected by crisis in eastern DRC. Additional funding is required to prevent a greater tragedy.
It is also critical that all parties uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure - including health facilities - and to ensure safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian partners.
Haiti
UN and partners step up support to health authorities amid cholera resurgence
OCHA warns of a resurgence of cholera in Haiti's Ouest department over the past month. Since 8 September, health authorities have reported new cases in the commune of Pétion-Ville, following 11 weeks with no cases confirmed across the country.
In just a single week between 5 and 11 October, 139 suspected cases were recorded, including more than 20 laboratory-confirmed cases. Five deaths were also reported.
Pétion-Ville - as well as parts of the capital Port-au-Prince, including the commune of Cité-Soleil - remain on red alert, amid concerns over cholera spreading at sites hosting internally displaced people.
Haiti's Ministry of Health - with support from the Pan American Health Organization and humanitarian partners - has stepped up disinfection campaigns, community awareness activities, and the distribution of chlorine, safe water and hygiene kits in the most affected neighborhoods.
This outbreak is unfolding amid a severe deterioration of basic services in the capital, where only 11 per cent of health facilities with inpatient capacity remain fully operational.
OCHA and its partners continue to support national authorities' efforts to strengthen disease surveillance, expand response capacities, and contain the spread of cholera.
Posted on 20 October 2025
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