Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan, Ukraine
UNOCHA - United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Occupied Palestinian Territory
UN and partners continue to scale up aid in Gaza
OCHA says that families in the Gaza Strip continue to move towards areas that are newly accessible since the ceasefire, with some seeking shelter in displacement sites that are already overcrowded.
Partners monitoring the flow of people across the Strip report that on Sunday, they recorded nearly 13,800 displacements towards Gaza city and North Gaza, and about 4,100 movements towards the east.
OCHA reports that humanitarian partners on the ground continue to scale up their operations as outlined in the 60-day plan, expanding their presence in areas that were previously inaccessible and increasing assistance to meet growing needs.*
Partners working on food security report that as of Sunday, food parcels were being distributed at over two dozen locations in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, reaching more than 15,000 households there. These food parcels contain various nutritious food items, including rice, lentils, beans, chickpea paste, tomato paste and fortified sunflower oil. Partners are working to expand the number of distribution points to ensure that people can access food closer to where they live.
Also on Sunday, 21 partners prepared and delivered some 944,000 meals through 178 community kitchens. This is an increase of some 286,000 daily meals in about three weeks. Sunday's total included 69,000 meals from 13 kitchens in the north, as well as 875,000 meals from 165 kitchens in the south and central areas.
Yesterday, the World Health Organization reported that it had dispatched four pallets of medical supplies from its southern warehouse to key health facilities and partners to help ensure the continuity of life-saving health services across the Strip. The supplies included medicines for diabetes and other chronic conditions, treatments for infections and malnutrition, and pain management medication.
On Sunday, another partner working in health delivered reproductive health kits to southern Gaza, providing essential supplies for an estimated 8,300 people. An additional 1,500 postpartum kits were distributed to Al Awda Nuseirat Hospital to support delivery services for the next three months.
Partners providing shelter materials are also doing everything possible to scale up. On Sunday, they distributed 300 tents to vulnerable households in Khan Younis and 14,700 blankets to families in 16 displacement sites across the Al Mawasi area in Khan Younis.
Partners stress that far greater volumes of shelter materials must be allowed into Gaza before the winter season begins. This will require Israeli authorities to authorize more humanitarian organizations to bring in these supplies. So far, only a limited number of UN agencies and partner organizations have such permissions.
Meanwhile, OCHA reports that the UN and its partners continue to collect humanitarian supplies brought in through the UN 2720 mechanism via the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem and Kissufim crossings.
Overall, since the ceasefire came into effect on 10 October - and as of Sunday, 19 October - humanitarian teams have been able to collect 10,638 metric tons of essential supplies from those crossings. This is based on UN 2720's tracking, and those efforts are ongoing.
The UN and its partners also continue to offload supplies at the available crossings. Between 17 and 19 October, 303 UN and partner trucks with 6,455 pallets of aid were offloaded at the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem and Kissufim crossings, according to the UN 2720 mechanism. More than two thirds of that cargo was food - and about a fifth was water, sanitation and hygiene supplies.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Gaza and the West Bank with urgent support.
Sudan
In Tawila, OCHA meets families displaced from besieged El Fasher
OCHA reports that as escalating violence deepens the already devastating humanitarian crisis in Sudan's North Darfur State, the UN and its partners continue to scale up their response efforts where access allows.
Yesterday in the town of Tawila, an OCHA team met families who had walked for four days to escape the violence in the besieged state capital El Fasher, which is about 50 kilometres away. On Sunday and Monday alone, some 350 families - mostly women, children and older people - arrived in dire condition, some of them injured along the way. Dozens of young men who fled with the group are still missing, raising serious protection concerns.
The UN and its humanitarian partners have provided food, water and basic medical care to the new arrivals, but needs far exceed available resources. Tawila now hosts more than 600,000 people displaced from El Fasher and surrounding areas - and many displaced families lack shelter, adequate food or safe water. OCHA is coordinating with authorities, donors and partners to mobilize additional capacity, resources and support.
On the ground in El Fasher, repeated attacks continue to imperil civilians. Local sources report that yesterday, heavy shelling struck central parts of the city, endangering thousands of civilians in one of El Fasher's most densely populated areas.
Local authorities report that more than 109,000 people are displaced across 127 sites, most lacking food, clean water and medical care. Several community kitchens shut down last week due to the depletion of supplies.
Once again, OCHA stresses that the siege on El Fasher must be lifted immediately, and safe passage must be ensured for civilians wishing to flee and for humanitarians determined to deliver vital aid.
Elsewhere in North Darfur, a drone strike reportedly hit the main market in Kabkabiya town, underscoring the severe risks facing civilians amid expanding hostilities. In the localities of As Serief and Kernoi, the International Organization for Migration estimates that about 10,000 people were displaced on Sunday due to heightened insecurity. Most have fled to nearby locations within Kernoi.
Meanwhile, in Sudan's capital Khartoum, drones reportedly struck the international airport at dawn today, just one day before it was due to reopen for domestic flights for the first time since the conflict began.
The attack raises grave concerns over the safety of vital transport infrastructure in the country. OCHA reiterates the Secretary-General's call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, and unimpeded humanitarian access to all those in need.
Ukraine
Attacks cause civilian casualties, disrupt power and water to hundreds of thousands
OCHA reports that in the last five days, continued attacks across Ukraine caused multiple civilian casualties, while repeated strikes on energy infrastructure left hundreds of thousands of people without water and electricity.
According to local authorities, the regions of Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipro, Kherson and Chernihiv were among those most affected, with at least 12 civilians killed and more than 100 injured across the country.
Multiple strikes on energy infrastructure in the Chernihiv and Kyiv regions overnight caused large-scale blackouts and water disruptions, affecting over 150,000 people. The attacks come as temperatures drop across Ukraine, raising concerns over the ability of affected communities to heat their homes and maintain essential services.
OCHA reiterates the importance of reliable funding to sustain the efforts of the humanitarian community as part of the Winter Response Plan.
Meanwhile, the UN continues to support Ukrainian responders at the forefront of relief efforts. Last year, nearly two thirds of the more than US$160 million allocated through the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund - which is managed by OCHA - went to local organizations.
Posted on 21 October 2025
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