Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Tropical Storm Melissa, South Sudan, Ukraine
UNOCHA - United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Over 1 million hot meals distributed daily across Gaza
OCHA reports that the UN and its partners continue to scale up the humanitarian response in Gaza, in line with the 60-day response plan.*
Partners working on food security say that they are now distributing over 1 million hot meals daily across the Strip. In the north, partners have started distributing general food parcels - containing rice, canned food and cooking oil - and six UN-supported bakeries have resumed bread production.
Partners providing nutrition services report that since the ceasefire came into effect on 10 October, they have opened over 20 new nutrition sites in Gaza. There are now 150 such sites functional across the Strip.
Meanwhile, 20 mobile health and nutrition teams are being deployed across Gaza to deliver life-saving nutrition support in hard-to-reach areas - doubling the number of teams compared to pre-ceasefire levels.
This week, partners working in nutrition dispatched enough therapeutic food to treat over 1,200 children suffering from acute malnutrition, as well as more than 32,000 jars of baby food to support dietary diversity for some 760 infants and young children for two weeks.
Efforts to provide water and sanitation services are also scaling up. Over the course of two days this week, partners have distributed about 600,000 baby diapers, 11,000 jerry cans, 5,800 hygiene kits, 3,000 buckets and 280 disability kits to displaced communities in various locations in the Strip.
More than 140 water tanks with a 2,000-litre capacity have been collected from the crossings into Gaza to expand community water points and reduce the need for water trucking.
The UN and its partners also continue to collect humanitarian supplies from the two crossings into Gaza that are currently operational - Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem and Kissufim. On Wednesday, at least 127 UN-coordinated trucks were collected for distribution inside the Strip - 104 from Kerem Shalom and 23 from Kissufim. The supplies picked up included wheat flour and other food items, baby diapers, stoves and pots for community kitchens, tents and tarps, health supplies, nutrition supplements and over 340,000 litres of diesel fuel.
Also on Wednesday, the UN and its partners offloaded 199 trucks at the two crossings - over half of them carrying food supplies.
Yesterday, five UN-led humanitarian missions were coordinated with Israeli authorities to collect medical supplies, hygiene kits, winter clothes and fuel from these two crossings. One of the missions, which was facilitated, involved the collection of nearly 116,000 litres of diesel, as well as the distribution of fuel for critical humanitarian operations. Two other missions involved the collection of essential medical equipment, hygiene kits, insulin and cholera kits.
People continue to move towards areas that were off-limits before the ceasefire, according to partners monitoring population flows across Gaza. More than 435,000 movements have been reported from southern to northern parts of the Strip since 10 October.
Partners present at monitoring points along the routes people are using to travel continue to provide basic support, such as bottled water, energy biscuits and referrals to address their needs.
Only 10 per cent of all internally displaced people reside in collective centres, according to partners. The majority remain in overcrowded, makeshift sites - many of which were set up in open or unsafe areas. Partners stress the urgent need for more emergency shelter materials to enter Gaza.
OCHA reiterates that more is needed and more can be done - but for this to happen, humanitarians need more crossings to open, including those that provide direct access to the growing numbers of people in the north, as well as the facilitation of access for NGOs. These organizations must be able to bring in the essential supplies they have waiting to enter Gaza - and their work is vital to address the huge level of needs in the Strip.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Gaza and the West Bank with urgent support.
Tropical Storm Melissa
UN and partners step up support as conditions worsen in Caribbean
OCHA continues to coordinate preparations and response efforts as weather conditions worsen in the Caribbean region due to Tropical Storm Melissa.
The US National Hurricane Center reports that the storm is currently located south of Haiti and the Dominican Republic and moving very slowly, bringing heavy rains and strong winds. While still a tropical storm, Melissa is expected to intensify to a major hurricane in the coming days, threatening Jamaica and then Cuba.
The OCHA Regional Office is working closely with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, UN teams, and national authorities in Cuba and Jamaica to coordinate preparations - including through the prepositioning of supplies - and stands ready to deploy support if necessary.
In Haiti, forecasts warn of life-threatening flash floods and landslides in southern parts of the country this weekend and early next week. Haitian authorities have issued an orange alert for the departments of West, Grand'Anse, Nippes, South and South-East, urging people to avoid high-risk areas and follow official guidance.
As announced earlier this week, US$4 million has been allocated from the Central Emergency Response Fund so that the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) can support more than 100,000 vulnerable people before the storm hits. This includes pre-positioned relief supplies and emergency shelter materials for tens of thousands of households, cash assistance to help families purchase essentials, and food stocks strategically placed across the country.
Initial impacts have already been reported in Haiti. Two people were killed and one injured yesterday in a landslide in Fontamara, a suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince. Heavy rains caused flooding and damage across several departments: A bridge was destroyed in the North-East department, homes were damaged in the North-West department, and flooding was reported in the Artibonite and Centre departments.
Early-warning messages have been widely disseminated, including SMS alerts sent to 3.5 million people to help communities prepare.
OCHA has bolstered its coordination capacities in the South department to support authorities and humanitarian partners with preparations ahead of the storm.
The UN and its partners will continue to support Haitian authorities - who are leading on preparations and response efforts - to ensure a coordinated, efficient and rapid response before and after the storm.
South Sudan
Almost 1 million people impacted by severe floods
OCHA warns that nearly 1 million people are now affected by the devastating floods in South Sudan.
As of yesterday, severe and widespread flooding has impacted more than 960,000 people in six states - mostly in Jonglei and Unity. Some 335,000 people have been displaced, with many seeking safety on higher ground.
Since last month, the floods have affected more than 140 health facilities - nearly a third of which were damaged or fully submerged - disrupting access to essential health services for thousands of people at a time when South Sudan grapples with disease outbreaks, including cholera and malaria.
In the past week, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported over 104,000 malaria cases - including 16 deaths - across the country. This marks a 15 per cent increase in cases from the previous week, mainly due to the ongoing flooding.
South Sudan also faces ongoing conflict and acute food insecurity, and the flooding is compounding an already dire humanitarian situation in the country.
Despite significant access challenges in the states of Unity, Jonglei and Upper Nile, the UN and its humanitarian partners continue to reach flood-affected people with life-saving aid and carry out needs assessments to inform the ongoing response. WFP is on the ground delivering food and nutrition assistance.
WHO and its partners have delivered over 50 metric tons of medical supplies to support the response in Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states - with more assistance in the pipeline, including tents, cholera kits and emergency health kits.
The UN Population Fund and its partners are supporting the response to gender-based violence through distribution of dignity kits to women and girls in flood-affected areas, and access to essential sexual and reproductive health services.
Health teams from the IOM have been providing medicine and other support - and earlier this week, the agency signed an agreement with South Sudanese officials that will see $8.5 million invested to build flood-resilient infrastructure and rehabilitate drainage channels to protect Bor Town, in Jonglei state.
Ukraine
Attacks take heavy toll on Kherson region
OCHA reports that over the past day, attacks and hostilities continued to cause civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
Authorities say that hostilities killed at least six people and injured nearly 40 across the country. The Kherson region in southern Ukraine was hardest hit, with reports of sustained air attacks on more than 30 towns and villages. In Kherson City this morning, shelling killed three people and injured more than two dozen others - including a child - and damaged residential buildings, according to the local authorities.
In the Donetsk region, in eastern Ukraine, attacks on the cities of Druzhkivka, Kostiantynivka and Kramatorsk killed or injured several civilians. Meanwhile, authorities say that the northern Sumy region saw shelling across 18 locations. In Kharkiv City, in the east of the country, an air strike reportedly injured several people and damaged apartment buildings.
Air strikes in the Kirovohrad region, in central Ukraine, caused power outages and disrupted transport. Ukrainian energy company Ukrenergo reported scheduled power cuts in 12 regions and ongoing restrictions for industrial consumers nationwide.
As cold temperatures set in, repeated power cuts and damaged homes are making living conditions increasingly difficult for civilians, especially for older people and families with children.
The UN and its humanitarian partners continue to support evacuations from front-line areas in the Kharkiv region. Since August, nearly 9,000 people have passed through the Lozova Transit Centre and more than 27,000 through the Kharkiv Centre. With support from the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund, partners are providing transportation, legal aid, psychosocial support and rehabilitation services.
Posted on 24 October 2025
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