Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Philippines, Hurricane Melissa
UNOCHA - United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Gaza: needs remain immense despite humanitarian scale-up
OCHA says that despite significant progress on the humanitarian scale-up in Gaza,* people's urgent needs are still immense, with impediments not being lifted quickly enough.
Since the ceasefire and as of this Monday, the UN and its partners have collected more than 37,000 metric tons of aid from Gaza's crossings - mostly food - according to the UN 2720 Mechanism. This figure excludes bilateral donations and the commercial sector.
Entry continues to be limited to only two crossings, with no direct access from Israel to northern Gaza or from Egypt to southern Gaza. This is on top of certain items and NGO staff not being let in.
Partners leading on the shelter response say that most displaced people remain in overcrowded makeshift sites - many of which were established spontaneously in open or unsafe areas. Hundreds of thousands of families face the onset of the rainy season without desperately needed protection from the elements.
Partners working on shelter support say that once impediments are lifted, they have enough materials in the pipeline to meet most of the needs of nearly 1.5 million Palestinians requiring such assistance.
On the food front, there has been clear progress. Since the ceasefire, the World Food Programme (WFP) has reached over 1 million people with food distributions, hot meals, bakery support, fortified snacks for children, expanded nutrition services and digital cash assistance.
WFP expanded storage capacity to three warehouses, reopened key roads, and reinforced retail networks to sustain food assistance. The agency says that food has been delivered in all parts of Gaza.
However, local food production remains challenging, given widespread damage to farmland and soil being contaminated with remnants of war. Only 13 per cent of cropland in the Gaza Strip has not been damaged, and most of it remains inaccessible because it is located in areas where the Israeli military remains deployed. That figure is from a recent geospatial analysis by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Satellite Centre.
Between 79 and 89 per cent of greenhouse areas, agricultural wells and farming infrastructure have been damaged. Nearly 89 per cent of orchard trees, especially olive trees, have been damaged or - in most cases - destroyed.
West Bank: increasing settler attacks imperil Palestinians
OCHA warns of a sharp rise in settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, both in frequency and severity.
Last month, OCHA recorded 264 settler attacks that caused casualties, property damage or both. That marks the highest monthly toll in nearly two decades of record-keeping - averaging more than eight incidents every day.
Since 2006, OCHA has documented over 9,600 such attacks. About 1,500 of them took place just this year, roughly 15 per cent of the total.
The humanitarian impact has been severe. Since October 2023, more than 3,200 Palestinians have been displaced due to settler violence and related access restrictions. Entire herding communities have been completely depopulated. People have been killed and hundreds injured - including with live fire - and many more have lost access to their livelihoods. The attacks often involve vandalizing trees, cars, homes and infrastructure.
OCHA also receives daily reports of other settler actions - involving intimidation, trespassing, threats and harassment - that are not reflected in the published figures but nevertheless fuel the coercive environment that pushes Palestinians off their farmland and out of their homes and communities.
This morning, two Palestinian boys were shot and killed by Israeli forces, who said the children were throwing a Molotov cocktail on a road. Another child fatality was reported yesterday in a separate incident. According to OCHA-confirmed data as of Wednesday, the number of Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank so far this year has reached 42. That means one in every five Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank in 2025 has been a child.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Gaza and the West Bank with urgent support.
Philippines
UN expedites support ahead of Tropical Cyclone Fung-Wong
The UN has fast-tracked funding to support more than 400,000 people in the Philippines at high risk of being severely affected by Tropical Cyclone Fung-Wong, which is expected to strengthen into a super typhoon as it approaches the country.
The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocated nearly US$6 million for those relief efforts in record time - just two minutes after agreed triggers were met yesterday. These funds were released as part of anticipatory action efforts, which allow the humanitarian community to get ahead of the worst impacts of tropical cyclones in the Philippines.
The CERF allocation will enable five UN agencies and their partners to deliver life-saving assistance - with a focus on food, health, shelter, protection, cash assistance, and water, sanitation and hygiene - in support of Government-led efforts.
Tropical Cyclone Fung-Wong is expected to bring devastating winds, heavy rainfall and storm surges to the Philippines, posing severe risks to communities across the country - which has already seen an intense typhoon season this year, with some 20 tropical cyclones so far.
Just this week, Tropical Cyclone Kalmaegi brought heavy rains and flash floods, prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency. More than 150 deaths were reported, with dozens of people still missing, according to authorities in the Philippines.
Hurricane Melissa
Millions in Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica affected by hurricane
OCHA reports that one week after Hurricane Melissa made landfall in the Caribbean, nearly 5 million people in Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica have been impacted.
According to authorities in all three countries, the hurricane claimed at least 75 lives, displaced more than 770,000 people, and damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of homes, schools and healthcare facilities.
The UN and its partners continue to support authorities across Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica. OCHA has deployed additional staff to Jamaica to help the Government with humanitarian issues and strengthen operations, ensuring consistent information across agencies.
In Cuba, FAO has delivered agricultural tools, livestock feed and fishing supplies to help restore livelihoods.
WFP has deployed mobile warehouses, lighting towers and tents to the eastern provinces.
The UN Population Fund is distributing reproductive health kits and working with partners to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, while the UN Development Programme is providing roofing materials, toolkits and generators to aid the early recovery process.
UNICEF is delivering water storage and treatment supplies that will benefit up to 16,000 people daily. The agency is also mobilizing new funds to acquire school supplies and waterproof blankets, which could help more than 30,000 children in the worst-affected municipalities.
Posted on 7 November 2025
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