Middle East

The World Food Programme (WFP) has run out of food in the Gaza Strip as Israel continues to block the entry of all humanitarian aid into the enclave, home to over two million people. 

Syria is undergoing a rocky transition after years of conflict and authoritarian rule. Despite tentative political progress, ongoing violence, deepening economic hardship and a worsening humanitarian crisis highlight the urgent and continued need for international support.

The near two-month ban on humanitarian aid and supplies entering Gaza is driving families to the edge of survival, as critical essentials – including food, shelter and medicine – are rapidly running out.

Amid sweltering heat, raw sewage and overflowing trash, displaced families in southern Gaza are facing an escalating public health crisis as aid remains blocked and medical supplies dwindle.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached unprecedented levels, with more than two million people – mostly women and children – trapped, starving and desperate, as no aid has been allowed in for the past 50 days.

Families in Gaza were holding on to the slim chance of finding loved ones buried under the ruins of destroyed homes – but that hope is fading fast.

Now is the time to invest in Syria, and support people returning to the country and their communities, the outgoing UN Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis said on Monday. 

The UN Secretary-General has expressed grave concern over US airstrikes in and around Yemen’s port of Ra’s Isa this week, which reportedly resulted in scores of civilian casualties.

Amid reported Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip into Thursday that killed at least 23 people, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, issued an urgent call to “get international media into Gaza” to cover the conflict, in addition to those reporters trapped in the enclave. 

The United Nations on Wednesday warned that escalating hostilities and access constraints in Gaza are exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis, displacing hundreds of thousands and depriving civilians of shelter, food and medicine.

Israeli military operations in Lebanon have continued to claim civilian lives and destroy vital infrastructure, the UN human rights office warned on Tuesday, raising alarm over mounting violations since a ceasefire agreement took effect last November.

An Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday has further jeopardized already limited access to lifesaving medical care in the war-torn enclave.

A Gaza City hospital has been put out of action by an Israeli strike at the weekend, while a child patient with reported head trauma died while being evacuated, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

The Israeli bombardment of Al-Ahli, a Gaza City hospital, has put even more pressure on the remaining health facilities in the occupied Palestinian territory, where the delivery of aid and movement of humanitarian workers is highly restricted by the Israeli authorities.

In Gaza, where lack of access to water is an existential threat, Ibrahim Alloush stands out as an unsung hero, providing a lifeline to the thirsty people of the Strip.