Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine

A man in a blue vest hands out a package from the back of a truck to a woman

Ukrainian local NGO, Proliska, provides emergency response after an attack in Zaporizhzhia Region on 15 November. NGO Proliska Zaporizhzhia

Occupied Palestinian Territory

Yesterday, about 40 trucks carrying the medical equipment, alongside 180 doctors and nurses, entered Gaza from Egypt. This equipment and medical personnel are intended for the establishment of a second Jordanian field hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, with a capacity of 150 beds.

On 20 November, the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya (North Gaza) came under attack, reportedly resulting in at least 12 fatalities, including patients and their companions, alongside many injuries. This is the fifth time the hospital has been hit since the start of hostilities.

Hospitals and medical personnel are specifically protected under international humanitarian law and all parties to the conflict must ensure their protection. Hospitals must not be used to shield military objectives from attack.

The Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, yesterday appealed to all parties to the conflict to protect Palestinian and Israeli children and their rights. As of 10 November, 4,506 Palestinian children were killed and about 1,500 have been reported missing, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

Ukraine

Relentless attacks in front-line areas continue. Civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, have been targeted, killing and injuring civilians.

In the east of the country, in town of Selydove in the Donetsk Region, overnight attacks yesterday and today hit multiple locations, including an hospital. Two civilians were killed and several more people were injured, according to the national authorities.

The injured received medical assistance and other patients were evacuated to nearby towns. The hospital premises sustained significant damage but remains operational.

Still in the front-line area of Donetsk Region, humanitarian partners provided health assistance to nearly 600,000 people between January to October of this year, mostly by pre-positioning and distributing medicine and medical equipment to health facilities ahead of the winter.

And last week, the World Health Organization supported an inter-agency convoy to Donetsk Region, delivering much-needed assistance to some 12,500 people in the communities of Marinka and Vuhledar which have been particularly affected by intensified hostilities.