Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine

Today's attack in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, is the third in less than a week. Dozens of people were injured, and civilian infrastructure, including homes and a children's hospital, were damaged. @UNOCHA

Occupied Palestinian Territory

The Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, spoke to the press in Geneva via video link today, stressing the need for Israel to provide for unimpeded humanitarian access and ensure that the conditions inside Gaza allow for the provision of humanitarian aid.

OCHA reports that the spread of diseases in Gaza has reportedly intensified, especially due to overcrowded living conditions, which adds to the strain on an increasingly overwhelmed health system and an increased risk of people dying. The head of the World Health Organization in the Occupied Palestinian Territory announced yesterday that cases of meningitis, jaundice, impetigo, chickenpox and other upper respiratory tract infections had been recorded.

Yesterday, for the first time since the hostilities escalated on 7 October, aid trucks were screened at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing and then allowed to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing. While this measure should help alleviate the delays in aid trucks entering Gaza, humanitarian agencies report this is not sufficient and have been requesting that Kerem Shalom crossing become an offloading point for UN goods from Egypt and Jordan.

As of last night, 107 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies entered Gaza from Egypt, the same volume recorded on most days since the hostilities resumed on 1 December. Some 129,000 litres of fuel and 45,020 kgs of gas also entered Gaza from Egypt yesterday.

Ukraine

OCHA reports that an air strike on Kyiv this morning has left dozens of civilians injured, including children. This is the third attack on Ukraine’s capital in less than a week.

According to humanitarians on the ground, critical infrastructure in at least four of the capital’s 10 districts has been damaged, including homes, a hospital and a kindergarten. Water and electricity systems were also hit, but authorities managed to quickly restore these vital supplies.

Humanitarian partners have rapidly mobilized emergency assistance and distributed blankets and hot meals for more than 400 people. They also provided psychosocial and medical assistance and legal support, in addition to registering people affected by the attack for cash assistance. Sites to help people stay warm have been set up, complementing the authorities’ efforts to find accommodation for people whose houses were damaged.

Due to a cyberattack on one of Ukraine’s largest mobile phone operators, millions of people currently lack access to an air raid warning system in Kyiv Region, but also in some parts of the north and the centre of the country, according to national authorities.

Once again, OCHA stresses that deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure are forbidden under international humanitarian law – including telecommunications and other infrastructure that help people to be informed and protected during times of war.