Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine

Occupied Palestinian Territory

Negotiations are ongoing to evacuate remaining patients from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where an Israeli military operation continues.

Yesterday, OCHA – along with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Palestine Red Crescent Society, visited the hospital and evacuated 14 patients.

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that in the two days prior – on Friday and Saturday – the agency’s team had not been permitted to enter the hospital to assess conditions of the patients and critical medical needs, despite reaching the hospital compound to deliver fuel.

Meanwhile, the situation in Al Amal Hospital – also in Khan Younis – remains critical, following a four-week siege by the Israeli military. Food supplies have reportedly been nearly exhausted, and fuel reserves are dwindling.

As the bombardment of Gaza continues, public health concerns are mounting – with women hardest hit. The UN Population Fund has warned that everyone in Gaza is hungry, including some 50,000 pregnant women.

We and our partners are doing all we can to provide food assistance across the Gaza Strip, despite major challenges to the humanitarian response, including ongoing airstrikes and heavy fighting.

Last week, more than a dozen partners reached 1.5 million people – with nearly one-third of food supplies going to Rafah Governorate, 28 per cent to Deir al Balah, just over a quarter to Khan Younis and 14 per cent to the north.  

To do more, we need secure and uninterrupted humanitarian corridors in Gaza. And we need more trucks and fuel inside Gaza to ensure a consistent and dependable food supply. 

Sigrid Kaag

Sigrid Kaag, the Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, was in Brussels today, where she briefed the European Union Council of Foreign Ministers in Brussels on Security Council Resolution 2720 (2023) and update them on her work to date. Ms. Kaag said the participants discussed the very dire situation in Gaza.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, she said that sufficient aid is not entering Gaza, and that aid is becoming increasingly difficult to distribute.

While in Brussels, Ms. Kaag also met with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock; Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot; and EU High Representative Josep Borrell.

Ukraine

A surge of hostilities over the weekend in front lines areas led to civilian casualties, as well as the damage and destruction of civilian infrastructure.  

In the Donetsk Region, in the east, local authorities reported at least a dozen civilian casualties and damage to more than 150 homes and civilian facilities damaged, including a school.

In the Kharkiv Region, also in the east, intensified fighting led to more civilian casualties and damage to homes, three education facilities and a medical institution. That’s according to local authorities.  

Humanitarian organizations are mobilized and provided materials for emergency repairs of damaged houses.

Meanwhile, we and our partners are supporting the response to address the impact of the oil spillage on water sources in Kharkiv City after a strike on the oil storage facility on 9 February.