Today’s top news: Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Central African Republic, South Sudan
#Lebanon
Healthcare under fire
OCHA reports that the humanitarian situation in Lebanon remains fragile as violence and displacement affect civilians across the country.
According to the Ministry of Public Health, between Wednesday and yesterday evening, at least 12 people were killed and 85 injured, including a paramedic killed in a strike on an ambulance in the town of Majdal Selm in the South governorate. This brings the human toll since 2 March to more than 2,700 people killed and just over 8,400 injured.
Humanitarian needs remain severe, particularly in the health sector. Health partners continue to support the Ministry of Public Health in maintaining essential services despite insecurity and repeated attacks on healthcare facilities. To date, more than 58,000 health consultations have been provided, alongside medication for acute diseases.
As hostilities persist, the UN and its humanitarian partners call for the protection of civilians, healthcare workers and civilian infrastructure, full respect for international humanitarian law, and sustained humanitarian access.
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
Urgently needed supplies collected in Gaza
In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, OCHA reports that the UN and its partners today collected more than 300 pallets of medicines, medical and reproductive health equipment, and other supplies, from Kerem Shalom crossing.
These supplies will support maternity and patient care services, as well as emergency response.
Yesterday, teams also collected three truckloads of fodder to support local food production and nearly 450 pallets with hygiene items, winter clothes for children, ready-to-use complementary food, medicines and education materials.
Education partners installed 27 specialised tents across five sites last week to serve as classrooms. And on Sunday, in Deir al Balah, they completed a light rehabilitation of 12 damaged classrooms in a public school. That has allowed more than 1,500 students to access improved learning environments.
Partners say that 93 per cent of school buildings across Gaza need major rehabilitation or reconstruction. More materials and equipment must be allowed in to meet that scale of need.
Meanwhile, partners provided mental health and psychosocial support, as well as other protection services, to more than 14,000 people last week – including thousands of children and caregivers. They also continued to offer services to those returning from Egypt, although their numbers remain low – just over 250 people last week.
Overall, of more than 2,000 people who have returned to Gaza so far, about 15 per cent have been identified as requiring follow-up support, which our partners are providing as needed.
In the West Bank, in the first week of May, OCHA recorded the displacement of 42 people – including two dozen children – due to home demolitions. Nearly 40,000 people have been displaced across the West Bank since the beginning of last year.
#Central African Republic
‘Feeding one person for 3 months cost $16’
Edem Wosornu, OCHA’s Crisis Response Division Director, today briefed the press in New York on the humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic (CAR), from where she has just returned.
Ms Worsornu underscored that while some progress had been achieved in terms of security, humanitarian needs remain high with two in every five Central Africans – 2.3 million people – in need of assistance. She described a fragile yet hopeful and generous country, noting that one in five people in CAR are displaced, even as it hosts refugees from neighbouring countries.
She said that Central Africans communities told her they did not want to rely on aid but wanted peace and stability so that they could farm their land.
Aid agencies in the country have adapted their projects to cope with much reduced funds. OCHA has reduced its number of sub-offices from 15 in 2020 to seven today. The humanitarian response plan focuses on hyper-prioritized target communities and builds on efficiencies and innovations.
Wosornu said that “feeding one person for 3 months in the Central African Republic cost aid agencies $16 dollars, less than the cost of a sandwich in New York.”
#South Sudan
UN welcomes commitment to open Akobo for aid teams
The acting Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, Dr. Humphrey Karamagi, today in a statement welcomed commitments from the transitional government parties to allow aid teams into Akobo County in Jonglei State, and to protect humanitarian staff and equipment.
Fighting in March and April have forced an estimated 200,000 people to flee their homes, including more than 100,000 who fled to Ethiopia. Civilian infrastructure, including Akobo hospital, have been looted and damaged, cutting off essential health care and putting mothers and children at greater risk.
The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis says that thousands of people in Akobo County are already facing the most extreme hunger and malnutrition (IPC Phase 5) between April and July 2026.
Aid agencies on site are ready to quickly expand emergency food deliveries and protection, nutrition, and health services in Akobo County and nearby areas. There is only a narrow window of time before the rainy season begins and travel becomes harder and humanitarian needs are likely to grow.
Dr. Karamagi also praised the UN Mission in South Sudan for helping keep aid operations safe and for protecting relief supplies.
He stressed that aid workers need reliable, safe access over time to deliver life-saving assistance – and stop the humanitarian situation from getting worse.