Today’s top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon

#Occupied Palestinian Territory

West Bank violence and displacement intensify amid reported refugee camp takeover order

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the reported instruction by Israeli leadership for the military to take over a fourth refugee camp in the West Bank could have a devastating humanitarian impact on thousands of people.

Since last year, Israeli operations in the camps of Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams have displaced more than 30,000 people, including children, and destroyed homes, livelihoods and essential services. These operations have also deepened humanitarian needs.

All the while, the ability of local authorities and international humanitarian organisations, first and foremost, UNRWA, to help those affected is impeded through harsh restrictions and financial constraints, resulting in people’s needs remaining largely unmet.

This reported announcement comes amid an escalation in violence across the West Bank, involving settler attacks, operations by Israeli forces, confrontations with Palestinians, the use of lethal force and further displacement of Palestinian families.

Israeli forces have reportedly imposed a closure on Nablus city and its surroundings, and on Tell village, where some of the recent killings took place. In that village, concerns have also been raised over the establishment of a settlement outpost closer to where Palestinians live.

Ongoing movement restrictions and insecurity continue to constrain humanitarian access, requiring some partners to shift to providing remote services – including mental health and psychosocial support for people in areas that are hard to reach.

Over the weekend and in the days since then, settler attacks have been recorded across the West Bank, but mainly in Nablus, Qalqiliya and Jenin governorates.

Meanwhile, yesterday, Israeli forces and municipal authorities forcibly entered UNRWA’s oldest vocational training facility, the Kalandia Training Centre in East Jerusalem, where UNRWA says they gathered and confined educational staff and students while conducting operations.

This is the second incursion by Israeli forces to that compound in less than a month, and it comes amid broader efforts to obstruct UNRWA’s operations.

Such actions are a violation of the inviolability of United Nations premises. They also impede joint efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to people in need.

Meanwhile in the Gaza Strip, OCHA remains deeply concerned over the impact of that ongoing strikes are having on civilians.

Since Friday, partners leading on security and safety have recorded military activities across all of Gaza’s governorates. Air strikes, shelling, gunfire and naval fire have been reported primarily in areas west of the so-called “Yellow Line,” spanning less than half of the Strip, where most people are crowded in harsh conditions. Several incidents, including those resulting in fatalities and injuries, have reportedly affected civilians.

One of those air strikes, on Saturday, hit the vicinity of Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, less than 200 metres away from two UN premises.

Further encroachment of the “Yellow Line” into populated areas through the placement of yellow cement blocks has also been reported.

Yesterday, humanitarian partners received reports of more than a dozen families who were newly displaced in eastern Gaza city. The UN and its humanitarian partners are mobilising support for those affected.

#Democratic Republic of the Congo

UN urges more support as Ebola outbreak accelerates

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Julien Harneis, the Senior Ebola Coordinator, is calling on the international community to ramp up support in response to the rapidly rising number of Ebola cases and deaths.

More than 1,400 deaths have been recorded so far. In comparison, this is 60 per cent of the deaths reported during the 2018–2020 outbreak, which lasted nearly two years and was the largest outbreak ever recorded in the country. Many more cases are still undetected.

The Government of the DRC is expanding its response, but the epidemic is growing partners on the ground don’t have enough medical supplies, specialized health personnel, and Ebola treatment facilities.

Last week, Harneis joined the Prime Minister of the DRC, Judith Suminwa Tuluka; U.S. representative in the DRC, Ian J. McCary; and the Humanitarian Coordinator, Damien Mama, on an inter-agency mission to the city of Kisangani, where five cases were recently confirmed. The mission aimed to strengthen containment efforts in the city of 1.6 million people and along the Congo River corridor towards the capital, Kinshasa.

On Monday, Harneis will travel with the authorities, the World Health Organization and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to the Nia-Nia area, an Ebola hotspot at the junction of the provinces of Ituri, Haut-Uélé and Tshopo.

Harneis is urging the international community to send more treatment centres, more personal protective equipment, more specialized staff and more supplies for safe and dignified burial teams, as well as to fund the primary health care system.

*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with urgent support.

#Lebanon

UN, humanitarian officials assess needs in southern Lebanon

Yesterday in Lebanon, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Imran Riza, visited the villages of Chaqra and Baraachit in Nabatieh Governorate. He was joined by the UNICEF Representative, Marcoluigi Corsi, and OCHA’s Head of Office, Kristen Knutson. The two communities, in Bint Jbeil District, lie outside the Israeli military zone and are partially accessible to displaced families returning home.

Today, Riza and Knutson, together with the head of the Order of Malta, Marwan Sehnaoui, visited to the border villages of Ain Ebel, Rmeich and Debel in Nabatieh to assess humanitarian needs and support for communities that remained throughout the conflict despite months of insecurity.

Local authorities, returnees, displaced families and community representatives spoke to them about the challenges people continue to face. These include damaged infrastructure, lack of or limited access to basic services – particularly water, health and education, as well as disrupted livelihoods.

At the same time, hostilities continue to affect civilians in southern Lebanon. According to local authorities, demolition operations and shelling persist in parts of Nabatieh Governorate.

On Saturday, authorities reported that a critical water pumping station in the village of Markaba in the Nabatieh Governorate was destroyed, jeopardizing access to water for numerous villages in southern Lebanon.

OCHA reiterates that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected. Sustained humanitarian support and recovery assistance remain essential to help affected communities rebuild their lives and let them return to their homes safely, voluntarily and with dignity.