Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Haiti

Occupied Palestinian Territory

The Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Muhannad Hadi, today warned that successive mass evacuation orders issued by Israeli forces are exposing people in Gaza to harm and depriving them of the essentials they need to survive.

In a statement issued today, Hadi noted that there has been an average of one evacuation order every two days this month – forcing as many as a quarter of a million Palestinians to uproot their lives yet again.

Hadi said that if these evacuation orders are meant to protect civilians, they are in fact doing the exact opposite: They are forcing families to flee again – often under fire and with the few belongings they can carry with them – into an ever-shrinking area that is overcrowded, polluted, with limited services and – like the rest of Gaza – unsafe.

The Humanitarian Coordinator stressed that these evacuation orders are also severely constraining aid efforts. Many of our humanitarian colleagues have been forced to move because of these directives, which affect their premises, warehouses and other facilities.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has now lost access to its warehouse in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza. This was the third and last operational warehouse in Gaza’s middle area. Five community kitchens operated by WFP have also been evacuated, as the agency seeks new locations for them.

According to OCHA’s latest update on the humanitarian response in Gaza, multiple evacuation orders for Khan Younis and Deir al Balah issued between 8 and 17 August alone have deprived people of essential health services. In total, 17 health facilities were affected – with the areas impacted by the orders located one kilometre or less from four key hospitals Nasser Medical Complex, Al-Amal Hospital, Al Aqsa Hospital, and the Kuwaiti Palestine Red Crescent Social Hospital.

With diseases spreading in Gaza, access to health services and to safe drinking water is especially critical. However, as we told you yesterday, the repeated evacuation orders have disrupted access to wells and constrained water production. There is also a shortage of chlorine for water disinfection – with reserves expected to last for just one more month. Given the presence of hepatitis A – and now polio – in Gaza, this is deeply alarming.

Despite recurrent evacuation orders and myriad other challenges – including active hostilities, ongoing insecurity and access constraints – the UN and humanitarian organizations continue to do everything possible to provide life-saving health care to Palestinians in Gaza. In the two weeks prior to 18 August, nearly three dozen health partners reached some 337,000 people across Gaza. Meanwhile, 16 emergency medical teams are supporting the local health-care workforce.

Meanwhile, in northern Gaza, kitchens supported by WFP are providing hot meals with fresh vegetables. This first delivery last week is part of the agency’s efforts to ensure that nutritious produce can supplement the emergency food rations that families have been surviving on for months.

So far in August, bakeries in Gaza supported by WFP have produced more than 1.9 million bread bundles – that is nearly 4 metric tons. Out of 18 bakeries, a dozen are still operational.

Haiti

OCHA warns that persistent underfunding for the humanitarian response in Haiti – amid growing needs and rising violence – means that millions of Haitians are missing out on the essential support they need.

Stepped-up and sustained funding is needed to stem the deepening humanitarian crisis in the country.

Displacement has nearly tripled in the last 12 months, with more than 578,000 people having fled their homes in search of safety. Half of the newly displaced escaped the capital, Port-au-Prince, to the south of Haiti.

Some 5 million people – half of the population – are not getting enough to eat. Many lack access to the health care they need with just one in four hospitals in the country still functioning.

Nearly 1.5 million children have seen their education disrupted over the past school year, while hundreds of thousands of out-of-school children face the risk of being recruited by armed groups.

Without additional funding, Haiti’s humanitarian crisis will only grow even more severe. Eight months into the year, the 2024 humanitarian appeal – which calls for US$674 million – is just over a third funded with $227 million received. This is the same low level of funding that we have seen for the humanitarian response in Haiti over the past five years, in a country where needs have increased substantially.

While additional resources are urgently needed to stem the crisis, it is critical to find sustainable solutions to the humanitarian, development, security and other challenges that Haiti is facing.