UN ramps up aid response after deadly earthquake
Following earthquakes in Venezuela, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports significant damage to buildings and critical infrastructure, particularly in the cities of La Guaira and Caracas. According to initial official figures, more than 150 people have been killed and nearly 1,000 injured, with the toll expected to rise as assessments continue and many are reported missing.
Authorities report major disruptions to electricity, water and telecommunications, as well as transport systems. The Caracas Metro and rail services remain suspended, and Maiquetia International Airport has been closed due to damage.
In the hardest-hit areas, widespread building collapses have been reported, with search-and-rescue operations continuing around the clock. Hospitals are operating under mass casualty protocols, and temporary shelters have been set up for displaced populations.
The Government has declared a state of emergency, while international support is rapidly mobilizing, including incoming Urban Search and Rescue teams from different countries and multiple offers of assistance from across the region and beyond.
Tom Fletcher, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, said in a statement this morning that the UN and our humanitarian partners are fully mobilized to support the people of Venezuela. UN agencies are mobilizing assistance and will deliver support as quickly as possible. The team in the country is in close contact with acting president Delcy Rodríguez and relevant national authorities.
A central coordination hub has been established in Caracas, with the UN supporting efforts on the ground to ensure that assistance reaches those most in need as quickly and effectively as possible. OCHA is also supporting the coordination of incoming international search-and-rescue teams expected to arrive in the coming hours.
Humanitarian workers killed as attacks leave dozens of civilians dead, injured
OCHA reports that yesterday, in Ukraine, two humanitarians with the NGO, Norwegian People’s Aid, were killed and four others injured in an attack in the region of Kherson.
In a social media post, Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian chief, said that humanitarians know the risks – but accepting risk is not accepting being attacked. He stressed that civilians, including aid workers, must be protected and international humanitarian law respected.
The Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Coordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, also expressed his deepest condolences to the families and colleagues of those killed and stressed that humanitarian personnel must never be harmed while carrying out their duties.
This year, at least six humanitarian workers have been killed in Ukraine, including five while on duty, and 36 others injured. The Kherson Region has recorded the highest number of incidents affecting aid workers.
According to local authorities, attacks across Ukraine between yesterday and the early hours of today killed at least 12 civilians and injured nearly 90 others, including health workers and children.
In the Kherson Region, authorities reported several civilians killed and more than 20 injured, including five hospital workers wounded in a strike on a hospital. In the Zaporizhzhia Region, glide bombs and drone attacks killed two people and injured 27 others, including three children. Civilian casualties were also reported in the regions of Sumy, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Dnipro.
As of today, parts of five front-line regions – Sumy, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – remain without electricity due to attacks, according to Ukraine’s Energy Ministry.
Despite the security challenges, humanitarian organizations continue to respond. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, the UN and its partners reached more than 980,000 people affected by attacks with emergency shelter, hot meals, cash assistance and other life-saving support, while also helping restore essential services and support health facilities.
More than 500,000 displaced people returning home amid fragile ceasefire
OCHA reports that in Lebanon, the situation remains fragile despite the recent ceasefire announcement, though displacement continues to decline, with just over 700,000 internally displaced people recorded as of yesterday, a 17 per cent decrease compared to the previous week.
At the same time, more than 500,000 displaced people have begun returning to their communities, marking a significant increase in return movements.
These returns are taking place across multiple areas, particularly in southern Lebanon, with the majority of returnees moving back from urban areas of Beirut and Saida, South Governorate.
Partners note that many families are moving across governorates, often multiple times, reflecting ongoing concerns about safety and access to services.
Partners also warn that returns are taking place under challenging conditions. Many communities face damaged homes, disrupted services and limited access to basic needs, with water supply identified as one of the most critical challenges.
Despite these challenges, the UN and its partners continue to scale up assistance. Since the escalation began in March, the World Food Programme has supported more than 720,000 conflict‑affected people across Lebanon with food and cash assistance.
In parallel, 28 humanitarian convoys have been facilitated, reaching nearly 115,000 people in hard‑to‑reach areas, delivering essential supplies including food, water and medical support.
The UN again stresses that returns must be safe, voluntary and dignified and reiterates the need for sustained support to meet ongoing humanitarian needs, alongside safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Lebanon with urgent support.
Gaza health services strained by fuel, supply shortages
OCHA reports that the UN and humanitarian partners continue daily collections of humanitarian cargo from Kerem Shalom, which remains the only operational crossing for supplies into the Gaza Strip. Yesterday, teams brought in food, hygiene kits and latrine parts.
Last week, health partners provided nearly 240,000 medical consultations across 194 service points in Gaza. Acute respiratory illnesses and skin diseases remain the most frequently reported conditions, followed by acute watery diarrhoea.
Partners warn that health service delivery continues to be constrained by shortages or high costs of fuel, generator oil, spare parts, and medical supplies.
Emergency shelter assistance continues where feasible. Last week, partners supported over 4,000 households with shelter items through in‑kind and cash aid. This included tarpaulins, bedding, and tents. Partners also upgraded over 400 makeshift shelters and repaired more than 300 damaged homes.
Shelter partners warn that fewer families are now receiving their support compared with previous months. That’s due to severe shortages in shelter materials, linked to import restrictions, limited access to some areas, funding gaps and other challenges.
Moving to the West Bank, OCHA warns that ongoing Israeli demolitions of Palestinian-owned structures and settler attacks in multiple areas are pushing Palestinians and communities to leave their current locations.
In Ramallah area, OCHA recorded last week a series of settler attacks affecting two communities – Dar Faza’a and East Tayba Bedouin community – and both of these are now at high risk of displacement.
In Kafr ‘Aqab area of East Jerusalem, over 2,600 Palestinians were affected last Monday, when Israeli authorities demolished a multi-story residential building and a road, damaging water, electricity and sewage networks and cutting off vehicular access.
The UN reiterates that Palestinians in the West Bank must be protected, as required by law, and perpetrators of violations must be held accountable.
Hostilities escalating as rainy season deepens humanitarian needs
OCHA remains deeply concerned by escalating hostilities across multiple regions in Sudan, as humanitarian needs grow as the rainy season begins this month.
In Blue Nile State, Médecins Sans Frontières warned that funding shortfalls and renewed conflict are compounding already strained health services, worsening disease outbreaks, displacement, and severe malnutrition among more than 100,000 displaced people and returnees.
In White Nile state, local sources reported a drone strike earlier today that targeted a fuel station in Rabak city. According to the Sudan Doctors Network, two people were killed and seven others, including a woman, were injured.
The UN continues to monitor the situation in North Kordofan, where partners reported that since 9 June, more than 30 drones have been launched against the state capital, El Obeid, and surrounding areas, with daily strikes continuing.
In North Darfur, humanitarian partners are scaling up food assistance. They have increased the number of people they have reached with food assistance this year by almost 650,000 people, with projections to reach more than 900,000 by next month and into August.
OCHA once again calls on all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law. The UN also urgently appeals for increased donor funding to scale up life-saving assistance for displaced families and other vulnerable communities across Sudan.
*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Sudan with urgent support.
UN releases $8 million to boost Ebola readiness in Burundi, South Sudan
Tom Fletcher, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, has allocated $8 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, or CERF, to bolster readiness to address Ebola in Burundi and South Sudan.
Although no Ebola cases have been confirmed in Burundi, the risk remains high due to its proximity to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the large numbers of people who cross the border daily, in both directions. The Government of Burundi is already implementing a national preparedness plan following the Ebola outbreak declaration in the DRC.
The CERF funding will go towards strengthening surveillance, laboratory capacity, case management, and infection prevention and control. It will also support water, sanitation and hygiene services, as well as community engagement to ensure early detection and rapid response.
Similarly, South Sudan faces a high risk of Ebola transmission due to people moving across its borders with the DRC and Uganda.
The Government of South Sudan, through its Ministry of Health, has also activated a national preparedness and response plan to strengthen readiness for a potential importation of Ebola in 15 priority counties – but further urgent investment is needed.
The new CERF allocation will strengthen readiness to rapidly detect, investigate and contain imported Ebola Virus Disease while protecting health workers, maintaining essential health services and preventing community transmission.
This comes as South Sudan already grapples with a major humanitarian emergency, with more than half the population facing acute food insecurity and an ongoing cholera outbreak with more than 105,000 cholera cases and over 1,600 deaths recorded since the outbreak was declared in September of 2024.
Less than one-third of the necessary funding for the broader humanitarian response in 2026 has been received.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, OCHA says that response efforts continue across the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.
The UN and humanitarian partners, in support of the authorities, are responding to both the health emergency and the ongoing humanitarian situation.
Since the outbreak was declared in mid‑May, more than 51,000 people – including health workers and people in treatment or quarantine – have received food assistance.
Containment measures, including temporary border restrictions, continue to disrupt trade and local markets, reducing food availability and driving up prices.
These challenges are unfolding amid already severe levels of food insecurity. Between January and June, an estimated 8.7 million people across the three provinces are facing high levels of acute food insecurity, including nearly 2.9 million in Ebola‑affected health zones.
OCHA and humanitarian partners continue to coordinate closely to sustain life-saving assistance alongside the health response. However, our partners working in food security have received only one quarter of the funding required under the 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan.
The UN reiterates its call to donors to step up support. The $1.4 billion 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan, which aims to assist 7.3 million of the country’s most vulnerable people, is currently 53 per cent funded with $748 million received.
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