The allocation, announced Monday by Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, will support the immediate scale-up of aid operations in the Gaza Strip, including food, water, health care and shelter for civilians affected by two years of conflict.

This follows a $9 million allocation last week to ensure fuel supplies to hospitals and essential services, bringing the recent total DEER Gaza funding to $20 million.

The announcement comes as the ceasefire brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt continues to hold, alongside the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees, offering what the UN secretary-general described as “a fragile hope of calm after months of devastation.”

Urgent scaling is needed

The UN and its partners are rapidly scaling up operations across Gaza as access improves, providing lifesaving aid to areas that have been cut off for months. However, a massive increase in funding is needed in the face of overwhelming needs.

Mr Fletcher warned that without further contributions to CERF, essential aid could not continue to reach the people who need it.

Speaking from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, on the eve of a summit on Gaza, he said the UN’s stepped-up humanitarian aid was underway in what he called “a moment of precarious hope” for many.

“This is a moment of opportunity, but also a moment that requires determined patience, creativity and sustained generosity,” he said.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN teams have now secured Israeli approval for 190,000 tonnes of aid, cooking gas entering Gaza for the first time since March and more food, tents and medical supplies arriving daily.

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For Mr. Kassis, housing is not a privilege, it is a question of survival. “We resist,” he said, “by simply existing on the ground. The occupation is not just the tank and the soldier. It restricts not only your movements, but also your thoughts, your plans, your aspirations and your vision.”

Basic services also bear the brunt of the occupation. “Our wells are located in Area C of the West Bank, where security is controlled by Israel. This is where Israeli settlements are located and settlers are attacking these water sources, threatening the supply which is already the lowest in the world per capita. At the same time, settlers are taking advantage of the swimming pools.”

To adapt, Ramallah has invested in wastewater treatment and irrigation projects, using recycled water to green the city. “When you see green, you see hope. And when you see hope, you run after hope.”

Cultivate resilience

The cost of occupation is measured not only in obstacles and shortages, but also in lives lost. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 2023, including more than 200 children.

For families, the burden is heavy. “We are a young company,” explains Kassis. “More than 65 percent of Ramallah’s population is under 40 years old. Half are teenagers or children. Their parents, he says, want them to live freely and experience life, but they fear harassment and arbitrary detention.

“There are thousands of prisoners. Every day, people are detained without a court order and kept in prison for six months, which can be renewed. The idea is to kill our spirit.” Nevertheless, he insists, resilience continues: “Look at Gaza. Look at the children who are smiling. For me, that’s resilience. These people, they choose life despite everything.”

As mayor, he believes that resilience must be maintained at the grassroots: through education, green spaces and pride in the territory. “We built it through years of hard work and education so that children would cherish life, cherish the beauty of the city, love the land, belong to the land. These are things that we do, that are part of our DNA in the municipality.”

A way forward

The UN has long supported a two-state solution as a framework for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and security. Key issues that remain to be resolved include borders, settlements, the status of Jerusalem, refugees and security arrangements.

Until this vision is realized, Kassis says, Ramallah residents will continue to hold out hope: one house, one family, one tree at a time.

Although progress has been made through peace initiatives, such as the Washington Agreement signed on June 27 between the DRC and Rwanda, and the Doha Declaration of Principles signed on July 19 between the Congo River Alliance/M23 and the Congolese government mediated by Qatar, additional efforts are still needed to achieve lasting peace.

“Even though these African and international peace efforts are laudable and promising, they have not yet kept their promises: the agreed ceasefire is not respected,” he said.

For decades, armed groups have been raging in eastern DRC. However, the situation has deteriorated sharply since January 2025, when M23 rebels, supported by Rwanda, took control of key towns in the Kivu provinces. Rwanda has denied providing military support to the rebels.

Since the start of the year, more than 1.6 million people have been newly displaced, with more than 68% attributed to the ongoing conflict, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

UN calls for immediate ceasefire

Xia commended the United States and Qatar for their tireless efforts to facilitate peace negotiations and expressed hope that talks would resume soon, leading to the adoption of a lasting peace agreement.

“The humanitarian issue remains catastrophic,” he stressed, calling on all parties to work hand in hand to prioritize an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire.”

In the same spirit, France called for the adoption of Security Council resolution 2773 (2025), which reaffirms the sovereignty of the DRC and calls for an immediate end to hostilities by the M23 rebel group.

“Resolution 2773 must be fully implemented, particularly with regard to the withdrawal of Rwandan forces from Congolese territory and the cessation of their support for the M23,” urged French Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont.

Sustainable peace, Xia stressed, requires addressing the root and structural causes of conflict.

In this effort, the 2013 Addis Ababa Framework Agreement, designed to address chronic instability in the DRC, continues to serve as a key instrument to guide processes of dialogue, reconciliation and reform.

The South Sudan Human Rights Commission issued the warning following a mission to the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in July 2011, but deadly fighting broke out in late 2013 between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and forces loyal to his rival, Riek Machar.

While a peace deal ended the war and a unity government was established, tensions erupted earlier this year after the arrest of Mr. Machar, the first vice president and main opposition leader.

Peace progress has stalled

The Commission said South Sudan’s political leaders have deliberately blocked progress towards peace, despite a decade of efforts by the AU and regional actors.

Armed clashes are now occurring on a scale unprecedented since the cessation of hostilities in 2017, and civilians are bearing the brunt of human rights and displacement violations.

Furthermore, “the vacuum of justice and accountability continues to fuel political intransigence, impunity, conflict and corruption.”

A recent Commission report highlighted how corruption and misappropriation of public resources remain a key driver of conflict.

Failure of leadership

Barney Afako, who led the mission, said the current political crisis, growing fighting and “systemic and unchecked corruption” reflected a failure of leadership.

“Unless there is immediate, sustained and coordinated political engagement from the region, South Sudan risks sliding back into full-scale conflict with unimaginable consequences for the human rights of its people and the region as a whole.» he said.

“South Sudanese are looking to the African Union and the region to save them from an avoidable fate,” he added.

Search for justice

In discussions with AU officials, the Commission highlighted the urgent need to put in place the transitional justice mechanisms provided for in the peace agreement, including the hybrid court.

“More than ever, justice is essential in South Sudan,“, said Yasmin Sooka, President of the Commission. “Promises made to victims years ago have still not been kept.»

She said the hybrid court must ensure accountability for past crimes while strengthening judicial institutions.

Growing clashes

The Commission noted that South Sudanese are once again on the run due to renewed armed clashes. Around 300,000 people have fled the country this year alone, while regional countries host more than 2.5 million South Sudanese refugees.

Meanwhile, some two million people are displaced in South Sudan, which is also hosting some 560,000 refugees who fled war in neighboring Sudan.

“The increase in armed clashes, massive displacements and the breakdown of the peace agreement signed seven years ago demonstrate that South Sudan cannot rebuild itself without stability and justice,” declared Commissioner Carlos Castresana Fernández.

Stressing the need for “credible and independent mechanisms for justice and accountability,” he said: “The AU and its regional partners must act now – not only to prevent another war, but also to lay the foundations for a just peace, based on the rule of law.»

About the Commission

The South Sudan Human Rights Commission was established by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2016.

The three commissioners are not UN staff and are not paid for their work. They are supported by a secretariat based in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

Floods affect thousands of people

Meanwhile, the UN and partners continue to provide food, water and other life-saving assistance to people affected by heavy flooding in South Sudan caused by heavy rains and rising waters along the Nile.

The number of people affected has increased from 380,000 three weeks ago to nearly 890,000, and most are in Jonglei and Unity states, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported Monday.

Nearly a third of those affected have been displaced and are seeking refuge on higher ground.

“The floods have caused significant damage to homes, crops, schools, health facilities, roads and other critical infrastructure, further complicating humanitarian access,” OCHA said, noting that some flooded areas in the south are now only accessible by canoe.

Humanitarians continue to provide assistance, including shelter, food and nutrition support, cash assistance, health, water and sanitation services, and sandbags and other flood-fighting materials.

OCHA has warned that above-average rainfall is expected across most of South Sudan, increasing the risk of flooding.

The situation is evolving against a backdrop of declining support for humanitarian efforts in the country. A $1.7 billion plan to help some 5.4 million people this year is only 30 percent funded, or $504 million, a drop of more than 40 percent from the same time last year.