Many families are returning to shattered neighbourhoods where unstable buildings and unexploded ordnance pose deadly risks.

“Water, food and essential services are still desperately needed,” OCHA said, as humanitarian partners race to meet soaring demand amid widespread destruction.

Aid is getting in

Aid continues to enter Gaza, with more than 300 truckloads of supplies collected from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing between Friday and Saturday.

The cargo included thousands of pallets of wheat flour, canned food, rice and supplies for hot meals, alongside medical equipment, tents, tarpaulins and winter clothing.

While data from Sunday’s deliveries is still being compiled, the UN confirmed that hygiene kits, post-partum kits and shelter materials entered the Strip.

The UN Office for Project Services which provides comprehensive emergency services (UNOPS) also distributed some 329,000 litres of diesel to keep hospitals, telecommunications and food operations running.

Hot meals and bread

Humanitarian partners, working with 170 community kitchens, have now provided more than one million hot meals – mostly in southern and central Gaza.

In Deir al Balah, Khan Younis and Gaza City, 15 UN-supported bakeries are producing tens of thousands of bundles of bread daily, distributed free to shelters and communities across hundreds of sites.

Teams are also expanding work to reduce the risk from unexploded ordnance – largely from the Israeli offensive – as people begin returning to their homes.

Over the weekend, nearly 3,200 people in central and southern Gaza received safety briefings. Since October 2023, OCHA says, there have been 150 explosive ordnance incidents causing casualties, including among children.

Olive grove attacks: West Bank

In the occupied West Bank, OCHA reported ongoing violence linked to the olive harvest season, which began on 9 October.

More than 85 settler attacks on Palestinian farmers and their land have disrupted harvesting, injuring over 110 people and damaging more than 3,000 trees across 50 villages.

Seventeen attacks were recorded last week alone, mostly in the Ramallah governorate. “These repeated incidents have devastated livelihoods and deepened fears among farming communities,” OCHA said.

Despite the aid inflows, the UN warns that Gaza’s humanitarian needs remain overwhelming, with food, water and shelter still in critically short supply as families risk everything to return home.

Dozens of civilian casualties were reported over the weekend and into Monday, with children among the injured, according to UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

The hardest-hit areas include Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia.

“Meanwhile, our humanitarian colleagues tell us that evacuations of civilians continue from frontline communities in the Donetsk region,” Mr. Dujarric told journalists in New York on Monday.

Between 24 and 26 October, more than 900 people were evacuated, he added, noting also that the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund has released $13 million since May to support local and national NGOs in the Kharkiv region, aiding nearly 76,000 residents.

Roughly half of those reached are women and girls. Assistance has included cash transfers, shelter, health services, water, sanitation, hygiene support and measures to prevent gender-based violence.

‘You can’t see anything’

Winterisation – providing lifesaving aid to vulnerable populations to protect them from cold weather and harsh conditions – is a major concern, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns.

Kenan Madi, Chief of Field Operations UNICEF Ukraine, told UN News that families along the frontlines urgently need heating, warm clothing and other essential supplies.

“The attacks on infrastructure are impacting basic services – from hospitals to water utilities to district heating – making everyday life extremely difficult for children,” he said.

“I just had a colleague who came back from Chernihiv,” he continued, adding: “The only thing he told me was, ‘It’s really dark — you can’t see anything.’ Some rural areas are in total blackout. That’s what children are living through in Ukraine right now.”

UN response

Amid these conditions, UN agencies continue their efforts to reach communities with aid. UNICEF has provided access to safe drinking water for 300,000 people in September alone and more than three million nationwide so far this year.

Education remains disrupted: approximately 350,000 children in frontline regions attend school in person, while over 400,000 follow a blended schedule and around 280,000 continue fully online.

To mitigate these disruptions, the agency supports over 150 learning centres offering catch-up classes, social-emotional support and safe learning spaces. It has also rehabilitated more than 100 schools and kindergartens since 2022, with 42 additional facilities under repair this year.

Mental health a priority

Mental health services are also a priority. Last month, UNICEF reached 16,000 children and 25,000 caregivers in frontline areas with psychosocial support and over 300,000 people have received mental health assistance throughout 2025.

Mr. Madi highlighted the human toll, referring to the challenges faced by a mother of twins who have autism.

“She deserves to get the help she needs, but this is not the story of one person alone. There are many households who are struggling with their daily lives. There are many stories on the front lines and unfortunately year after year it is becoming harder for the people, especially children, and this is something which is very worrying for us.”

“Destructive winds, dangerous storm surge, and catastrophic rainfall” are due to hit the region, warned UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

Continuing to work closely with Resident Coordinators and UN Country Teams, the UN is due to deploy additional staff to Cuba and Jamaica this week, as part of wider efforts to bolster emergency preparedness and coordinate response operations on the ground.

In a post on X, OCHA said preparations had been strengthened in Cuba, including:

• More than 100 tons of rice for the eastern part of the country
• Hygiene kits for 6,500 people
• Fuel bonds
• Ongoing prevention messages

In addition, the UN has allocated around $4 million for Cuba from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) ahead of the storm.

Moreover, special focus is being placed on Haiti, a nation already grappling with gang violence, disease, and gender-based violence. OCHA and its partners are assisting national authorities in strengthening preparedness and mitigating the hurricane’s potential impacts.

Authorities in the country reported that priority needs included emergency shelter, essential household items, hygiene and cleaning kits, safe water, and additional logistical support to reach isolated areas.

Coordinated efforts 

The World Food Programme is providing logistical support, generators, and food assistance to families in Jamaica – which could experience its most powerful storm on record – while the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has pre-positioned water, sanitation, and child protection supplies.

Meanwhile, the Pan American Health Organization is reinforcing health emergency operations, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is preparing shelter support, and other UN partners are mobilising for relief operations.

“Latin America and the Caribbean is the second most disaster-prone region in the world and children are among the most at risk,” according to UNICEF.