The EU has mobilised 2 Canadair airplanes from the EU’s joint firefighting fleet in response to a request for assistance from Cyprus, following a major fire in its Limassol district. The EU has already responded to several wildfire emergencies in Albania and North Macedonia this summer. Source link
Gaza: UN staff now fainting from hunger, exhaustion; WHO worker detained
“Doctors, nurses, journalists, humanitarians, among them UNRWA staff, are hungry…fainting due to hunger and exhaustion while performing their duties,” said Juliette Touma, Director of Communications with the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA.
Speaking from Amman, she stressed that seeking food “has become as deadly as the bombardments”.
The development comes as the UN human rights office, OHCHR, announced on Tuesday that more than 1,000 Palestinians have now been killed by the Israeli military while trying to get food in the Strip since the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) started operating on 27 May.
“As of 21 July, we have recorded 1,054 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food,” said OHCHR spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan. “766 of them were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites and 288 near UN and other humanitarian organizations’ aid convoys.”
Mr. Al-Kheetan noted that the finding came from “multiple reliable sources on the ground, including medical teams, humanitarian and human rights organizations. It is still being verified in line with our strict methodology.”
The foundation’s hubs are supported by the US and Israeli authorities and started operating in southern Gaza on 27 May, bypassing the UN and other established non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Aid relief is not a job for mercenaries
“The so-called GHF distribution scheme is a sadistic death-trap,” UNRWA’s Ms. Touma said. “Snipers open fire randomly on crowds as if they’re given a license to kill.”
Quoting a statement by UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini, Ms. Touma called the scheme a “massive hunt of people in total impunity”.
“This cannot be our new norm. Humanitarian assistance is not the job of mercenaries,” she added.
The UNRWA spokesperson insisted that the UN and its humanitarian partners have the expertise, experience and available resources to provide safe, dignified and at-scale assistance.
“We have proven it time and again during the last ceasefire,” she said.
Living conditions in the Strip have reached a new low as prices for basic commodities have increased by around 4,000 per cent. For Gaza’s inhabitants who have lost their homes and been displaced multiple times, they have no income and find themselves completely deprived of essentials.
$200 for a bag of flour
Ms. Touma highlighted the testimony of a colleague on the ground who had to walk for hours to buy a bag of lentils and some flour, paying almost $200 for it.
On Monday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that a quarter of Gaza’s population faces famine-like conditions. Almost 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and need treatment as soon as possible.
Vital everyday items such as diapers are scarce and costly, at about $3 each. Mothers have resorted to using plastic bags instead while one father “said that he had to cut one of his last shirts to give his daughter sanitary pads”, Ms. Touma said.
“We at UNRWA have stocks of hygiene supplies, including diapers for babies and for adults waiting outside the gates of Gaza,” Ms. Touma stressed, insisting that the agency has 6,000 trucks loaded with food, medicines and hygiene supplies waiting in Egypt and in Jordan to be allowed into the enclave.
A child waits for food in Gaza.
Urgent ceasefire call
She reiterated the UN’s calls for “a deal that would bring a ceasefire, that would release the hostages, that would bring in a standard flow of humanitarian supplies into Gaza under the management of the United Nations, including UNRWA.”
Humanitarian operations in the enclave are being pushed into an “ever-shrinking space”, said World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Tarik Jašarević.
Briefing journalists in Geneva, he condemned three attacks on Monday on a building housing WHO staff in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza as well as the “mistreatment of those sheltering there and the destruction of its main warehouse”.
“Staff and their families, including children, were exposed to grave danger and traumatised after airstrikes caused a fire and significant damage,” Mr. Jašarević said, adding that Israeli military entered the premises, “forcing women and children to evacuate on foot” towards the coastal shelter of Al Mawasi amid active conflict.
In this interview, WHO Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory Dr. Rik Peeperkorn provides more details on the attacks and underlines the UN agency’s commitment to stay and deliver in Gaza:
Screened at gunpoint
The WHO spokesperson said that staff and family members were “handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot and screened at gunpoint”.
Two staff and two family members were detained and while three were later released, one WHO employee remains in detention for reasons unknown to the organization.
Mr. Jašarević called for the release of the detained staff member and insisted that “no one should be held without charges and without due process.”
The latest evacuation order for the area has impacted several WHO premises and compromised its presence on the ground, “crippling efforts to sustain a collapsing health system,” Mr. Jašarević added, and “pushing survival further out of reach for more than two million people”.
The Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah on Monday also caused an explosion and fire inside WHO’s main warehouse, which is located within the evacuation zone in the central Gazan city, “part of a pattern of systematic destruction of health facilities”, the agency’s spokesperson said.
According to Gaza’s health authorities, since the start of the war in October 2023, some 1,500 health workers have been killed in the Strip. Some 94 per cent of all health facilities have been damaged and half of Gaza’s hospitals are “not functional at all”, Mr. Jašarević said.
“The chance to prevent loss of lives and reverse immense damage to the health system slips further out of reach every day,” he stressed.
Visa denials
Spotlighting further challenges to the humanitarian operation in Gaza, the WHO spokesperson pointed to an increase in the denial of visas by Israeli authorities for emergency medical teams seeking to enter the Strip since the breakdown of the latest ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on 18 March.
He said that 58 international staff for the emergency medical teams, including surgeons and critical medical specialists, have been denied access.
UNRWA’s Ms. Touma highlighted the fact that ever since the agency’s Commissioner-General was denied entry to Gaza in March 2024, he has not been allowed back into the Strip. He has also not received a visa from Israel to enter the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, for more than a year.
The UNRWA spokesperson also deplored the lack of access for international media to the enclave.
“It certainly is time, if not long overdue, for international media to go into Gaza precisely to look into the facts and to help with reporting first-hand information on the horrors that people in Gaza are living through,” she said.
Critical lifelines collapsing
UN humanitarians continue to highlight the rapid collapse of critical lifelines in Gaza amid ongoing hostilities.
Local authorities said more than a dozen children and adults died from hunger in the past 24 hours, UN aid coordination office, OCHA, reported on Tuesday.
“Hospitals have admitted people in a state of severe exhaustion caused by a lack of food, and others are said to be collapsing in the streets,” it said.
“This is on top of continued reports of people being shot, killed or injured while simply trying to find food – food that is only being allowed into Gaza in quantities that are far too small.”
Furthermore, in many cases where UN teams are permitted by Israel to collect supplies from closed compounds near border crossings, civilians approaching the trucks come under fire, despite repeated assurances that troops would not be present or engage.
OCHA said “this unacceptable pattern is the opposite of what facilitating humanitarian operations should look like,” underscoring that “absolutely no one should have to risk their life to get food.”
Syria: Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the situation
The EU issued a statement on Syria strongly condemning the violence that resulted in hundreds of victims last week in the Southern part of the country, and calling for investigation and accountability.
25th EU-China summit – EU press release
A joint EU press release was issued following the 25th EU-China summit in Beijing on 24 July 2025. Source link
Food lifeline fading for millions in South Sudan hit by conflict and climate shocks
Earlier this month, the UN agency began airdropping emergency food assistance in Upper Nile state after surging conflict forced families from their homes and pushed communities to the brink of famine.
Nationwide, the picture is just as alarming, with half the country’s population – more than 7.7 million people – officially classified as food insecure by UN partner the IPC platform. This includes more than 83,000 facing “catastrophic” levels of food insecurity.
“The scale of suffering here does not make headlines, but millions of mothers, fathers and children are spending each day fighting hunger to survive,” said WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau, following a visit to South Sudan last week.
The worst-hit areas include Upper Nile state, where fighting has displaced thousands and relief access is restricted. Two counties are at risk of tipping into famine: Nasir and Ulang.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, gained independence in 2011. This gave way to a brutal and devastating civil war which ended in 2018 thanks to a peace agreement between political rivals which has largely held.
However, recent political tensions and increased violent attacks, especially in Upper Nile state, threaten to unravel the peace agreement and return the nation to conflict.
The humanitarian emergency crisis has been exacerbated by the war in neighbouring Sudan.
Since April 2023, nearly 1.2 million people have crossed the border into South Sudan, many of them hungry, traumatised and without support. WFP said 2.3 million children across the country are now at risk of malnutrition.
Crucial, yet fragile gains
Despite these challenges, the UN agency has delivered emergency food aid to more than two million people this year. In Uror county, Jonglei state, where access has been consistent, all known pockets of catastrophic hunger have been eliminated. Additionally, 10 counties where conflict has eased have seen improved harvests and better food security as people were able to return to their land.
To reach those in the hardest-hit and most remote areas, WFP has carried out airdrops delivering 430 metric tonnes of food to 40,000 people in Greater Upper Nile. River convoys have resumed as the most efficient way to transport aid in a country with limited infrastructure. These included a 16 July shipment of 1,380 metric tonnes of food and relief supplies. WFP’s humanitarian air service also continues flights to seven Upper Nile destinations.
At the same time, a cholera outbreak in Upper Nile has placed additional pressure on the humanitarian response. Since March, WFP’s logistics cluster has airlifted 109 metric tonnes of cholera-related supplies to affected areas in Upper Nile and Unity states.
However, the UN agency said it can currently support only 2.5 million people and often with just half-rations. Without an urgent injection of $274 million, deeper cuts to aid will begin as soon as September.
“WFP has the tools and capacity to deliver,” said Mr. Skau. “But, without funding and without peace, our hands are tied.”
Opening remarks by President António Costa at the meeting with President of China Xi Jinping
European Council President António Costa met with the President of China Xi Jinping as part of the 25th EU-China summit in Beijing on 24 July 2025.
Opening remarks by President António Costa at the meeting with President of China Xi Jinping
European Council President António Costa met with the President of China Xi Jinping as part of the 25th EU-China summit in Beijing on 24 July 2025. Source link
Syria: the second convoy provides critical aid to Sweida
Mortal sectarian violence has moved more than 145,000 people in the southern city, some of whom fled to governors neighboring Dar’a and Rural Damascus.
The convoy has carried a range of critical support, including food, wheat flour, fuel, medicines and health supplies.
Ochha Coordinated with the sarc to prepare the convoy, which included the supplies of the United Nations agencies.
Commitment and support
The office continue to engage With the authorities and partners to facilitate a United Nations Inter -listings mission in Sweida, depending on the conditions.
The UN also works with partners to provide a range of assistance to displaced people in Dar’a and Rural Damas, including food, water and health and protection services.
Mobile medical teams have so far provided more than 3,500 consultations, including trauma care, maternal health and psychosocial support while nearly 38,000 people have received food aid.
In addition, more than 1,000 kits containing non -food items were distributed in Dar’a and Rural Damas, helping more than 5,000 people.
OCHA has said that United Nations Inter -listings to assess needs and provide assistance to the two governors are scheduled for the coming days.
Sweida’s first convoy arrived on Sunday. The 32 trucks brought food, water, medical supplies and fuel provided by the United Nations World Food Program (Wfp), the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and other partners.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
Haiti: violence and displacement leading the humanitarian crisis because funding needs are not met
Almost 1.3 million people in the Caribbean country fled their housesWith 15,000 additional uprooted last week after armed attacks in the municipalities of Dessalines and Verrets in the Artibonite department.
In addition, the United Nations children’s funds (Unicef) and its partners detected more than 217,000 children for acute malnutrition in 2025. Some 21,500 boys and girls were admitted for acute malnutrition treatment, representing only 17% of 129,000 children who should need rescue services this year.
This malnutrition stems from severe food insecurity across the country. The integrated classification of the food security phase (IPC) said that 5.7 million people – more than half of the population of Haiti – faced high levels of acute food insecurity between March and June this year.
Emergency of education
The children of Haiti also face an emergency of education. More than 1,600 schools remain closed in Haiti, an increase of more than two -thirds compared to the beginning of the year.
“Without access to education, children, of course, are more vulnerable to exploitation and recruitment by gangs”, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric Journalists said At New York headquarters
In response, UNICEF offered learning opportunities to more than 16,000 children, and the agency has granted more than 100,000 children in mental health and psychosocial support.
Insecurity and lack of access funds
Despite the disastrous humanitarian needs and the laudable efforts of the UN agencies, the current support “is only a fraction of what is necessary in Haiti,” said Dujarric.
Insecurity continues to force the humanitarian response, causing challenges of access, supply shortages and the closure of health establishments.
Subsequently, the many displaced families with an urgent need for hygiene supplies, food, emergency shelters, medical assistance and other essential items are often unable to access them.
The humanitarian response is also hampered by a serious lack of funds.
“Haiti remains, as I have said here on several occasions, the least funded from our calls from sub-financed countries worldwide,” said Dujarric. More than the half of the year, the Haitian humanitarian response plan received less than 9% of the $ 908 million required.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
Sudan: UN scales up response plan as humanitarian needs rise in Tawila
The aim is to increase assistance for communities over the next three months, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday.
The updated plan focuses on food, healthcare, water, sanitation, shelter and protection, and requires $120 million for implementation.
Spread of diseases
The health situation in North Darfur has also been deteriorating, with humanitarian partners on the ground warning that cholera, measles, malaria and trauma cases are surging in Tawila, El Fasher and Kebkabiya.
Insecurity has forced the more than 32 health facilities in the region to close, and the lack of rapid diagnostic tests along with widespread Internet outages are also severely hindering disease surveillance.
Critical shortages of surgical supplies, essential medicines and vaccines are “pushing the health system to the brink, leaving thousands without access to the care that they need to stay alive,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said during his daily press briefing from New York.
Deadly civilian toll
Displacement continues to take a deadly toll on civilians seeking safety.
Last week, 17 displaced people reportedly died of thirst and dehydration after their vehicle broke down in the desert, according to officials in Northern state.
OCHA also reported that markets in South Darfur are reeling from sharp price increases due to flooding and seasonal rivers cutting off supply routes from Chad and Northern state.
Meanwhile, the UN remains “deeply concerned over escalating violence in the Kordofan region,” Mr. Dujarric said, after five civilians were reportedly killed and several others injured in drone strikes on fuel markets in Al Fula and Abu Zabad towns in West Kordofan state.
The UN called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel, unimpeded access across conflict lines and borders, and increased international support to address the spiraling humanitarian needs across Sudan.
