No food aid was delivered to northern Gaza from October 2 to 15. Top News of the Day | Wednesday: Ukraine, Middle East, Unilateral Sanctions UN
Top news of the day in the UN and around the world: more than 7 million Ukrainians have received humanitarian aid this year, food supplies will soon run out in northern Gaza, 260,000 people have fled Lebanon to Syria, an independent UN expert has called for a review of sanctions against Alexandra Melnichenko.
Shelling of Ukraine
On Tuesday and Wednesday, civilians were killed, residential buildings and a school were damaged in the frontline areas of Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions of Ukraine, UN Press Secretary Stephane Dujarric reported, citing local authorities. According to him, Humanitarian Coordinator in the country Matthias Schmale led an interagency convoy today that delivered essential supplies to Kherson. Meanwhile, the authorities of the Kharkiv region announced a mandatory evacuation for 7,000 residents, most of whom are elderly. Humanitarian organizations continue to support the victims. This year, more than 7 million people across Ukraine have received aid, Dujarric said.
Humanitarian situation in Gaza
Almost 400 Palestinians have been killed and 1,500 injured in Gaza in just one week, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya told a Security Council briefing. No food aid was delivered to northern Gaza from 2 to 15 October. There is now little food left to distribute, and most bakeries will be forced to close again in the next few days without additional fuel, Msuya said. She also recalled the start of the second round of the polio vaccination campaign. On October 14 and 15, nearly 157,000 children under the age of 10 were vaccinated.
Middle East Crisis
The World Food Programme (WFP) said that Syria, where many Lebanese people are fleeing, has reached a “tipping point”. The WFP has called on the international community to support efforts to overcome the humanitarian crisis. WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau said that about 260,000 people have now crossed the border into Syria. Skau noted that more than half of Syria’s population already faces food shortages, with some three million people suffering from acute hunger, with food becoming increasingly difficult to access.
Unilateral sanctions
The Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures, Elena Dovgan, today called on the Council of the European Union and the Government of Switzerland to reconsider the imposition of sanctions on Alexandra Melnichenko, the wife of Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, over her husband’s alleged links to the Russian government. Dovgan expressed concern that restrictive measures were being imposed on Alexandra without a formal process of examination and presentation of evidence that could be challenged in court.