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From Gaza to Sudan, wars are being waged on the very systems set up to protect civilian populations, with health workers, hospitals, health centres and ambulances being targeted in horrifying numbers, according to the UN agency for reproductive health and rights, UNFPA. 

Attacks against health facilities doubled between 2023 and 2024, and more than 900 health workers were killed last year, the agency reported.

One of the many ugly consequences of wars and conflict is injuries leading to a loss of limbs. Gaza, which now has the highest number of child amputees per capital anywhere in the world, is no exception.  

“I was going to buy falafel,” says Mohammed Hassan. “On the way home, I looked up and saw a rocket heading towards me. I tried to run, but it was too fast. I found myself pinned to the wall, and my foot had been blown off.”

Over half of all children under-18 worldwide continue to experience corporal punishment on an annual basis, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO).  

The Israeli military has escalated attacks across Gaza City, reportedly deciding to press ahead with plans to take full control which will only lead to further “mass killings of civilians” and displacement, UN human rights officials warned on Wednesday.

Silence is Complicity

Stand Up, Speak Out, Protect the Humanitarian Space

Amman, 19 August 2025

One year ago, we called on those in power to end attacks against humanitarian workers and aid operations. Release all those arbitrarily detained. Safeguard the humanitarian space in the Middle East. That call remains unanswered.

UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have uncovered rocket launchers, mortar rounds and other unauthorized weapons, while the country grapples with a severe drought, threatening millions with life-threatening water shortages.

The international push for consensus on a legally binding deal to end plastic pollution proved beyond the grasp of weary UN Member States meeting in Geneva on Friday, as they agreed to resume discussions at a future date.

Without an urgent and unrestricted flow of aid, Gaza’s already dire humanitarian crisis could deteriorate further, the UN warned on Friday.

In his regular daily briefing, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric highlighted that ongoing delays, bottlenecks at holding points and interference in the loading process at crossing platforms are undermining efforts to collect and distribute supplies to those in need.

Humanitarians must be able to reach families affected by the “deeply alarming” recent violence in Syria’s Sweida region who need food and other basics to survive, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday. 

Deadly sectarian clashes erupted in the southern governorate, also known as As-Sweida, in July and early August and children and families continue to feel the impact.

At least 100 children in Gaza have died from malnutrition and hunger, prompting humanitarians to underscore the need to speed up medical evacuations from the enclave while also allowing more food to enter.  

These young deaths are “the latest in the war on children and childhood in Gaza,” Philippe Lazzarini, head of UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA, said in a tweet on Wednesday.