OCHA said 18,000 patients in Gaza still need urgent treatment, while UN teams are preparing support for people returning through Egypt.
“Major bottleneck” in the delivery of humanitarian supplies
“We need to be able to have rapid, safe, sustained and unhindered access to be able to provide assistance at scale and to be able to scale it up faster than we are doing,” said OCHA spokesperson Olga Cherevko.
Aid officials also warned that Kerem Shalom remains the only operational crossing for incoming humanitarian and commercial supplies, creating a major bottleneck.
On Wednesday, three convoys planned by the UN were canceled after Israeli authorities said only fuel would be allowed in, forcing agencies to leave behind food, fodder and other items.
Meanwhile, according to UN humanitarian workers, the attacks hit residential areas in Gaza and the West Bank, causing casualties.
Gender inequality deepens the global water crisis
A new UN report released Thursday warns that the global water crisis is worsening due to deep-rooted gender inequality.
Around the world, women are responsible for collecting water in more than 70 percent of rural households without a reliable supply, according to the report released by the United Nations educational and cultural agency UNESCO ahead of World Water Day on March 22.
“Water inequality has a strong gender dimension,” UNESCO representative Bhanu Neupane told reporters at the United Nations in New York.
Climate change worsens inequalities
Around the world, women and girls spend approximately 250 million hours each day fetching water. That is the time when they are prevented from going to school, having paid work and other opportunities.
The report also highlights the impact of poor sanitation. In many places, women and girls still lack access to safe toilets and menstrual hygiene facilities, exposing them to shame, health risks, and missing days of school or work.
The UN says climate change, water scarcity and disasters are worsening these inequalities. Calls for urgent action to remove barriers to women’s equal access to water, land and services, and to ensure they are fully included in water governance and solutions.
Human rights defenders in Colombia face persistent deadly violence
Meanwhile, in Colombia, human rights defenders have faced relentless violence over the past decade, with nearly 100 murders on average each year, according to a new report from the UN human rights office, OHCHR.
High Commissioner Volker Türk said it was “heartbreaking” that it remains one of the deadliest countries in the world for human rights defenders.
He acknowledged the efforts of the current Government, including dialogue with civil society and work on a national protection policy, but warned that much more is needed.
Indigenous defenders are disproportionately affected
The report says that between 2016 and 2025, the UN documented 972 murders of rights defenders. Between 2022 and 2025 alone, 410 people were murdered, while more than 2,000 threats and attacks were recorded.
It links violence to the continued presence of non-state armed groups, criminal networks involved in drug trafficking, illegal mining and logging, and weak state institutions. More than 70 percent of the perpetrators were believed to be armed non-state actors.
Indigenous defenders were disproportionately affected: they represented 23 percent of victims, despite representing less than five percent of Colombia’s population.
The UN is urging urgent reforms to strengthen prevention, protection and criminal investigations, while warning that funding cuts have reduced its own ability to monitor abuses in high-risk areas.