This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Targeting Rafah could lead to slaughter, warns UN aid agency

An Israeli military operation in Rafah “could lead to a slaughter” and cripple lifesaving humanitarian work throughout Gaza, the UN aid coordination office, O-CHA, has warned.

“Any ground operation would mean more suffering and death” for the 1.2 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in and around the Strip’s southernmost city, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told journalists in Geneva, on Friday.

Echoing those concerns, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said that “Band-Aid” contingency plans have been made in case a full-scale military incursion does indeed happen - but they will not be enough to prevent Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe from getting worse. 

After nearly seven months of heavy Israeli bombardment sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks on southern Israel on 7 October, only 12 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza are “partially functional” today.

In Rafah, several hundred dialysis patients at Najjar Hospital face not being able to receive treatment, said Dr Ahmed Dahir, WHO team leader in Gaza:

“If any (Israeli) operation will happen which means the population and patients will not be able to access these hospitals, there will be a question: what is going to happen to these patients? And ultimately that would be a catastrophe.”

The UN health agency reiterated warnings that acute food insecurity remains a serious threat to Gaza’s most vulnerable individuals and that the effects of widespread acute malnutrition will be seen “for years to come”.

Sudan violence leaves many areas beyond reach of aid teams: UNHCR

To Sudan, where UN aid teams report massive destruction and ongoing conflict that has cut off communities in many areas of the country.

In an alert on Friday, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, reported that it had reached Omdurman city in Khartoum state for the first time since war erupted between rival militaries more than a year ago.

There are “vast needs and high levels of suffering” among people who’ve “been out of reach to humanitarians for months”, said UNHCR spokesperson Olga Sarrado Mur.

In Darfur’s El Fasher city, escalating violence has left villages razed to the ground, civilians killed and crops destroyed.

Indiscriminate violence, including sexual violence as well as cases of separated and missing children, are on the rise, Ms. Sarrado Mur said:

“We have, for instance, some trucks with relief items, that are ready to get to El Fasher. But at the moment they are not able to cross because of the situation with relief items such as tarpaulins, shelters, kits, etcetera.”

Ms. Sarrodo Mur insisted that the UN remains in Sudan to support its people and continues to operate wherever it has safe access.

Tropical cyclone Hidaya threatens further flooding in east Africa: WMO

Exceptional rains that have caused deadly flooding in several east African countries could worsen with the arrival of Tropical Cyclone Hidaya, UN weather agency experts have warned.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the tropical cyclone is the first of its kind to develop in eastern Africa – and it is due to have a “very big impact”, said WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis.

She said that Tanzania was expected to suffer in particular because the ground is already waterlogged and “is about to get hit by even more rainfall” from the tropical cyclone.

Kenya is on high alert too, after a dam burst its banks on Monday, killing at least 45 people.

The UN refugee agency has also warned that thousands of refugees and other displaced people were forced to escape for their lives after their homes were washed away at the vast Dadaab refugee complex in Kenya’s semi-arid eastern region, because of rising water levels.

Shanaé Harte, UN News.