On 2 March, Israeli authorities announced a halt to humanitarian aid entering Gaza, jeopardizing progress made in delivering vital, lifesaving assistance since the ceasefire took effect on 19 January.
Israel’s decision to once again prevent all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza is a cruel and illegal act that will push Gaza back towards famine during the holy month of Ramadan, with fatal consequences for young children.
Among key priorities for the Government identified by the Prime Minister in his statement upon the occasion were implementation of Resolution 1701, ensuring a complete Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, asserting the state’s sovereignty over all its territories exclusively through its forces and securing post-conflict reconstruction.
In 2024, Syrian children continued to endure the effects of the ongoing conflict, economic collapse, and displacement, culminating in the fall of the government on 8 December. The humanitarian situation remains fluid and unpredictable.
The security situation in Syria remained volatile with sporadic security escalations. Hostilities continues to impact Northeast Syria (NES), particularly in eastern Aleppo and around the Tishreen Dam, as well as in Al-Hasakeh and ArRaqqa governorates.
Over 586,000 children under the age of 10 have been vaccinated for poliovirus across Gaza, reaching 99 per cent of the target population since the campaign began on 22 February.
Since the ceasefire, WFP has provided emergency cash and in-kind food assistance to 580,500 people in addition to its regular programmes- bringing the total people assisted in January to 1.41 million, across both regular and emergency programmes.
On 18 February, the Israel Army withdrew from remaining population centres in southern Lebanon, while maintaining presence in five strategic positions along the Blue Line. The Lebanese Armed Forces deployed into vacated areas, supporting population returns.
The recent shift of power in Syria on 8 December 2024 has reshaped the humanitarian landscape, bringing both new challenges and opportunities for recovery across the country.
The LRP targets 1.5 million vulnerable Lebanese, 1.3 million displaced Syrians, 145,000 Palestine Refugees in Lebanon and 23,026 Palestinian Refugees from Syria.
The scale of loss and destruction in Gaza is indescribable. For almost 500 days, Israel carried out atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza, used starvation and denial of humanitarian aid as weapons of war, and sought to destroy every part of the enclave’s infrastructure and social fabric – schools, hospitals, homes, power, water.
Since the ceasefire, food security partners have brought over 57,000 metric tons of food into Gaza, more than double the amount in the month prior to the ceasefire; distribution of that assistance is ongoing.
918,769 people displaced within Lebanon back in their cadaster of origin while 115,234 people remain displaced outside their cadaster of origin as of 12 February.
Over the past 15 months, children in Gaza have been trapped in a nightmare. They have been bombed, starved and forcibly displaced. They’ve seen their friends and relatives killed, and their homes and schools reduced to rubble.
The overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024 has created a historic opportunity to advance justice and the rule of law, ensuring accountability for years of atrocity crimes and implementing governance, judicial, and security sector reforms that protect and fulfil civil, political, and socio-economic rights.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said during a parliamentary session last week that the Japanese government was making an “earnest effort” to accept “ill or injured” people from Gaza as part of a “medical evacuation.”
UNIFIL congratulates Lebanon on the formation of a new Government. Peacekeepers will actively support the Salam Government in its efforts to fully implement resolution 1701, including through our strong partnership with the Lebanese Army and other security institutions.
Lebanon’s crisis and the escalation of the conflict in September 2024 have left 1.6 million people food insecure with further expected deterioration of food insecurity by March 2025.
Sixteen days have passed since the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestinian factions was announced, yet the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is still dire.
