As of 8 May 2025, UNHCR estimates that some 481,730 Syrians have crossed back to Syria via neighboring countries since 8 December 2024. This brings up the total of over 842,570 Syrian individuals that have returned to Syria since the beginning of 2024.
OCHA access teams continue to work on strengthening joint analysis and advocacy for improved humanitarian access in northeast Syria. Building on the January access snapshots for Al-Hasakeh, Ar-Raqqa, and Deir-ez-Zor, partners aim to produce updated monthly snapshots and register incidents through OCHA’s new Access Monitoring and Reporting Framework.
Since 18 March 2025, Israeli forces have escalated bombardment from the air, land and sea across the Gaza Strip and expanded ground operations. This has resulted in hundreds of casualties, destruction of civilian infrastructure, and large-scale displacement.
At least 33 people were killed and dozens injured, according to the Ministry of Health, after airstrikes hit Gaza City today, just metres from an MSF clinic.
The ongoing freeze by the United Kingdom and European Union countries on 10s of thousands of Syrian asylum applications is deeply concerning. The freeze, carried out without individual assessments, constitutes a violation of international law—particularly the principle of non-refoulement—given the current absence of safe and dignified conditions for return to Syria.
Food-related violence continued to be reported in Sudan between 1 January and 31 March 2025 in addition to the blockading of essential food supplies from urban areas, most notably in El Fasher. This briefing provides an overview of the most frequently reported forms of food violence over this period.
IOM Yemen DTM's Rapid Displacement Tracking (RDT) tool collects data on estimated numbers of households forced to flee on a daily basis from their locations of origin or displacement, allowing for regular reporting of new displacements in terms of estimated numbers, geography, and needs.
Along with the catastrophic impact of the conflict and the refugee’s influx, Lebanon continues to face a multi-layered crisis characterized by deep-rooted vulnerabilities and acute humanitarian needs. The crisis is driven by a combination of factors, including financial and socio-economic downturn and political deadlock.
Between 1 and 3 May 2025, DTM field teams estimated that 257 households were displaced from Abu Shouk IDP camp and Al Fasher town due to heightened insecurity.
Israel’s reported plan to distribute humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip is nothing more than a new manoeuvre aimed at prolonging the comprehensive and illegal blockade imposed on the territory. This move reintroduces starvation, only under a humanitarian façade this time,legitimising its continued use as a weapon within the context of an ongoing genocide that has lasted more than 19 months.
Almost 100 days into the Israeli operation in the northern West Bank, about 40,000 Palestinians remain displaced. As this situation risks becoming permanent, the UN Human Rights Office warns it may amount to forcible transfer.
Violence swiftly spread across Jaramana governorate, with individual attacks against Druze civilians recorded in various other localities in Damascus and Rural Damascus. On the morning of April 29, Jaraman was placed under a lockdown as more pro-government continued to arrive into the area.
The sharp escalation in Israel’s targeting of civilians in the Gaza Strip is deeply alarming. Entire families, including women and children, are being killed at horrific rates, as the international community fails to stop the nearly 19-month-long genocide.
Since the fall of the former government on 8 December 2024 until the end of March 2025, some 372,000 Syrian refugees had returned to the country, while other refugees continue to express their intention to return home.
DTM Sudan field teams have recorded a significant increase in cross-border movement from Egypt to Sudan. The total number of returnees has increased by 44 per cent in only three weeks, from 114,457 individuals reported in Return Monitoring Alert (1) to an estimated 165,330 individuals.
All WFP food stocks are depleted, which forced the closure of all WFP-supported bakeries, and cut off bread access for 800,000 people. Food parcels are fully exhausted, and the last remaining supplies have been delivered to hot meal kitchens, which are expected to run out within days.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is deeply concerned by reports of clashes between the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces and Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in Opposition in Morobo and Yei counties, Central Equatoria State, which have led to civilian displacement and casualties.
Since the collapse of the ceasefire in Gaza on the night between 17 and 18 March 2025, intense military activities and hostilities have continued to escalate, resulting in hundreds of civilians killed and injured, further damage and destruction to civilian infrastructure, and new waves of forced displacement.
WFP reached 4 million people in March, the highest number since the start of the conflict. Of this, 1.6 million people were in Famine and Risk of Famine areas, another record high number of people reached since the conflict started in April 2023.
On 19 April 2025, DTM field teams reported that approximately 220 households were displaced from Burush village in Um Kadadah locality, North Darfur due to increased insecurity. Households were primarily displaced to other locations within Um Kadadah locality, North Darfur. The situation remains tense and unpredictable.
