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World News in Brief: Türk slams relentless Russian attacks, Gaza update, Cyclone Gezani hits Madagascar

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His reaction followed overnight attacks on energy infrastructure in Kyiv, Dnipro and the key port city of Odesa.

Nearly 8,800 multistorey buildings in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa are without heating.

In Kharkiv, temperatures are forecast to drop to minus 10°C or 14°F on Thursday evening, said Viktoriia Andrievska from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA.

“Without heating or electricity, homes will turn freezing, basic services will stop, for example, the lifts will stop working, and people, especially older residents and families with children, will struggle to stay warm and safe,” she said.

Illegal strikes

In his statement, the UN human rights chief emphasised the lasting impact of “large-scale” attacks by Russia on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, which he stressed are prohibited under international law.

“Millions of households struggle with only a few hours of electricity each day,” Mr. Türk said, noting that unheated schools have been forced to shut and medical care has been impacted too.

International efforts to end the war in Ukraine continue, meanwhile, with Moscow announcing on Thursday that it expected the “next round” of talks “to take place shortly”, according to a Kremlin spokesperson.

Gaza: Another UN worker is killed, says UNRWA

Another UN worker has been killed in Gaza, despite a ceasefire agreement between Hamas fighters and the Israeli military.

According to the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, a staff member was killed during Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday, reportedly after an attack by Hamas militants in Rafah.

UNRWA said that the Israeli strikes in Gaza City and shelling in Khan Younis killed at least four Palestinians, including their colleague, as he was hit while out walking on Salah Eddin Street in central Gaza.

Nearly 400 staffers killed

Since the war began, 391 UNRWA staff and partners have been killed.

In other Gaza news, Israeli forces have demolished a United Nations school in Jabalia in northern Gaza, it has been confirmed.

According to UNRWA, the school was one of a number of facilities it has behind the so-called “Yellow Line” of concrete blocks that separates the Israel Defense Forces from the people of Gaza.

Between January and February, eight UNRWA schools in the militarised area have been reportedly demolished by Israeli forces, the UN agency said.

Cyclone Gezani displaces thousands in northeastern Madagascar

Tropical Cyclone Gezani has killed at least 31 people and displaced thousands after making landfall in Madagascar on 10 February, bringing winds exceeding 195 km/h, heavy flooding and widespread destruction across eastern and central regions.

According to local authorities, four people remain missing and 35 have been injured. Preliminary reports indicate that more than 250,000 people have been affected, with nearly 7,000 displaced. 

Over 65,000 homes have been flooded, damaged or destroyed, and around 600 classrooms have been partially or completely rendered unusable.

UN emergency teams deployed

The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) has deployed emergency teams to Toamasina to support authorities as displaced families shelter in 28 evacuation centres across 16 districts. A national state of emergency has been declared.

“The scale of devastation…has left families struggling to cope with urgent needs and heavy losses,” said IOM Chief of Mission Roger Charles Evina.

The Government is leading search-and-rescue operations and delivering emergency shelter and food assistance, including the distribution of 800 metric tonnes of rice, with support from UN agencies and partners.

A $3 million allocation from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund will assist more than 90,000 people as additional donor funding supports early response efforts.

The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, warned that the cyclone could also affect central and southern Mozambique in the coming days.

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Amid starvation in Gaza, Sudan, Guterres slams hunger ‘as a weapon of war’

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The development comes as UN Secretary-General António Guterres cautioned that conflict-driven hunger is spreading “from Gaza to Sudan and beyond”.

“Hunger fuels instability and undermines peace. We must never accept hunger as a weapon of war,” he said in a video message to the UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake in Addis Ababa. 

Meanwhile, citing reports Monday that “more children died today of hunger”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said that it hoped to receive permission to bring in thousands of trucks loaded with food, medicine and hygiene supplies that Israel has blocked from entering Gaza for months.

“They are currently in Jordan and Egypt waiting for the green light,” the UN agency explained, adding that “at least 500/600 trucks” are needed every day to prevent more people from starving. More than 100 people have now starved to death in Gaza, UNRWA said, while local health authority reports indicate more than 40 deaths from malnutrition this month alone.

“Opening all the crossings and flooding Gaza with assistance is the only way to avert further deepening of starvation among the people of Gaza,” the UN agency maintained.

Humanitarian pauses

Its comments follow a major policy shift over the weekend when the Israeli army announced the establishment of a daily humanitarian pause from 10am to 8pm local time, in areas where its troops are not active. Child malnutrition has been on the rise in Gaza, particularly since 2 March when Israel imposed a near-total blockade, UNWRA has said.

According to a map supplied by the Israeli authorities, the humanitarian pause applies to a thin strip of Gaza encompassing Al-Mawasi in the southwest, Deir Al-Balah in the centre and Gaza City in the north. 

On Sunday, a convoy of more than 100 trucks carrying aid supplies reportedly entered the Strip via the Kerem Shalom border crossing in the south.

Aid desperatedly needed

While welcoming that development, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, highlighted the staggering scale of needs on the ground in Gaza. 

One in three people “hasn’t eaten for days”, insisted Tom Fletcher, UN Emergency Relief Chief and head of OCHA. “People are being shot just trying to get food to feed their families. Children are wasting away. This is what we face on the ground right now.”

In his statement, Mr. Fletcher acknowledged “progress” on the aid front, but stressed that “vast amounts of aid are needed to stave off famine and a catastrophic health crisis”. He said that UN agencies and the humanitarian community remain mobilized “to save as many lives as we can”. 

In addition to Israel’s temporary boost for increased aid in Gaza, customs restrictions on food, medicine and fuel from Egypt have reportedly been lifted. Secure routes for UN humanitarian convoys have also been designated.

“We need sustained action, and fast, including quicker clearances for convoys going to the crossing and dispatching into Gaza,” Mr. Fletcher said, underscoring the need for “multiple trips per day to the crossings so we and our partners can pick up the cargo; safe routes that avoid crowded areas; and no more attacks on people gathering for food”. 

Meeting on two-State solution

Meanwhile in New York, France and Saudi Arabia on Monday launched a new diplomatic initiative to push for a two-State solution between Israel and the Palestinian people. 

The three-day conference begins as President Emmanuel Macron announced that France will formally recognize Palestine in September, the first of the G7 nations to do so.

A UN General Assembly resolution from 1947 established the partition of Palestine – then under British mandate – into two independent states, one Jewish and the other Arab. The State of Israel was declared in 1948.