Gaza
UN Secretary-General called for immediate reopening of Gaza's border crossings, shut since Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran. Aid agencies have been forced to ration fuel and scale back operations while thousands of Palestinians needing medical evacuation remain stranded.
The Kerem Shalom crossing is set to reopen after being closed since the start of the Iran strikes, with WFP saying humanitarian supplies can begin entering Gaza between Tuesday and Wednesday.
At least 30,000 people have sought protection in Lebanese shelters since Israel escalated air strikes this week, with UNHCR warning the number will grow. UNICEF reports seven children killed and 38 injured since Monday, as residential areas, schools and critical infrastructure come under fire.
Gulf
Schools across the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman closed this week as the Iran war spread, a reminder that children pay the first price in conflict, the UN Secretary-General told the Security Council. One in five children worldwide — 473 million — now live in or flee from conflict zones, with verified grave violations against children rising 25 percent between 2023 and 2024.
Armed youth fighters crossed from Unity state into South Sudan's Ruweng Administrative Area before dawn Sunday, killing at least 169 people — including 90 civilians — in a three-to-four-hour rampage. The young fighters, believed linked to a rebel militia though the group denies it, burned homes and markets and killed top local officials before government forces repelled them. Nearly 1,000 terrified civilians fled toward a UN base for protection.
Sudan
Save the Children delivered the first vaccines to reach South Kordofan in nearly three years after the Sudanese army broke a long rebel siege of Kadugli. Two trucks carrying 18 metric tons of 11 essential vaccines arrived over the weekend, enough to immunize more than 24,500 children — a region where Sudan's 35-month conflict has pushed national vaccination rates to their lowest level in 40 years.
Afghanistan
WFP warns that 3.7 million Afghan children will need malnutrition treatment this year — 200,000 more than last year — with funding cuts meaning only one in four can be treated. The WFP country director fears a hidden toll of child deaths in remote highland villages will emerge when snow melts in late March or April.
Three children were killed when Pakistan struck a returnee camp in eastern Kunar province Monday, Taliban officials said — the latest casualty report in escalating cross-border clashes that have forced WFP to suspend services in the area and are driving acute malnutrition higher.
WFP
USDA Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke Lindberg has emerged as the leading contender to succeed Cindy McCain, according to Agri-Pulse sources. Neither Lindberg nor the White House has commented.
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