Situation Report 158 on the Crisis in Gaza Strip & West Bank

UNRWA teams distribute food parcels to displaced people in Deir al-Balah, Gaza middle areas, February 2025

Highlights

• As of 30 January, Knesset legislation against UNRWA started to go into effect. This includes implementing a no-contact policy between UNRWA and the Israeli authorities.

• UNRWA operations however in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank continue, with tens of thousands of staff providing essential services and urgent humanitarian response.

• Following the Israeli authorities’ decision not to renew their work visas, UNRWA international staff were forced to leave East Jerusalem on 29 January.

• Thousands of trucks – including over 1,500 UNRWA trucks – carrying essential humanitarian aid have crossed into the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire entered into effect on 19 January (numbers above valid until 2 February).

• Since the start of the ceasefire, UNRWA teams are estimated to have reached around 1.2 million people with critical food assistance.

• The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) reported that, as areas that have undergone months of military activity have become newly accessible by humanitarians and civilians following the implementation of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, “it is likely they will become more exposed to the threat posed by explosive ordnance (EO)”.

Key points

The Gaza Strip

• As of 30 January, Knesset legislation against UNRWA started to go into effect. This includes implementing a no-contact policy between UNRWA and the Israeli authorities. However, UNRWA operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank continue, with tens of thousands of staff providing essential services and urgent humanitarian response.

• During the reporting period, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the third and fourth release of hostages held in Gaza as part of the ceasefire deal. OCHA reported that, on 30 January, three Israeli and another five Thai hostages were transferred from Gaza to the Israeli authorities, while  110 Palestinian detainees, including 30 children, were released from Israeli detention centres. On 1 February, three Israeli hostages were transferred out of Gaza to Israel, and 183 Palestinian detainees were released from Israeli detention centres.

• The Site Management Working Group (SMWG), co-led by UNRWA, reported that, since the Israeli Forces withdrew from parts of the Netzarim corridor on 27 January until 4 February, over 565,000 people are estimated to have crossed to the north, while over 45,500 are estimated to have moved southward. Among the people who moved within the Gaza Strip since the start of the ceasefire, 60 per cent are men, 20 per cent women, and 20 per cent children. Around 41 per cent of people moved on foot. Since 27 January, members of the UNRWA Protection team have been supporting Site Management teams by carrying out protection assessments on Al Rasheed and Salah ad Din roads, south of Wadi Gaza.

• Thousands of humanitarian trucks – including over 1,500 UNRWA trucks – carrying essential food supplies, shelter items, and medicines have crossed into the Gaza Strip since the start of the ceasefire until 2 February, enabling a significant expansion of the humanitarian response.

• The UN is mobilising on average 600 trucks a day and distributing aid to people in urgent need. This is presenting operational challenges, including due to reduced warehousing capacity and destroyed infrastructure – among them UNRWA facilities. Thanks to its footprint and extensive staff presence across the Gaza Strip, UNRWA is pivotal in this scale-up of aid distributions within Gaza. The UN will continue to advocate for an increase of commercial sector activity, to reduce the dependency of people on humanitarian handouts. As of 2 February, UNRWA had the equivalent of around 6,000 trucks of aid in different locations (outside of Gaza) ready to be delivered to the Gaza Strip.

• UNRWA teams are on the ground to deliver aid and provide services to a population overwhelmed by 15 months of constant bombardment, forced displacement, and lack of critical resources. In two weeks, since the start of the ceasefire up to 3 February, UNRWA teams are estimated to have already reached more than 1.2 million people with food parcels and have enough in the pipeline to reach the rest of Gaza’s population.

• Since the ceasefire, UNRWA has opened 10 new Designated Emergency Shelters (DESs), including seven in Gaza City and three in North Gaza. Over 6,700 tents have already been delivered to Gaza City, with around 22,000 more ready to enter the Gaza Strip.

• Since the ceasefire came into force, thousands of families across the five Governorates have received non-food items, including blankets, mattresses, floor mats, clothes, kitchen items, and tarps.

• During the reporting period, UNRWA teams distributed over 16,000 tarpaulins north of Wadi Gaza, reaching around 8,000 families in Gaza City and North Gaza.

• In the reporting period, UNRWA teams rehabilitated a water well in Jabalia that is now serving around 20,000 people in the area.

• Since the ceasefire started until 4 February, 400 pallets of medical supplies including medicines, laboratory and dental supplies, and enough insulin syringes for over 17,000 people for eight months have been dispatched to UNRWA-run health facilities, including in Deir al-Balah, Nuseirat, and Al Mawasi, as well as the Beach Health Centre in Gaza governorate. Most of these supplies will cover UNRWA health services for two months, and some will cover up to eight months. More medical supplies are ready to enter the Gaza Strip to respond to people’s primary health care needs for up to nine months.

• UNRWA teams continue to provide psychosocial support services and primary health consultations wherever possible. On 3 February alone, 1,068 UNRWA health staff worked in health centres, temporary clinics and medical points across the Gaza Strip, providing 12,131 health consultations.  Between 27 January and 2 February 2025, a total of 8,894 displaced people accessed psychosocial support sessions and activities. Since the start of the ceasefire, UNRWA has reopened one of its health centres in Gaza City; as of 3 February, this health centre was under maintenance and was expected to resume services.

• UNRWA continues to provide nutrition services at 38 sites across the Gaza strip. This accounts for more than 20 per cent of all the 162 nutrition sites currently operational across Gaza.

• According to the UN, at least 1.9 million people – or about 90 per cent of the population – across the Gaza Strip were displaced during the war. Many have been displaced repeatedly, some 10 times or more. Since the start of the ceasefire, new population movements have been reported, with people trying to return to whatever is left of their homes. Most homes have been either severely damaged or destroyed. On 30 January, UNMAS highlighted that, as areas that have undergone months of military activity have become newly accessible by humanitarians and civilians following the implementation of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip: “It is likely they will become more exposed to the threat posed by explosive ordnance”, requiring an expansion of Emergency Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE). UNRWA teams continue to provide essential EORE services to children, youth and adults in the Gaza Strip.

• On 1 February, UNICEF reported that at least 14,500 children have reportedly been killed and 23,000 injured in the Gaza Strip since the war started:  an average of 32 children killed every day. Some 17,000 children are estimated to be unaccompanied and/or separated, while thousands more are estimated to be trapped under the rubble. The entire population of children under five – or around 335,000 children – are at high risk of malnutrition.

• Between 7 October 2023 and 4 February 2025, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, as stated by OCHA, at least 47,540 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Gaza and 111,618 have been injured.

• OCHA reports that, the MoH in Gaza published the breakdown of 40,717 out of 42,010 fatalities as of 7 October 2024. These reportedly include 13,319 children, 7,216 women, 3,447 elderly, and 16,735 men. Among the child fatalities, 786 children are under one year of age, representing about 6 per cent of killed children whose full identification details have been documented, the MoH further reported. Additionally, as of 7 October 2024, the MoH noted that 35,055 children had lost one or both parents over the past year.

• The total number of UNRWA team members killed since 7 October 2023 is 273.

The occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem

• According to OCHA, between 7 October 2023 and 31 January 2025, 864 Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Of those, 498 Palestinians were killed in 2024.

• The Israeli Forces large-scale operation that started in Jenin Camp on 21 January 2025, expanded during the reporting period to include Tamun and Tulkarm in the northern West Bank. During the course of the operation and as of 2 February, 26 Palestinians have been reported killed and more than 70 injured. Between 27 January and 2 February, there were at least seven recorded airstrikes in the West Bank as part of the operation, cumulatively resulting in 19 Palestinian fatalities. The deadliest of these airstrikes took place in Tamun on 29 January, wherein an Israeli Forces drone targeted a group of Palestinians in the village, killing ten.

• On 2 February, large sections of Jenin Camp were completely destroyed in a series of controlled detonations by the Israeli Forces. The Israeli Forces stated that at least 23 buildings were destroyed in these detonations. UNRWA estimates that approximately 3,000 families have been displaced from Jenin Camp over the last two months.

• Since 21 January, UNRWA services have been suspended on numerous occasions in the affected areas, with services in Jenin Camp in particular suspended since December 2024. The new school semester began on 2 February, however 13 UNRWA schools serving more than 5,000 children in the northern West Bank were forced to remain closed because of the ongoing violence.

• Between 27 January and 2 February, settler violence and harassment directed at Palestinian communities was reported across the West Bank. On 2 February, Israeli settlers burnt down the mosque of the Arab Al Milihat Bedouin community northwest of Jericho.

• As of 30 January, Knesset legislation targeting UNRWA started to come into effect, including a no-contact policy between UNRWA and the Israeli authorities. Following the Israeli authorities’ decision not to renew their work visas, UNRWA international staff were forced to leave East Jerusalem on 29 January.

• As part of the Palestinian detainees release associated with the Gaza ceasefire deal, 66 Palestinian detainees were released into the West bank on 30 January, and 32 on 1 February. On both occasions, Israeli Forces fired stun grenades, tear gas and live ammunition into the crowds of Palestinians waiting for the prisoner release in the vicinity of Ofer Prison in Beituniya, injuring at least seven Palestinians.

Overall situation

The Gaza Strip

• Between 7 October 2023 and 4 February 2025, according to the MoH in Gaza as stated by OCHA, at least 47,540 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in the Gaza Strip while 111,618 have been reported injured.

|    Humanitarian access and protection of civilians

As of 13 January 2025, 665* incidents impacting UNRWA premises and the people inside them have been reported since the beginning of the war. 205* UNRWA installations have been impacted by armed conflict-related incidents since the beginning of the war, some on multiple occasions. UNRWA estimates that, in total, at least 744* persons sheltering in UNRWA installations have been killed and at least 2,346* injured since the start of the war. UNRWA continues to verify and update the number of casualties caused by these incidents.

* Since the start of the war in October 2023, the latest casualty figures are continuously under review as UNRWA gains access to locations that were previously inaccessible and as further verifications occur. The summary figures will be published/updated as information becomes available, noting that these numbers are subject to change once verifications are concluded.

UNRWA response

The Gaza Strip

Health

• According to the Health Cluster, UNRWA remains one of the largest health actors operating in the Gaza Strip, contributing to over half of the people reached with health services since 7 October 2023. Between 7 October 2023 and 19 January 2025, UNRWA provided over 7.3 million medical consultations across the Gaza Strip.

• In addition to medical consultations, UNRWA (in partnership with and supported by other UN agencies, including UNICEF and WHO) continues to immunize children. Over 242,000 routine vaccines have been administered to children from January 2024. In addition, around 560,000 children under the age of 10 across the Gaza Strip have been vaccinated against polio.

• As of 3 February, only three out of 22 UNRWA health centres and four additional UNRWA-rented facilities used as temporary health centres were operational in Gaza. Health services are also provided through 125 mobile medical teams working in 54 medical points inside and outside shelters in the middle area, Khan Younis, Al Mawasi and Gaza City. UNRWA health facilities provide primary health care, including outpatient services, non-communicable disease care, giving out medications, vaccination, antenatal and postnatal health care, laboratory and dental services, physiotherapy and dressings for the injured. The number of operational health facilities changes constantly based on demand, access and security.

• As of 3 February, 1,068 UNRWA health staff worked in health centres, temporary clinics and medical points across the Gaza Strip, providing 12,131 health consultations on that day.

• UNRWA continued to provide mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services in the middle and Khan Younis areas, with teams of psychiatrists, psychosocial counsellors and supervisors to assist special cases referred from UNRWA health centres and shelters. On 3 February, UNRWA teams responded to 433 cases in health centres and at medical points through individual consultations, awareness sessions and to address cases of gender-based violence (GBV).  

• On 3 February, UNRWA medical teams provided care for 702 post-natal and pregnant women at high risk.

• On 3 February, UNRWA teams provided dental and oral health services in fixed and mobile clinics, reaching 534 patients.

• On 3 February, 235 patients received physiotherapy rehabilitation services in health centres and medical points.

• Since the ceasefire started, UNRWA health teams have received over 400 pallets of medical supplies including medicines, laboratory and dental supplies, and enough insulin syringes for over 17,000 people for eight months. Most of these supplies will cover UNRWA Health services for two months, and some up to eight months.

Psychosocial Support and Learning

• UNRWA remains the largest provider of emergency learning and psychosocial support (PSS) across the Gaza Strip. Around 660,000 children are out of school due to the war. On 1 August 2024, UNRWA began its first phase response of “Back to Learning” with a focus on mental health activities. This is taking place in 86 Temporary Learning Spaces in 40 UNRWA schools-turned-shelters[2], with the support of over 900 teachers and up to 600[3] school counsellors. More than 18,000 children, over half of them girls, have benefited from UNRWA’s “Back to Learning” programme so far. Between 27 January and 2 February 2025, 2,375 children (721 boys, 1,654 girls, including 126 children with disabilities) participated in basic literacy and numeracy activities, PSS sessions and recreational activities including arts, music and sports.

• UNRWA continues to provide lifesaving PSS services in Gaza, including psychological first aid, individual and group counselling, fatigue management sessions, recreational activities, Explosive Ordinance Risk Education and protection cash assistance, reaching children, youth and adults.

• Since the onset of the war and up to 2 February 2025, around 730,000 displaced people, including over 520,000 children, have benefited from 283,899 PSS sessions and activities. Between 27 January and 2 February, a total of 8,894 displaced people accessed these services.

• Between 7 October 2023 and 2 February 2025, UNRWA’s social work team has provided services to 206,496 displaced people, including psychological first aid, PSS services, family and individual activities, as well as case management. During the same reporting period, protection services were provided to 1,898 survivors of GBV and 3,164 children, including 1,606 unaccompanied children, covering reunification, cash assistance, safe sheltering, medication, dignity kits and non-food items through referrals. The team also supported 22,621 persons with disabilities with PSS; 7,753 of these individuals received assistive devices and rehabilitation services. Awareness sessions on GBV, child protection, disability and special needs, as well as managing social and psychological stressors, were conducted for 153,686 displaced people.

Food Security

• Since the start of the war, over 388,000 families (nearly 1.9 million people) have been reached with two rounds of flour; at least 374,000 of those families have received three rounds.

• UNRWA continues to distribute food parcels wherever possible. These include[4] rice, lentils, beans, oil, salt, sugar, milk powder, hummus, halawa, yeast, and canned fish, and are designed to meet the needs of a family of five for two weeks. To date, at least 1.69 million people have been reached, of whom at least 215,000 people have received two rounds of food parcels since the war started.

• In addition to the distribution of UNRWA food parcels, the Agency distributes food parcels on behalf of other UN organisations, reaching over 1.4 million people.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

• Since October 2023, UNRWA has carried out emergency WASH activities across the Gaza Strip.  The main activities include operating and maintaining water wells and desalination systems and supplying water with water trucks and bottled water. In addition, UNRWA continues to distribute hygiene kits and maintain hygiene in UNRWA shelters and sites by providing cleaning supplies, community-based solid waste management and pest control.

• UNRWA continues to be one of the largest WASH actors in the Gaza Strip. Between August and mid-November, UNRWA accounted for around 44 per cent of water, sanitation and hygiene activities reported in the Gaza Strip, Including access to water (56 per cent), access to sanitation and solid waste management (42 per cent), and flood mitigation and prevention (66 per cent).

• Since the start of the ceasefire, UNRWA has worked tirelessly to reach hundreds of thousands of people with WASH services. In the reporting period, UNRWA teams rehabilitated a water well in Jabalia that is now serving around 20,000 people in the area.

• Only over the last week of January, UNRWA WASH teams distributed 475 cubic metres of water in the north, and 9700 in the south, reaching around 180,000 people.

• UNRWA continues to provide a solid waste collection and transfer service wherever possible. In the reporting period, over 405 tons of solid waste were collected and transported to temporary dumping sites.

• Following the ceasefire, UNRWA teams distributed over 240 cleaning kits and 1,200 hygiene kits in the north. - UNRWA