UNRWA Report no. 118 on the situation in Gaza and West Bank

UNRWA social work teams organize activities for children and families next

The Gaza Strip

• According to the UN, up to 1.9 million people in Gaza are internally displaced, including people who have been displaced nine or 10 times. Previous estimations were 1.7 million but this was before the operation in Rafah, and since May there have been additional displacements from Rafah and other parts across the Gaza Strip.  

• Ongoing strikes by Israeli Forces continue, with aerial, land and maritime bombardment across the Gaza Strip. These result in civilian casualties, displacement and the destruction of residential structures and civilian infrastructure. The Israeli Forces’ ground offensive continues to expand, with new evacuation orders issued for parts of Khan Younis, impacting a quarter of a million people, deepening the humanitarian crisis and further destabilizing humanitarian aid flows.

• On 2 July, UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigird Kaag briefed  the Security Council in New York, pressing for an immediate, full and complete ceasefire in Gaza, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and unimpeded and continuous access to deliver aid at scale. She highlighted that international humanitarian law and international human rights law must be respected by all, protection of civilians remains the paramount priority and UNRWA must be allowed to deliver on its mandated role.

• According to the Food Security Cluster, FAO and WFP, analyzed the total imports into Gaza before and after October 2023.  The analysis found that the total monthly number of trucks entering Gaza decreased by 63 per cent.  For food specifically, the total daily food availability of items including flour, milk, meat, eggs and vegetables fell by half from just over 1 kg  per person per day to 524 grams per person per day. The report highlights that it remains impossible for humanitarian assistance to replace private importers, both of which need to complement each other to meet the urgent needs.

• According to the Cash Working Group, from March 2024, access to liquidity has increasingly become problematic, due to a) the increased pressure of local financial institutions given the high number of people in small areas b) logistics, safety and security challenges in moving cash from and between banks and ATMs, and c) the irregular trends of deposits of cash from businesses and traders into banks. This has negatively impacted the economic sector, and, without long-lasting solutions, can potentially affect many elements of public and humanitarian operations.    International humanitarian actors have been exploring solutions to mitigate current liquidity challenges, with 1) A request for Israeli approval for the import and operation of armoured vehicles to be used for safe collection, transportation, and distribution of physical cash, (approval is still pending), as well as spare parts and fuel for ATM machines and 2) the re-launch and strengthening of mobile money.

• The deteriorating law and order is severely hindering humanitarian actors from collecting aid at the Kerem Shalom Crossing for distribution within Gaza. This adds to existing operational challenges such as insecurity, damaged infrastructure, fuel shortages and restricted access. The latest information on supplies entering Gaza via Kerem Shalom and Rafah can be found below:

Gaza Supplies and Dispatch Tracking | UNRWA

• As of 2 July, the total number of UNRWA colleagues killed since 7 October is 194.

Overall situation

The Gaza Strip

• According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, as of 1 July, at least 37,900 Palestinians have been reported killed in the Gaza Strip since 7 October. Another 87,060 Palestinians have been reported injured.

Humanitarian access and protection of civilians

The Gaza Strip

• UNRWA is working to verify the details of incidents reportedly affecting UNRWA premises. Further information will be provided once it becomes available.

• One incident has been reported impacting UNRWA installations and internally displaced people (IDPs) sheltering there. While verification of details and casualty figures remain ongoing, initial reports indicate:

1. On 3 July 2024, six internally displaced people (IDP) including two children, were injured in a school in Khan Younis city when the Israeli Security Forces fired two missiles that hit a house adjacent to the school. The injured IDPs suffered moderate to critical injuries and were transferred to the hospital. A wall in the school sustained damages. It was also reported that 20 IDPs suffered from smoke inhalation and that the tents and belongings of 24 families living in the school yard were damaged.

• 451* incidents impacting UNRWA premises and the people inside them have been reported since the beginning of the war (some with multiple incidents impacting the same location), including at least 72 incidents of military use and/or interference at UNRWA premises. 188 different UNRWA installations have been impacted.  

• UNRWA estimates that in total at least 520* IDPs sheltering in UNRWA shelters have been killed and at least 1,602* injured since the start of the war. UNRWA continue to verify the number of casualties caused by incidents that impacted its installations, and notes that these figures do not include some reported casualties where the number of injuries could not be determined.

UNRWA response

The Gaza Strip

Health

• As of 26 June, 100 medical points and eight (out of 26[3] ) UNRWA health centres were operational. These health centres provide primary health care, including outpatient services, non-communicable disease care, medications, vaccination, antenatal and postnatal health care and dressing for the injured.

• Over 1,100 staff continue to work in operational health centres and medical points across the Gaza Strip, providing 17,556 medical consultations on 26 June.   

• As of 26 June, UNRWA provided mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services in the Middle and Khan Younis areas with teams of psychiatrists and supervisors to assist special cases referred from health centres and shelters. UNRWA teams responded to 626 cases. UNRWA teams responded to cases in health centres and at medical points through individual consultations, awareness sessions and support for cases of gender-based violence. UNRWA teams provided medical care for 391 post-natal and pregnant women at high risk.

• According to the Health Cluster, UNRWA remains one of the largest health actors operating inside the Gaza Strip, contributing to over half of the people reached with health services.  Between 7 October – 23 June, UNRWA has provided over 4.3 million medical consultations in health centres and medical points across the Gaza Strip.  In addition to medical consultations, UNRWA continues to provide vaccines with over 120,000 children vaccinated.  Following the uptick in malnutrition rates, pregnant and lactating women are provided with nutritional support including health education and promotion about nutrition and infant breast feeding, with 99,302 women reached.  

Psychosocial support (PSS)

• With the support of more than 300 counsellors, UNRWA continues to provide lifesaving psychosocial support (PSS) services in Gaza, including psychosocial first aid, individual and group counselling, fatigue management sessions, recreational activities, Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) and protection cash assistance, reaching children, youth and adults.

• Since the onset of the conflict, around 680,000 IDPs, including 430,000 children, have benefited from a total of 228,042 PSS sessions/activities.  From 15 - 22 June 2024, a total of 51,033 IDPs, including 21,253children, benefited from these services. Specifically, counsellors addressed 1,864 individual consultations and provided 906 group awareness sessions. Additionally, they conducted 1,090 recreational activities engaging 20,768 children. Counsellors also provided 329 EORE sessions to 6,709 adults and 391 sessions to 7,259 children.

Food Security

• As of 20 June, UNRWA continued to distribute flour in the southern governorates. To date, a total of 380,225 families (nearly 1.9 million people) have been reached, of whom 367,768 families have received two rounds of flour and another 300,978 families have received three rounds.

• As part of its emergency response, UNRWA distributes food parcels in the southern governorates. UNRWA food parcels include   flour, rice, chickpeas, lentils, cheese, hummus and fish and are designed to cover approximately 90 per cent of the calorific needs.  To date, approximately 210,920 families (nearly 1.15 million people) have been reached, of whom 34,839 families (nearly 215,000 people) have received two rounds of food parcels.  

• In addition to distribution of UNRWA food parcels, the Agency distributed  food parcels on behalf of other UN organizations, reaching approximately 1.4 million people.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

Due to the security situation in combination with internet connectivity we are unable to provide any additional updates since sitrep 67.