UNRWA Situation Report no. 120 on Gaza Strip and West Bank

A woman carries a bottle of drinking water amid a heatwave in Deir al-Balah, middle area, the Gaza Strip,

The Gaza Strip

• On 8 July, Israeli Security Forces (ISF) issued new evacuation orders across four neighborhoods in Gaza City.  On 10 July, the ISF issued a new evacuation order to “all citizens in Gaza City” urging the population to move to Al-Mawasi in Deir al-Balah. The ISF confirmed that hospitals and clinics did not need to evacuate at this time.  In view of potential mass displacement to the south, UNRWA and World Central Kitchen mobilized support through two “welcome points”.

• According to the UN, up to 1.9 million people (or nine in ten people) across the Gaza Strip are internally displaced, including people who have been repeatedly displaced up to 10 times.

• Ongoing strikes by ISF 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 ISF ground offensive continues to expand, with new evacuation orders issued for all of Gaza City, deepening the humanitarian crisis and further destabilizing humanitarian aid flows.

• UNRWA Commissioner-General posted on his official X account that four schools (including two UNRWA schools) have been hit over four days between 6–9 July. Since the war began, two thirds of UNRWA schools in Gaza have been hit, some destroyed and many severely damaged.  

• According to Care International[1] , following nine months of war in Gaza, pregnant women are now three times more likely to miscarry and three times more likely to die in childbirth. Over 50,000 women are currently pregnant in Gaza, with around 180 due to give birth each day.

• The Director General of the World Health Organization highlighted that more than 34 trucks of medical supplies are waiting at the El Arish crossing with Egypt, 850 pallets of supplies are awaiting collection, and a further 40 trucks are standing at Ismailiya, also in Egypt. The Director General called for restrictions on supplies entering Gaza to be lifted immediately, saying “the people of Gaza who have nothing to do with this conflict must not be the ones who pay the price for it.”  In addition to the WHO trucks and medical supplies, no trucks crossed at Kerem Shalom crossing on 10 July, with approximately 525 UNRWA trucks comprising of food, medical supplies, and non-food items currently in Al Areesh, Egypt.

• The deteriorating law and order situation is severely hindering humanitarian actors from collecting aid at the Kerem Shalom Crossing for distribution inside Gaza. This adds to existing operational challenges including 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 10 July, the total number of UNRWA colleagues killed since 7 October is 197, an increase of three from the last update.

Overall situation

The Gaza Strip

• According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, as of 10 July, at least 38,295 Palestinians have been reportedly killed in the Gaza Strip since 7 October. Another 88,241 Palestinians have been reportedly 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.

• Three incidents have been reported impacting UNRWA installations and internally displaced persons (IDPs) sheltering there. While verification of details and casualty figures is ongoing, initial reports indicate:

1. On 8 July 2024, ISF ordered the evacuation of several areas of Gaza City including the evacuation of Zaitoun Prep. Boys A & B school. Two displaced families consisting of at least 50 people were sheltering in the school. The IDPs were called by megaphone by the ISF and instructed to go out of the school building. The IDPs were screened by the ISF in the school yard and then forced to evacuate.

2. On 8 July 2024, ISF ordered the evacuation of several areas of Gaza city including the evacuation of the UNRWA Gaza Training Centre. Approximately 10 displaced families were sheltering in the building. The IDPs were initially told by the ISF to stay in their rooms without any movement. Subsequently, the ISF forced the IDPs to evacuate, giving them 30 minutes to leave.

3. On 8 July 2024, 12 IDPs and three UNRWA contracted personnel working as guards were injured as a result of an airstrike that hit the guards’ room at a school.  The guards’ room sustained severe damage.

• 456* 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 74 incidents of military use and/or interference at UNRWA premises. 188* different UNRWA installations have been impacted.  

• UNRWA estimates that in total at least 524* IDPs sheltering in UNRWA shelters have been killed and at least 1,621* injured since the start of the war. UNRWA continues 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 6 July, 86 medical points and nine (out of 26[2] ) 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.

• On 6 July, almost 1,050 staff continued to work in operational health centres and medical points across the Gaza Strip, providing 18,800 medical consultations.  

• As of 6 July, 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 582 cases. They responded to cases in health centres and at medical points through individual consultations, awareness sessions and support for cases of gender-based violence. The teams provided medical care for 525 post-natal and pregnant women at high risk.

• 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.  Between 7 October – 7 July, UNRWA has provided over 4.6 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.  

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 700,000 IDPs, including 450,000 children, have benefited from a total of 235,666 PSS sessions/activities.  From 23 June – 7 July 2024, a total of 61,798 IDPs, including 26,645 children, benefited from these services.

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 them 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[3]flour, rice, chickpeas, lentils, cheese, hummus and fish and are designed to cover approximately 90 per cent of daily calorific needs.  To date, nearly 1.15 million people have been reached, of whom nearly 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 distributed other food parcels on behalf of other UN organizations, reaching around 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.