Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #28

Hostilities and casualties (Gaza Strip)

• Israeli ground operations in northern Gaza have continued, with troops and tanks reportedly surrounding Gaza city from multiple directions. Further clashes with Palestinian armed groups have taken place, alongside intense bombardments across the Gaza Strip, including in the Middle and southern areas.
• Between 2 November (noon) and 3 November (14:00), 196 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, bringing the reported fatality toll since the start of the hostilities to 9,257, including 3,826 children, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza.
• On 2 November, seven Israeli soldiers were reportedly killed in Gaza, bringing the total number of soldiers killed since the start of ground operations to 24.
• See the latest snapshot for more breakdowns

Access and movement (Gaza Strip)

• For the third consecutive day, on 3 November, the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened for the movement of people, allowing the exit of 300-400 foreign passport holders. The Erez crossing with Israel remains closed.
• On 3 November, 3,026 Palestinian workers, who had been stranded in Israel and the West Bank since the start of the hostilities, were returned to Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing. The Israeli authorities had held them in custody for most of the period, allegedly interrogating and subjecting people to ill treatment.
• On 3 November, 47 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies crossed from Egypt into Gaza through Rafah Crossing, bringing the total number of trucks that have entered since 21 October to 421. Of these, at least 158 trucks carried food, 102 carried health supplies, 44 carried water or hygiene products, 32 carried non-food items, and eight carried nutrition supplies, alongside other trucks carrying mixed cargo. The entry of fuel, which is desperately needed to operate life-saving equipment, remains banned by the Israeli authorities.
• The Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, which prior to the hostilities was the main entry point for goods, remains closed.

Displacement (Gaza Strip)

• Nearly 1.5 million people in Gaza are internally displaced (IDPs). Of them, some 690,000 are sheltering in 149 UNRWA facilities, 122,000 in hospitals, churches, and public buildings, 99,000 in 82 non-UNRWA schools, and the remainder with host families.
• In recent days, tens of thousands of IDPs, who were previously staying with host families, have relocated into public shelters, seeking food and basic services. This has increased pressure on already overcrowded shelters.
• Over 530,000 people are sheltering in 92 UNRWA facilities in the Middle, Khan Younis and Rafah areas. Shelters have exceeded their limit and are unable to accommodate new arrivals, and many IDPs are sleeping in the streets close to UNRWA premises seeking safety.
• An estimated 160,000 IDPs are housed in 57 UNRWA facilities in the north and in Gaza city. UNRWA, however, is no longer able to provide services in those areas and does not have accurate information on their needs and conditions since the Israeli evacuation order on 13 October.
• See the latest snapshot for more breakdowns

Health care, including attacks (Gaza Strip)

• On the afternoon of 3 November, a convoy of ambulances evacuating patients from Shifa hospital in Gaza city to the Rafah crossing with Egypt, was struck three times in the vicinity of the hospital. Initial reports indicate that at least 13 people were killed and 26 injured. According to the Israeli military, its forces targeted an ambulance used by Hamas personnel. At about the same time, Al Quds hospital in Gaza city and the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza were hit, reportedly during airstrikes, resulting in a large yet unconfirmed number of casualties.
• On 3 November, one of the generators in Shifa hospital reportedly stopped working due to lack of fuel. Another generator is still operating, covering about half of the hospital’s needs. Shifa is the largest hospital in Gaza, treating hundreds of patients and hosting tens of thousands of IDPs.
• Since the start of hostilities, 14 out of 35 hospitals with inpatient capacities have stopped functioning and 51 (71 per cent) of all primary care facilities across Gaza (72) have shut down due to damage or lack of fuel.
• This week, the World Health Organization (WHO) distributed 80 pallets of supplies, including surgical equipment, trauma kits, and medicines, to four hospitals in the south and Middle areas of Gaza. This brings the total number of pallets distributed to date by WHO to 205.

Water and sanitation (Gaza Strip)

• Water supply from Israel to western Khan Younis, which stopped on 30 October due to technical reasons, resumed on 3 November, at 600 cubic metres per hour. Another pipeline from Israel servicing the Middle Area, which was reactivated on 31 October, is also operational.
• In the northern areas of the Gaza Strip, access to drinking water is uncertain. Water supply from Israel came to a halt on 8 October. Furthermore, following the intensification of Israeli ground operations, most water trucking operations and distribution of bottled water were suspended. Most municipal water wells have reportedly shut down after depleting their fuel reserves.

Food security

• Food supplies entering from Egypt are primarily distributed to IDPs and host families in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, with only flour being provided to bakeries. At the shop level, the World Food Program (WFP) estimates that current stocks of essential food commodities will be sufficient for about five more days, with retailers facing significant challenges when restocking from wholesalers due to widespread destruction, insecurity, and lack of fuel.
• Access to bread is increasingly challenging. The only operative mill in Gaza remains unable to grind wheat due to lack of electricity and fuel. Eleven bakeries have been struck and destroyed since 7 October. Only one of the bakeries contracted by WFP, and eight other bakeries in the southern and Middle areas have been intermittently providing bread to shelters, depending on the availability of flour and fuel. People wait long hours in bakeries' queues, where they are exposed to airstrikes.
• Distribution of food assistance to IDPs in the northern part of the Gaza Strip was almost completely halted for the past few days, following the intensification of ground operations. Anecdotal information suggests that limited food assistance by local NGOs and community-based organizations continues.
• In the southern Gaza Strip, humanitarian partners have been assisting through in-kind food distribution and cash-based transfers to individuals and households in UN and other shelters. WFP distributes fresh bread for IDPs in UN shelters, as well as canned food and date bars. UNRWA continued to cooperate with local bakeries and supply them with flour, allowing them to offer bread at half the cost.

Hostilities and casualties (Israel)

• Indiscriminate rocket firing by Palestinian armed groups towards Israeli population centres has continued over the past 24 hours with low intensity, resulting in no fatalities. Overall, about 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, according to the Israeli authorities, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 3 November, the names of 1,159 of these fatalities have been released, including 828 civilians. Of those whose ages have been provided, 31 are children.
• According to the Israeli authorities, 242 people are held captive in Gaza, including Israelis and foreign nationals. Media reports indicate that about 30 of the hostages are children. So far, four civilian hostages were released by Hamas, and one female Israeli soldier was rescued by Israeli forces. Hamas has claimed that 57 of the hostages were killed by Israeli airstrikes.

Violence and casualties (West Bank)

• Israeli forces killed 11 Palestinians between the afternoon of 2 November and noontime on 3 November. The deadliest incident, which lasted for over 11 hours, took place in the Jenin Refugee Camp and resulted in five Palestinians killed, including a child. The operation involved armed clashes with Palestinians, during which Israeli forces launched airstrikes and destroyed infrastructure. This is the seventh operation in the camp since 7 October, with a combined fatality toll of 26 Palestinians.
• Another five fatalities were reported during search-and- arrest operations in Tell (Nablus), Budrus (Ramallah), Qalandiya (Jerusalem) and Al Fawwar (Hebron) refugee camps. One Palestinian was killed after he reportedly attempted to stab Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint (Tubas).
• Since 7 October, 135 Palestinians, including 42 children, have been killed by Israeli forces; and eight, including one child, by Israeli settlers. Two Israelis were killed by Palestinians.
• The number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since 7 October accounts for more than one-third of all Palestinian fatalities in the West Bank in 2023 (382). Nearly 50 per cent of these fatalities occurred during confrontations that followed Israeli search-and-arrest operations, primarily in Jenin and Tulkarm governorates.
• Since 7 October, Israeli forces have injured 2,247 Palestinians, including at least 239 children, over half of them in the context of demonstrations. Sixty-two Palestinians have been injured by settlers. Some 27 per cent of those injuries have been caused by live ammunition.
• In the past 24 hours, in three incidents, Israeli settlers raided the villages of Jit (Qalqiliya), Deir Sharaf and Ein Shibli (both in Nablus), where they set fire and vandalized homes, agricultural structures, vehicles and crops.
• Since 7 October, OCHA has recorded 195 settler attacks against Palestinians, resulting in Palestinian casualties (27 incidents), damage to Palestinian property (135 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (33 incidents). This reflects a daily average of seven incidents, compared with three since the beginning of the year. Over one-third of these incidents included threats with firearms, including shootings. In nearly half of all incidents, Israeli forces were either accompanying or actively supporting the attackers.
• Between 1 and 2 November, Israeli forces arrested at least 135 Palestinians, including two women, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, bringing the total number of those arrested since 7 October to at least 1,900, according to Palestinian sources. UN’s Human Rights Office (OHCHR) has received consistent and credible reports of widespread cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees. Two Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli custody since 7 October.

Displacement (West Bank)

• Since 7 October, at least 111 households comprising 905 people, including 356 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions. The displaced households are from more than 15 herding/Bedouin communities.
• An additional 120 Palestinians, including 55 children, have been displaced since 7 October following demolitions in Area C and East Jerusalem, due to lack of permits, and another 23, including 13 children, following punitive demolitions.

Funding

• The Humanitarian Country Team in the Occupied Palestinian Territory will release an updated Flash Appeal on 6 November, requesting US$1.2 billion. Interventions included in the Appeal aim at meeting the needs of 2.7 million people – including the entire population of Gaza and 500,000 people in the West Bank – by the end of 2023. The original appeal, launched on 12 October, asked for $294 million to support nearly 1.3 million people.
• Private donations are collected through the occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund.

HUMANITARIAN NEEDS AND RESPONSES

Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA)

Priority needs

• Access to basic needs and services is severely halted by the lack of resources and the security situation. IDPs outside formal shelters have extremely limited access to assistance. Those are prioritized for Emergency MPCA.
• Banks are temporarily closed, limiting access to cash. The capacities of financial service providers are severely limited and change by the hour (partners currently using PalPay).
• Depletion of stocked items to be purchased is worsening.

Response to date

• Some 17,874 households started receiving Emergency MPCA (NIS754 or $187 per household) as of 26 October. Redemption rates were reported as up to 86 per cent.

Protection

Priority needs

• An estimated 20,000 people in need of specialized mental health services, including mental health drugs, who are in precarious situations with the disruption to mental health services.
• Documentation of violations of international human rights law and humanitarian law.
• Opening roads, safe access to basic needs, medicines, mental health support, and ambulance services in the West Bank.

Response to date

• Some 3,000 IDPs have received psychosocial support and social work intervention services from UNRWA social workers and counsellors since the crisis began.
• In the West Bank, UNRWA provided psychosocial support services to 155 Palestinian workers from Gaza, in Hebron, Ramallah, and Tulkarm, and to 240 students at Nur Shams Boys’ schools.
• One partner reached at least 4,000 IDPs in shelters in Gaza and provided psychological first aid (PFA) and needs assessment for non-food items (NFIs) and assistive devices.
• Partners provided about 700 psychological, social, and legal consultations for gender-based violence (GBV) incidents. Furthermore, 1,144 first psychiatric medical services were provided for GBV cases.
• UNICEF is leading the mapping of orphanages and shelters which host children with a view to support Unaccompanied and Separated Children (UASC) registration, to facilitate identification, reunification, and alternative care options at national level (both Gaza and the West Bank).

Shelter

Priority needs

• Urgent need to provide services and basic shelter and NFI to IDPs.
• Provision of NFIs and house maintenance for people displaced in urban centres and with host families.
• Provision of shelter cash assistance for IDPs (reintegration package and belongings loss compensation) for at least 25,000 families.

Response to date

• Some 690,400 IDPs are hosted at 149 UNRWA schools across the Gaza Strip.
• Distribution of 20,000 NFIs in Rafah and Khan Younis, including bedding sets and dignity kits.
• Distribution of 820 hygiene kits to displaced families.
• ICRC/PRCS distributed 15,500 NFIs for displaced families, mainly mattresses and blankets.

Health

Priority needs

• Improve the nutritional status, particularly of about 283,000 children under five and pregnant or lactating women, in response to the concerning food security and water situation in Gaza.
• Ensuring the provision of Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies, including preventive nutrition interventions, cash voucher assistance, curative nutrition interventions, intact nutrition supplies pipeline, and a functional nutrition coordination mechanism.
• Addressing shortages of medical supplies impacting case management.
• Fuel supply for hospitals and ambulances.
• Urgent need to restock medical supplies given depletion of stocks in the local market.
• Need for short and long-term mental health and psychosocial support services for large numbers of psychologically traumatized people.
• Access to mobile clinics for 29 communities in Area C locations in Hebron, Jenin and Qalqiliya who have not had access since escalations began.

Response to date

• UNRWA continues to provide primary healthcare services in the shelters, through 95 mobile medical units and medical teams.
• PMRS has eight mobile health teams also providing primary healthcare services to IDPs and expects to increase the number to twelve.
• Partners are continuing to mobilize resources in Cairo; with support from WHO, the Health Cluster has deployed a logistics team based in Cairo to assist partners with health coordination.

Food Security

Priority needs

• Electricity, fuel, and water sources to maintain agriculture.
• Many shops have food supplies to last less than a week.
• Safe access to farms, livestock, fisheries, and other livelihoods.
• Urgent import of fodder.

Response to date

• On 2 November, WFP continued to assist in UN shelters by distributing bread, tuna, date bars and food parcels for host communities.
• Oxfam covered 189 households in the Gaza governorate.
• Dan Church Aid (DCA) covered 18,000 households sheltering in UNRWA DES in the Gaza governorate.
• Islamic Relief Palestine provided food assistance to 10,000 IDPS in non-URWA shelters or with host families.
• Anera provides hot meals to a total of 120,000 people. Food parcels, 80 per cent to UNRWA DES shelters, 20 per cent to hosting communities and other smaller scale shelters. 2,000 households in North Gaza and 12,000 households in Khan Yunis have already been covered. Ten thousand households in the Middle Area are still ongoing. Vegetable baskets to host families and small-scale shelters for 2,000 IDPs (UN shelter) in Khan Younis and 2,000 IDPs (UN shelter) in the Middle Area. Planning food parcels distributed covering 1,000 IDPs in collective shelters and host families.
• Save the Children is providing food in-kind to 75,000 IDPs outside UNRWA shelter.
• UPA in partnership with PARC is providing 617 food parcels in five different shelter schools.

Education

Priority eeds

• Safe access to schools and communities.

Planned responses

• Provision of school-based psychosocial support and recreational activities for at least 70,000 children and school staff to around 20 school shelters.
• Emergency rehabilitation for at least 20 damaged schools, following a cluster rapid needs assessment.
• Provision of emergency supplies and learning kits to 10,000 children in DES and 50,000 children in schools once they reopen.
• Provision of catch-up classes, especially to displaced children (at least 20,000 children).

WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene)

Priority needs

• Provision of clean drinking water.
• Provision of alternative power supply and 20,000 litres per day of emergency fuel to sustain the operation of WASH facilities, along with replenishing the chlorine supply for water treatment plants.
• Support to restore disrupted municipal services, including solid waste management, water, and sanitation operations, as appealed by the Gaza Strip municipalities.
• Delivery of essential WASH services and provisions to IDPs in collective centres, including drinking water and hygiene kits.

Response to date

Since 7 October WASH partners have provided:

• Some 9,500 hygiene kits to families in the UNRWA IDP centres.
• 1,950 cubic metres of drinking water trucked to IDP centres and host families.
• 175 cubic metres of bottled water among IDPs in UNRWA shelters.
• Four water storage tanks, with a capacity of 10 cubic metres, and twenty others, with a capacity of 1.5 cubic metres each, to be used by communities and shelters.
• 8,000 units of ten litres of water capacity.
• 4,000 water purification tools for the hosted families in vulnerable communities and IDP centres.
• 211 cubic metres of fuel to WASH facilities.
• 5 cubic metres of anti-scalant to desalination plants.

Protection against sexual abuse and exploitation (PSEA) remains a cross-cutting priority for all clusters. The SAWA helpline, reachable at 121 and through WhatsApp at +972 59-4040121 (East Jerusalem at 1-800-500-121), operates 24/7. This toll-free number is widely disseminated across all areas of intervention to report cases of SEA and to facilitate emergency counseling and referrals for affected communities to access life-saving services. The PSEA Network monitors calls daily and will increase the number of counselors if necessary.