The following are among the deadliest incidents reported between 9 January and 10 January:
On 9 January, at about 13:40, a house was struck in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, Deir al Balah, killing 10 people, most of them children and women.
On 9 January, at about 21:40, a group of people were hit near As Salehat Roundabout, in Al Maghazi Refugee Camp, killing four of them. Ambulances were unable to reach them due to the presence of Israeli forces.
On 9 January, at about 22:55, two apartments in a residential building were struck in Tall As Sultan, Rafah, killing 15 people and injuring 16.
On 9 January, the Ministry of Culture published a report summarizing the losses sustained in the Palestinian cultural scene. As of 9 January, 41 intellectuals and artists, including four children who were already considered as artists or creators, have been killed. The report stated that 24 cultural centers were damaged or destroyed, and approximately 195 historical buildings were damaged, including 20 mosques and churches across the Strip.
On 9 January, two schools were reportedly struck. The first is the UNRWA Nuseirat Prep Boys School, which was struck by a shell, killing one internally displaced person (IDP), and injuring three others. The second is a school which was sheltering IDPs in Al Maghazi Refugee Camp. Although casualties were reported, no ambulance or civil defense teams were able to reach the injured in the camp.
As of 8 January, according to UNRWA, 1.9 million people, or nearly 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza, were estimated to be internally displaced, including many who have been displaced multiple times, as families are forced to move repeatedly in search of safety. Nearly 1.72 million IDPs are sheltering in 155 UNRWA facilities across all five governorates including 160,000 in the north and Gaza City; facilities are far exceeding their intended capacity. Rafah governorate has for a while been the main refuge for those displaced, with over one million people squeezed into an extremely overcrowded space, following the intensification of hostilities in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah and the Israeli military’s evacuation orders. Obtaining an accurate figure of the total number of IDPs remains challenging.
Some 222 incidents affecting UNRWA premises and people inside them have been reported since 7 October (some with multiple incidents affecting the same location), including at least 23 incidents of military use and/or interference at UNRWA premises. This includes 63 direct hits on UNRWA installations and 69 different UNRWA installations sustaining damage when a nearby object was hit. In total, at least 319 IDPs staying in UNRWA shelters have been killed and at least another 1,135 were injured since 7 October. UNRWA estimates that at least 323 people sheltering in UNRWA shelters have been killed and at least 1,142 people injured since the escalation of hostilities.
On 10 January, the Electricity Generation Company’s generators were stuck, north of An Nuseirat Camp and all four of its generators caught on fire. This plant hosts four major generators that used to supply electricity throughout the Gaza Strip. Casualties and damage to the plant’s functions are unconfirmed, but there is concern for the plant’s ability to supply electricity in the future.
Since 11 October 2023, the Gaza Strip has been under an electricity blackout, after the Israeli authorities cut off the electricity supply and fuel reserves for Gaza’s sole power plant were depleted. The communications and fuel shutdown continues to significantly hinder the aid community’s efforts to assess the full extent of needs in Gaza and to adequately respond to the deepening humanitarian crisis. For more information on electricity supply to the Gaza Strip, please see this dashboard.
On 10 January, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said, “the health sector in Gaza is being slowly chocked off as hospitals continue to come under fire. And what happens when the health system collapses? Pregnant mothers can’t deliver their babies safely. Children can’t get vaccines. The sick and wounded can’t get treatment. People die. This war needs to end”.
According to the WHO, 15 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functional; nine in the south and six in the north.
Hospitals in the north have been offering limited maternity, trauma, and emergency care services. However, they face challenges such as a shortage of medical staff, including specialized surgeons, neurosurgeons, and intensive care staff, as well as a lack of medical supplies, and have an urgent need for fuel, food, and drinking water. The nine partially functional hospitals in the south are operating at three times their capacity, while facing critical shortages of basic supplies and fuel. According to the MoH in Gaza, occupancy rates are reaching 206 per cent in inpatient departments and 250 per cent in intensive care units.
In Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, three hospitals – Al Aqsa, Nasser, and Gaza European – are at risk of closure due to the issuance of evacuation orders in adjacent areas and the ongoing conduct of hostilities nearby. On 9 January, shelling was again reported in the vicinity of the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, from where most medical staff and many patients had evacuated on 7 January. Reportedly, only one emergency doctor and two surgeons remain to respond to hundreds of patients who require treatment in the hospital. On 7 January, staff from WHO and OCHA visited the Al Aqsa Hospital and delivered medical supplies to support 4,500 patients needing dialysis for three months and 500 patients requiring trauma care.
On 10 January, a Palestinian man died of wounds after having been shot by Israeli forces on 9 January in a search-and-arrest operation in Ramallah city.
This raises to 331 Palestinians killed, including 84 children, in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 7 October 2023 and as of 10 January 2024. Additionally, two Palestinians from the West Bank were killed while carrying out an attack in Israel on 30 November. Of those killed in the West Bank (331); 322 were killed by Israeli forces, eight by Israeli settlers and one by either Israeli forces or settlers. The number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2023 (507) marks the highest number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since OCHA started recording casualties in 2005.
Since 7 October 2023 and as of 10 January 2024, five Israelis, including four members of the Israeli forces, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Four Israelis were killed in an attack carried out by Palestinians from the West Bank in West Jerusalem (one of the four was killed by Israeli forces who misidentified him). The number of Israelis killed in the West Bank and Israel in 2023 in attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank (36) was the highest since OCHA started recording casualties in 2005.
Since 7 October 2023 and as of 10 January 2024, 4,148 Palestinians, including 627 children, were injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Of them, 4,034 have been injured by Israeli forces, 93 by settlers and 21 by either Israeli forces or settlers. Of the total injuries, 52 per cent were reported in the context of search-and-arrest and other operations, 36 per cent in demonstrations and 8 per cent during settler related attacks against Palestinians. Some 33 per cent of those injuries have been caused by live ammunition, compared with 9 per cent in the first nine months of 2023.
Since 7 October 2023 and as of 10 January 2024, OCHA recorded 396 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians, resulting in Palestinian casualties (37 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (310 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (49 incidents). This reflects a daily average of four incidents since 7 October 2023 until 10 January 2024, compared with seven daily incidents reported between 7 October and 10 November 2023, which was the highest daily average of settler-related incidents affecting Palestinians since 2006.
One-third of the settler attacks against Palestinians after 7 October involved firearms, including shootings and threats of shootings. In nearly half of all recorded incidents after 7 October, Israeli forces were either accompanying or reported to be supporting the attackers.
In 2023, 1,229 incidents involving settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (with or without Israeli forces), resulted in Palestinian casualties, property damage or both. Some 913 of these incidents resulted in damage, 163 resulted in casualties and 153 resulted in both. This is the highest number of settler attacks against Palestinians in any given year since OCHA started recording incidents involving settlers in 2006.
Since 7 October 2023 and as of 10 January 2024, at least 198 Palestinian households comprising 1,208 people, including 586 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions. The displaced households are from at least 15 herding/Bedouin communities. More than half of the displacements occurred on 12, 15, and 28 October, affecting seven communities. The displacement toll since 7 October 2023, represents 78 per cent of all displacement reported due to settler violence and access restrictions since 1 January 2023 (1,539 people, including 756 children).
On 10 January, a house was demolished in Sur Bahir neighbourhood of East Jerusalem for lack of Israeli-issued building permit. This raises to 453 Palestinians who have been displaced, including 227 children, between 7 October 2023. and 10 January 2024, following the demolition of their homes, due to lack of Israeli-issued building permits in Area C and East Jerusalem, which are almost impossible to obtain.
A total of 19 homes have been demolished and 95 Palestinians, including 42 children, displaced due to punitive demolitions in the last three months of 2023. The numbers exceed those reported in the first nine months of the same year, during which 16 homes demolished and 78 people displaced. On 9 January, the Israeli military demolished two houses in Sur Bahir neighbourhood of East Jerusalem belonging to the two Palestinians who were killed during an attack they perpetrated in West Jerusalem on 30 November 2023; the houses were sealed off after the attack.
Another 587 Palestinians, including 257 children, have been displaced since 7 October 2023 following the destruction of 92 homes during other operations carried out by Israeli forces across the West Bank. About 95 per cent of the displacement was reported in the refugee camps of Jenin and Nur Shams and Tulkarm, both in Tulkarm. This represents 65 per cent of all displacement reported due to the destruction of homes during Israeli military operations since January 2023 (908 people).
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 counselling and referrals for affected communities to access life-saving services. The PSEA Network monitors calls daily and will increase the number of counsellors if necessary.
* Asterisks indicate that a figure, sentence, or section has been rectified, added, or retracted after the initial publication of this update.