Humanitarian Situation Update #184 | Gaza Strip

The Humanitarian Situation Update is issued by OCHA Occupied Palestinian Territory three times per week. The Gaza Strip is covered on Mondays and Fridays, and the West Bank is covered on Wednesdays. The next update will be issued on 1 July.

Key Highlights

• A high risk of famine persists in the Gaza Strip, a new IPC analysis finds.
• At least 60,000 people were displaced from Gaza City and 5,000 from Al Mawasi area of Rafah overnight, according to initial estimates by the Site Management Working Group.
• Twenty-one children suffering from cancer leave Gaza in first medical evacuation since early May; according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, about 10,000 cancer patients, including nearly 1,000 children, require medical evacuation.
• Critical water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services are hanging by a thread due to severe fuel shortages, warns the WASH Cluster.

Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure, particularly in Ash Shuja’iyeh area of Gaza City and Al Mawasi area of Rafah. The Site Management Working estimates that, overnight on 27 June, about 60,000 to 80,000 people were displaced from areas east and northeast of Gaza City and moved westwards and, according to initial indications, about 5,000 people were displaced from Al Mawasi area of Rafah to Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported.
• Between the afternoons of 24 and 27 June, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 139 Palestinians were killed and 331 were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 27 June 2024, at least 37,765 Palestinians were killed and 86,429 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza. Casualty figures covering the period until the afternoon of 28 June are not available as of the time of reporting.
• The following are among the deadliest incidents reported between 24 and 27 June:
  • On 24 June, at about 16:40, ten Palestinians, including nine men and a boy, were reportedly killed when a group of Palestinians was hit at Bani Suhaila Square on Salah ad Din Road, in eastern Khan Younis.
  • On 25 June, at about 20:00, at least nine Palestinians, including women, were reportedly killed when a house was hit in Ash Shati' Refugee Camp, west of Gaza City. Other people were reportedly trapped under rubble.
  • On 25 June, at about 2:30, eight Palestinians, including women and children, were reportedly killed when Abed Al Fatah Hamoud School, designated as a shelter for internally displaced persons was hit in At Tuffah neighbourhood, in central Gaza City.
  • On 26 June, at about 13:55, four Palestinians were reportedly killed when a group of Palestinians attempting to get internet connection was hit in Al Jurn area of Jabalya, in North Gaza.
  • On 26 June, at about 20:30, eight Palestinians, including children, were reportedly killed and others injured when a group of Palestinians was hit in Al Alami area in Jabalya Refugee Camp, in North Gaza.
  • On 27 June, at about 6:50, five Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured when a residential building was hit in Ash Ash Shuja’iyeh, east of Gaza City.
  • On 27 June, the General Directorate of the Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD) announced that three of their workers were killed in the line of duty and several other people were injured in an Israeli airstrike in Al Bureij.
• Between the afternoons of 24 and 28 June, there were no Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. Between 7 October and 28 June, according to the Israeli military and official Israeli sources cited in the media, over 1,514 Israelis were killed, the majority on 7 October. These include 314 soldiers killed in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation*. In addition, 2,005 soldiers were reported injured since the beginning of the ground operation. As of 28 June, it is estimated that 120 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• Attacks on humanitarian aid workers and health facilities continue to be reported. On 25 June, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported the death of its sixth staff member in Gaza. According to MSF, the staff member was a physiotherapist who was killed, along with five other people including three children, by Israeli forces while cycling to an MSF clinic in Gaza City. In a 26 June press release, Al Awda Health and Community Association announced the complete destruction of its health centre in Rafah based on aerial and satellite imagery. The Association explained that this was its fifth facility to be destroyed since October 2023, with the other four hospitals and health centers also being directly targeted. Decrying the reported killing of 500 health workers “against the backdrop of systematic attacks on hospitals and other medical facilities,” the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) stressed this week that “hospitals, medical personnel and ambulances must be respected and protected at all times.” OHCHR also cited “credible information” that Israeli military “raids on hospitals have often led to mass detention and enforced disappearances, including of medical staff.” OHCHR appealed to Israel, as the occupying power in Gaza, to “immediately cease the killing of protected people, including healthcare workers,” as well as urged impartial investigations into the killings and the release of all arbitrarily detained health workers.
• On 27 June, the Israeli military ordered residents of 28 residential blocs (~7.3 square kilometres) in Ash Shuja’iyeh, Al Turkuman, Judaidah, and At Tuffah, all east of Gaza City, to immediately evacuate via Salah Ad Din Road to what the Israeli military defines as a "humanitarian zone" in southern Gaza. According to the Site Management Working Group, it is estimated that about 60,000 to 80,000 people were displaced on 27 June from areas east and northeast of Gaza City and moved westwards. In total, approximately 285 square kilometres, or about 78 per cent of the Gaza Strip, have been placed under evacuation orders by the Israeli military. This includes all areas north of Wadi Gaza, where residents were first instructed to evacuate in late October, as well as specific areas south of Wadi Gaza designated for evacuation since 1 December.
• On 24 June, Save the Children (SCI) reported that over 20,000 children in Gaza are estimated to be “lost, disappeared, detained, buried under rubble or in mass graves.” Children who have been separated from their parents and are with strangers are particularly vulnerable to violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect, added the NGO. Coupled with repeated displacement and incessant hostilities, children in Gaza have become susceptible to a wide spectrum of mental health issues that doctors are observing in Gaza; MSF Mental Health Activity Manager in Gaza, Davide Musardo, described images of children “maimed, with burns or without parents. Children having panic attacks, because physical pain triggers psychological wounds…Calmer children draw[ing] drones and military jets.” Little children do not have the tools to cope with the scale of loss, suffering and trauma surrounding them, Musardo explained, and are increasingly showing symptoms of depression, anxiety and acute stress, with many expressing a “desire to die instead of living this horror.”
• A high risk of famine persists in the Gaza Strip as long as hostilities continue and humanitarian access remains restricted, according to the third update on food insecurity in the Gaza Strip published on 25 June by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) partnership. The IPC analysis finds that about 96 per cent of the population of the Gaza strip are likely to face crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) between 16 June and 30 September, including 33 per cent (745,000 people) projected to face emergency levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 4) and 22 per cent (495,000 people) projected to face catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 5). Moreover, in contrast to the February projections that famine would likely occur in northern Gaza by the end of May, available evidence does not suggest that famine is currently occurring in the northern governorates, where food deliveries and nutrition services increased in March and April. In the southern governorates, the situation has deteriorated following intensified hostilities in Rafah and increased access restrictions since early May; over a million people have been displaced from Rafah to areas with “significantly reduced” essential infrastructure and basic services and “people’s ability to cope and access humanitarian assistance” has been eroded.  Across the Gaza Strip, the latest data show that, on a regular basis, more than half of the population does not have any food to eat in the house, and over 20 per cent go entire days and nights without eating. To buy food, more than half of the households were forced to exchange their clothes for money and one third resorted to picking up trash to sell.
• Nutrition Cluster partners have observed trends similar to those in the IPC analysis through the Nutrition Vulnerability Analysis (NVA) published on 25 June, based on data collected in southern and northern Gaza between 1 April and 24 May 2024. The analysis finds that improved humanitarian access in April contributed to limited improvements in food security indicators and the diets of children (aged 6–23 months). Yet, the analysis points to a deterioration in dietary diversity among children aged 6 to 23 months and pregnant and breastfeeding women in May compared with April, based on a post-distribution monitoring (PDM) assessment carried out by UNICEF between 20 and 24 May across the Gaza Strip. In southern Gaza, PDM results showed a deterioration in dietary diversity among children aged 6 to 23 months, with 99 per cent eating from four or fewer food groups in May, compared with 96 per cent in April. Although with a limited sample, data covering northern Gaza revealed similar trends. Across the Gaza Strip, 93 per cent of children aged 6 to 23 months had eaten two or fewer food groups in the 24 hours preceding the survey, while among pregnant and breastfeeding women, 96 per cent had eaten two or fewer food groups. Furthermore, the PMD found that 85 per cent of parents reported that their children had gone without eating for a whole day due to lack of money or other resources, while almost 100 per cent of households reported having to skip meals or eat less food to secure their child’s diet. The absence of minimum dietary diversity – which entails the consumption of at least five out of eight defined food groups for children aged 6–23 months and at least five out of 10 defined food groups for women—can seriously jeopardize both women’s health and child development. Access constraints and volatile security conditions have led to the closure of nutrition delivery points in May and June and to delays in establishing new nutrition services, according to the Nutrition Cluster, thereby hampering the scale up of operational presence to ensure the early detection of children and women requiring nutrition support.
• On 27 June, MoH in Gaza announced that 21 children suffering from cancer, mostly leukaemia, exited Gaza through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing to Egypt. Calling for the re-opening of Rafah Crossing, MoH emphasized the urgent need to evacuate 10,200 people suffering from cancer in Gaza, including 980 paediatric cases of whom 250 are in critical condition. Moreover, while more than 1,200 people require hemodialysis treatment, nearly half (593 patients) are relying on only 24 dialysis machines at Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, and there are only 17 dialysis machines available in the North Gaza and Gaza governorates, according to MoH. Due to shortages of equipment and medications, dialysis patients are now receiving treatment only twice a week, with each session lasting less than one hour and a half, which is far below the frequency and length of treatment required, underscored the Ministry. According to MoH in Gaza, over 70 per cent of essential medicines are missing at Gaza’s hospitals and primary healthcare centers and about 70 per cent of health infrastructure has been destroyed, disproportionately affecting cancer and kidney patients.
• The scale of health needs in Gaza continues to severely outstretch the scant resources available. On 23 June, WHO and its partners delivered fuel and medical supplies to Al Ahli and As Sahaba hospitals in northern Gaza. Five children - four suffering from cancer and one having second-degree burns - were also transferred from Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza governorate to Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis governorate. On 26 June, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) received six trucks of medicines and supplies through Kerem Shalom Crossing. However, the inability to bring in sufficient medical supplies and fuel has forced aid organizations to scale back their services. UNRWA reported that the severe deficit of medicines and fuel is hampering life-saving operations by its teams who continue to provide services at only 29 per cent of the Agency’s health centres that remain operational. PRCS noted that severe fuel shortages have rendered 36 per cent of its ambulance fleet (18 ambulances) non-functional. Similarly, MSF highlighted that its inability to bring in supplies into Gaza since the end of April had forced it to temporarily suspend operations at one of its health centers in Khan Younis. Moreover, due to the shortage of sterile compress gauzes at Nasser and Al Aqsa hospitals, MSF has reduced the frequency of dressing changes for patients with severe burns, which increases the risk of infections. Painkillers are lacking and medicines to treat rising skin infections such as scabies are “running dangerously low.” According to MSF, since 14 June, six MSF trucks, comprising 37 tons of medical supplies, have been awaiting entry on the Egyptian side of Kerem Shalom Crossing.
• The ongoing constraints on the entry of sufficient fuel supplies continue to severely reduce people’s access to WASH services across the Gaza Strip and further disrupt water trucking, network repairs, sewage pumping, and solid waste collection. According to the WASH Cluster, between 15 and 23 June, only 25,900 litres of fuel were received, an average of about 3,200 litres of fuel per day, which is less than five per cent of the estimated daily requirement of 70,000 litres to operate critical WASH services that remain accessible. The scarcity of fuel has forced water service providers to undertake significant rationing in operating municipal groundwater wells and the two water desalination plants that remain functional, resulting in further reductions in water production. For example, water production from groundwater wells, which historically accounted for 80 per cent of Gaza’s water supply, has recently dropped from 35,000 to 15,000 cubic metres per day, or to about six per cent of pre-war groundwater production capacity (~250,000 cubic metres per day). Limited fuel has also only allowed the two operational desalination plants to pump sufficient water to maintain the filtration membranes, which rapidly deteriorate from lack of use, have been difficult to replace, and without which the plants are rendered inoperable. This ‘membrane flushing” produces 2,000 – 2,500 cubic metres of drinking water per day, which constitutes only a quarter of each desalination plant’s current production capacity. In the absence of an immediate replenishment of adequate fuel supplies, the WASH Cluster warns that water production in Gaza would cease within three days of the cessation of membrane flushing. Between 10 and 23 June, water production for safe drinking and domestic purposes stood at about 112,000 cubic metres per day, which is less than 30 per cent of the per-war production level, the WASH Cluster reports.
• Between 1 and 27 June, out of 101 planned humanitarian assistance missions to northern Gaza coordinated with Israeli authorities, 49 (49 per cent) were facilitated, 10 (10 per cent) were denied access, 30 (30 per cent) were impeded, and 12 (11 per cent) were cancelled due to logistical, operational, or security reasons. In addition, out of 276 coordinated humanitarian assistance missions to areas in southern Gaza, 197 (71 per cent) were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 14 (five per cent) were denied access, 30 (11 per cent) were impeded, and 35 (13 per cent) were cancelled.

Funding

• As of 28 June, Member States have disbursed about US$1.20 billion out of $3.42 billion (35 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt HF has 109 ongoing projects, for a total of $78.9 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 69 projects are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 26 by national NGOs and 14 by UN agencies. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in May 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual Report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.