Humanitarian Situation Update #265 | Gaza Strip

The Humanitarian Situation Update is issued by OCHA Occupied Palestinian Territory twice a week. The Gaza Strip is covered on Tuesdays and the West Bank on Thursdays. The Gaza Humanitarian Response Update is issued every other Tuesday. The next Humanitarian Situation Update for the West Bank will be issued on 20 February.

Key Highlights

• Since the ceasefire, food security partners have brought over 57,000 metric tons of food into Gaza, more than double the amount in the month prior to the ceasefire; distribution of that assistance is ongoing. These figures only refer to humanitarian cargo brought into Gaza by the United Nations or through UN coordination.*
• Medical evacuations outside Gaza remain critical as the health system in Gaza continues to face significant challenges in delivering life-saving care to thousands of patients, including due to shortages of essential medical equipment. 
• More than 1,500 water points are now operational across Gaza, but water production and supply are still at about a quarter of pre-October 2023 levels.
• Mine Action actors are assessing and marking explosive ordnance to facilitate the scale up of humanitarian operations.

Humanitarian Developments

• On 15 February, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the sixth release operation since the ceasefire came into effect on 19 January. Three hostages were transferred out of Gaza to Israel, and 369 Palestinian detainees were released from Israeli detention centres. Palestinian detainees included 333 people who were detained from the Gaza Strip after 7 October 2023 and 24 detainees who were released to Egypt. In total, since 19 January, 19 Israeli and five Thai hostages and 1,135 Palestinian detainees have been released. 
• As of 18 February, it is estimated that 73 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including hostages who have been declared dead and whose bodies are being withheld in Gaza. 
• As of February 2025, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israeli human rights NGO, there are 9,846 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 1,734 sentenced prisoners, 2,941 remand detainees, 3,369 administrative detainees held without trial, and 1,802 people held as “unlawful combatants.” These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained by the Israeli military since 7 October 2023.
• Between the afternoons of 11 and 18 February, the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza reported the killing of 72 Palestinians and the injury of 57 others; this includes 62 newly retrieved bodies. Since the ceasefire came into effect on 19 January, and as of 18 February, a total of 675 bodies were retrieved from areas that were previously inaccessible, MoH reported. As of 18 February 2025, MoH in Gaza reported the killing of at least 48,291 Palestinians and the injury of 111,722 others, since 7 October 2023. 
• Between 11 and 17 February, several incidents resulting in fatalities were reported across the Gaza Strip, including the following: 
  • On 11 February, a Palestinian man was reportedly shot and killed in As Saudi neighborhood in western Rafah.
  • On 12 February, a Palestinian man was reportedly killed and another injured in an airstrike in As Shouka area in eastern Rafah.
  • On 13 February, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy was reportedly shot and killed east of Al Bureij refugee camp in Deir al Balah.
  • On 16 February, according to the Gaza Ministry of Interior, three Palestinian police officers securing the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza, were reportedly killed in As Shouka area in southeastern Rafah. 
  • On 16 February, a Palestinian man was reportedly killed in Ash Shouka area in southeastern Rafah.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 18 February 2025, according to Israeli forces and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,607 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October 2023 and its immediate aftermath. This includes 407 soldiers killed, in addition to 2,579 soldiers injured, in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation in October 2023.
• The health system in Gaza continues to face significant challenges in delivering the required care to thousands of trauma and chronic patients, including due to severe shortages in oxygen supply, equipment and bed capacity at intensive care units (ICUs). Only four oxygen stations are available in southern Gaza while one oxygen station is currently available serving seven hospitals in northern Gaza, compared with 20 machines in northern Gaza prior to the escalation of hostilities, according to the director of Shifa Medical Complex, placing the lives of patients in ICUs at risk. According to the MoH, 10 central oxygen stations, which were burned or destroyed during hostilities, were used to supply oxygen to critical hospital departments such as operating rooms, ICUs, emergency wards, and neonatal incubators, as well as to patients requiring oxygen at home. In total, according to the Health Cluster, there are currently 108 beds in ICU units across Gaza, including 23 in Gaza, 28 in Deir al Balah, 48 in Khan Younis, nine in Rafah and none in North Gaza. 
• Chronically ill patients, estimated to number about 350,000 people, across Gaza continue to face critical shortages of essential medications and treatments. According to official sources cited by the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2022, there were over 60,000 patients with raised blood glucose, about 45,000 patients living with cardiovascular disease, and more than 1,500 patients in need of kidney dialysis to maintain life. Additionally, Anera reported that many new patients have developed non-communicable diseases at an unusually young age, due to war-related stress, severely limited access to nutritious and calorically adequate food, and the consumption of salty or contaminated drinking water. Yet, despite significantly high levels of need, there are at present only 102 hemodialysis machines across Gaza, compared with 182 prior to the escalation of hostilities in October 2023. Ten of the currently available machines were brought into Gaza by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) following the ceasefire and placed in Al Aqsa Hospital and Az Zawayda field hospital in Deir al Balah governorate. In northern Gaza, according to the Health Cluster, there are only 27 machines, serving about 250 patients, up from 60 patients prior to the ceasefire given the return of hundreds of thousands of people to northern Gaza since 27 January. These equipment shortages are exacerbated by zero stock levels of kidney medications and consumables at MoH warehouses, the destruction of six out of seven dialysis centres, and reduced treatment sessions—generally two two-hour sessions instead of the required three four-hour sessions per week, resulting in detrimental consequences for the health of dialysis patients, the Health Cluster reported. According to MoH, there are currently 700 dialysis patients across Gaza.
• WHO reports that 14 of the patients evacuated to Egypt since 1 February have been further transferred to Italy via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. This brings the total number of patients evacuated through this Mechanism to 100, according to ECHO. According to WHO, between 12,000 and 14,000 people, including about 5,000 children, remain in urgent need of medical evacuation.
• On the occasion of International Childhood Cancer Day, on 13 February, WHO reported that hundreds of children need to be evacuated to neighbouring countries to receive lifesaving treatment. Yet, of the 405 children with cancer referred to pediatric facilities outside Gaza following the escalation of hostilities in October 2023, “only 10 were approved with a companion,” and in some cases, “children died before receiving approval.” In support of cancer patients in Gaza, UNDP has recently supplied the hematology and oncology department at the European Gaza hospital with a one-year supply of essential cancer medications, including chemotherapy. In addition, it supplied Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis with advanced screening and diagnostic capabilities for breast cancer. Such procedures had been suspended after the only hospital specialized in treating cancer patients in Gaza (the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital) became non-operational in November 2023; back then, its fuel supply was depleted and it sustained heavy damage, preventing many cancer patients including women from accessing needed treatments. According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), although breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women in Gaza, accounting for about 20 per cent of all registered cancer cases, the survival rate in Gaza does not exceed 65 per cent, due to severe shortages of necessary medicines and treatments. In the Gaza Strip, more than 366 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed annually, based on 2022 data, prior to the halt in diagnosis of new cases during the escalation of hostilities. PCHR warned that denying women early screening for breast cancer and delaying case detection expose women in Gaza to the risk of slow death.
• Food Security Sector (FSS) partners have significantly scaled up their efforts to assist people across the Gaza Strip. Since the ceasefire took effect on 19 January and as of mid-February, FSS partners supported more than 1.8 million people with full rations of food parcels. This is in addition to distributions of hot meals, wheat flour and bread bundles. In total, as of 17 February, FSS partners have brought into Gaza over 57,000 metric tons (MT) of food, more than double the amount in the month prior to the ceasefire. These figures only refer to humanitarian cargo brought into Gaza by the United Nations or through UN coordination.* There are currently 25 WFP-supported bakeries across the Gaza Strip, including one in North Gaza, eight in Gaza, nine in Khan Younis, six in Deir al Balah and one in Rafah. This includes six newly opened bakeries in Gaza (one), Khan Younis (four), and Rafah (one) governorates. The new bakery in Rafah is the first WFP-supported bakery operating there since the May 2024 military ground operation. To expand bread coverage and reduce overcrowding, and as of 17 February, bread has been available for purchase at 24 retail shops and free bread delivery has been expanded to cover selected shelters and community kitchens, particularly in North Gaza. According to WFP, seven million hot meals have been served since the ceasefire took effect, including meals distributed at two new hubs in Beit Lahiya (in North Gaza) and Rafah that are serving 20,000 and 1,500 meals per day, respectively. 
• There are currently more than 1,500 water points across the Gaza Strip, compared with 750-850 points operational prior to the ceasefire. These points are supplying 17,000 cubic metres of drinking and domestic water per day, serving 1.1 million people. In total, between 2 and 15 February, WASH Cluster partners trucked about 8,200 cubic metres of water to 1,532 locations across Gaza. However, water production and supply remain at about a quarter of water supply prior to October 2023; between 7 and 13 February, the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) reported that a daily average of 116,671 cubic metres of water was produced across the Gaza Strip. About 43 per cent (50,761 cubic metres) of drinking water is produced from the two operational seawater desalination plants or supplied from Israel through two of the Mekorot lines, while about 57 per cent (56,910 cubic metres) is produced by municipal ground water wells. Combined with the persistent need to bring in generators, solar panels and spare parts as well as the continuing energy crisis, WASH Cluster operators continue to face significant challenges. To address water scarcity and improve access to clean water, a subsidized water initiative has been launched in early February, led by UNICEF, PWA, and CMWU, to increase the quantity of water availability through the strategic management of fuel reserves. This initiative involves the provision of fuel to operate nine private desalination units in Gaza governorate and reduce water production costs. Another initiative is being planned that will expand water availability by providing owners of small private wells with fuel to produce free domestic water to returning internally displaced people (IDPs).
• The Protection Cluster and the Protection from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (PSEA) Network are training and deploying mobile teams and volunteers at aid distribution points, to ensure safe and dignified access to humanitarian aid and adherence to the do no harm principle during the rapid scale-up of humanitarian assistance. Monitoring teams consist of Emergency Protection Responders (EPRs) and PSEA Network volunteers. Currently, 50 such teams operate in the north, and 50 others in the south, covering a total of 68 distribution points. Through monitoring conducted between 21 January and 18 February at 30 distribution points in Gaza, Deir al Balah and Khan Younis governorates, teams identified several gaps, including limited accessibility for persons with disabilities, limited capacity to prioritize vulnerable cases, and in most sites, the absence of a clear complaint mechanism. Furthermore, about 25 per cent of assessed sites were staffed solely by men, and 30 per cent of sites lacked separate queues for men and women, raising concerns about gender-sensitivity in aid delivery. The Protection Cluster with the PSEA network continue to expand safeguarding interventions and protection capacity across Gaza, including through awareness raising on the core humanitarian principles of impartiality and neutrality, information dissemination on available complaint mechanisms, such as the SAWA toll-free number, and training of additional monitors.
• In response to the critical threat posed by explosive ordnance (EO), humanitarian Mine Action (MA) actors are carrying out a range of key activities and functions, including explosive hazard assessments (EHA) of high-priority locations essential for humanitarian operations to assess the presence of EO threats. MA partners are also accompanying humanitarian convoys to ensure their safety from EO. Since the ceasefire took effect, support requests have surged by 375 per cent compared with 2024. Between 1 January and 17 February 2025, humanitarian organizations submitted to UNMAS 285 requests for EHA, 20 per cent of which were responded to by MA partners. UNMAS prioritizes MA support requests on behalf of the sector and is currently focusing on supporting immediate lifesaving activities. These include facilitation of humanitarian access to ensure safe delivery, distributions of food and other necessities, as well as assessments of humanitarian aid warehouses, distribution sites, hospitals, health centres and critical storage facilities. Humanitarian MA actors are unable to conduct life-saving disposal operations, due to the lack of necessary equipment. The needed equipment is classified as “dual-use”—goods that are considered useable for either civilian or military purposes— and are subject to entry restrictions by Israeli authorities. As a result, contaminated sites remain inaccessible and pose an imminent threat to the community. So far in 2025, UNMAS has recorded a sharp increase in reports of EO victims. Notwithstanding limited data, between 1 January and 17 February 2025, UNMAS documented the killing of two people and the injury of 38 others by EO, comprising one woman, 22 men, two girls and 13 boys. Khan Younis governorate accounted for about 37 per cent of verified injury reports. MA partners have scaled up lifesaving explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) messaging for humanitarian personnel and local communities, especially at distribution sites, key areas of return and critical access points. Since the ceasefire began, EORE training has been delivered to 271 humanitarian frontline staff. Coordination with the Health Cluster has also been strengthened to refer those injured to health services, including mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS).
• On 14 February, the Education Cluster warned that the education system in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) is in a state of profound crisis. In Gaza, all children remain deprived of formal education and the essential protective support it provides. According to the Education Cluster, the unprecedented learning loss and destruction of educational institutions have further deepened the critical mental health crisis among children and youth. According to UNICEF, nearly all of Gaza’s one million children require MHPSS. Amid these immense challenges, the 19 January ceasefire has allowed Education Cluster partners to scale up their response and reach more children with critical learning and MHPSS. As of 16 February, a total of 212,539 learners are enrolled in the Ministry of Education's e-school programme, with 187,400 actively attending classes. Furthermore, 251,691 learners are enrolled in UNRWA’s distance learning programme, which relies on self-learning materials, with 71 per cent (178,000) able to participate. Moreover, partners have continued to relocate and establish new temporary learning spaces (TLS) in areas of return. At present, there are 405 TLSs operational across Gaza, including 11 in northern Gaza, serving about 137,000 children — less than a quarter of school-aged population in the Gaza Strip. In Gaza and North Gaza governorates, partners continue to identify potential sites for TLS; however, the presence of unexploded ordnance remains a major challenge due to the lack of clearance capacity, but there are ongoing awareness raising activities to enhance children's safety in that regard. Efforts are also underway to improve sanitation and hygiene at schools previously used as IDP shelters in preparation for their re-opening for educational purposes. Over the past two weeks, and in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, 17 schools in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis received cleaning materials through WASH Cluster support.

Funding

• As of 18 February 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$146.6 million out of the $4.07 billion (3.6 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025, under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Nearly 90 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during January 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 101 ongoing projects, totalling $72.4 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 55 are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 33 by national NGOs and 13 by UN agencies. Notably, 41 out of the 68 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt HF webpage.

* Asterisks indicate that a figure, sentence, or section has been rectified, added, or retracted after the initial publication of this update.