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UNRWA Situation Report #74 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (All information from 4-5 February 2024, is valid as of 5 February 2024 at 22:30 local time)

UNRWA

7 Feb 2024

Key points

The Gaza Strip

• Intense fighting in/around Khan Younis (southwest of Gaza) over the last 15 days is causing loss of life and damage to civilian infrastructure, including UNRWA's largest shelter in the southern area, the Khan Younis Training Centre (KYTC). This is forcing thousands of Palestinians to flee further south towards Rafah, which is severely overcrowded, with reports of Israeli Forces' strikes in Rafah on 4-5 February.

• According to OCHA, the Israeli military has re-issued evacuation orders for Khan Younis and Gaza governorate residents. As of December both these areas contained 210 shelters hosting over 770,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). Evacuation orders will undoubtedly put households in further precarious situation, pushing additional people to Rafah which is currently hosting up to five times its population prior to 7 October.

• On 5 February, an UNRWA food convoy waiting to move into northern Gaza was directly hit by Israeli naval gunfire. UNRWA sends notifications about all aid convoys and coordinates all movements with the Israeli Authorities; however, aid convoys continue to come under fire.

• Delivering lifesaving humanitarian aid becomes incredibly difficult under these circumstances and safe and sustainable access is urgently needed everywhere including to the north of Gaza.

• As of 5 February, the total number of UNRWA colleagues killed since the beginning of hostilities is now 154, an increase of two since the last situation report.

• As of 5 February, up to 1.7 million* people (over 75 per cent of the population) ** have been displaced across the Gaza Strip, some multiple times.*** Families are forced to move repeatedly in search of safety. Following intense Israeli bombardments and fighting in Khan Younis and the Middle Area in recent days, a significant number of displaced people have moved further south.

*This includes 1 million individuals residing in or near emergency shelters or informal shelters. As of October 12, approximately 160,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were recorded in north Gaza and Gaza governorates. The ability of UNRWA to provide humanitarian support and updated data in these areas has been severely restricted. The ongoing hostilities, evacuation orders issued by Israeli Forces, and the constant need for safer locations have resulted in people being displaced multiple times.

**UNRWA has reported in Situation Report 64 that up to 1.9 million IDPs are either residing in 154 UNRWA shelters or near these shelters. Due to the continued escalation of fighting and evacuation orders, some households have moved away from the shelters where they were initially registered.

*** There are instances where the same IDs are registered in multiple shelters due to the fluid movement of populations; hereafter, estimates are used for these shelters. UNRWA plans to conduct a more accurate count of IDPs in shelters, including informal shelters, as soon as the security situation allows.