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UNRWA Situation Report #85 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem - All information from 29-2 March 2024, is valid as of 2 March 2024 at 22:30

UNRWA

4 Mar 2024

Days 146-148 of Hostilities

Key points

The Gaza Strip

• Intense Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea continued to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of civilian infrastructure.
• According to UNICEF statement, "At least ten children have reportedly died because of dehydration and malnutrition in Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Northern Gaza Strip in recent days. There are likely more children fighting for their lives somewhere in one of Gaza's few remaining hospitals, and likely even more children in the north unable to obtain care at all. "These tragic and horrific deaths are man-made, predictable and entirely preventable. The widespread lack of nutritious food, safe water and medical services, a direct consequence of the impediments to access and multiple dangers facing UN humanitarian operations, is impacting children and mothers, hindering their ability to breastfeed their babies, especially in the Northern Gaza Strip. People are hungry, exhausted and traumatized. Many are clinging to life."
• The first two days of March have seen a marginal increase in the number of trucks entering with an average 120 trucks per day entering Gaza, well below the operational capacity of both border crossings. February saw a very low number of trucks entering Gaza with an average of nearly 99 trucks entering per day. The number of trucks entering Gaza remains well below the target of 500 per day, with challenges bringing supplies in through both Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) and Rafah. UNRWA trucks have struggled to enter the Gaza Strip due to the war and the inconsistent opening of both crossings. Security to manage the crossing has been severely impacted due to the killing of several Palestinian policemen in Israeli airstrikes near the crossings in early February.
• As of 2 March, the total number of UNRWA colleagues killed since the beginning of hostilities is now 160.
• As of 2 March, 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 weeks, a significant number of displaced people have moved further south.

*This includes one million individuals residing in or near emergency shelters or informal shelters. As of 12 October, approximately 160,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were recorded in UNRWA shelters in North Gaza and Gaza governorates. UNRWA currently estimates that the population of North Gaza and Gaza governorates to be up to 300,000 people. 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 Security Forces (ISF), and the constant need for safer locations have resulted in people being displaced multiple times.

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

*** There are instances where the same IDPs are registered in multiple shelters due to the fuid 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.