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UNRWA Situation Report #93 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem - All information from 19 - 20 March 2024, is valid as of 20 March 2024 at 22:30

UNRWA

22 Mar 2024

Key points

The Gaza Strip

• There is very little respite for Palestinians in Gaza, even during the holy month of Ramadan as the conflict across the Gaza Strip continues. Israeli Security Forces (ISF) continue military operations across the Gaza Strip. ISF airstrikes continue in heavily populated Rafah in southern Gaza, where UNRWA estimates a total of 1.2 million people are now living, the vast majority in formal and informal shelters.
• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations are ongoing. Meanwhile, heavy fighting between ISF and Palestinian armed groups continue in southeastern Gaza City and areas surrounding Al Shifa Hospital in the city. This has resulted in further civilian casualties, displacement, and the destruction of homes and other civilian infrastructure.
• The Israeli military operation inside and around Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City continued for the third successive day. The World Health Organization's Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated on 18 March that: "Hospitals should never be battlegrounds. WHO are terribly worried about the situation at Al Shifa Hospital, which is endangering health workers, patients and civilians."[1]
• UNOSAT satellite imagery analysis[2] showed that approximately one third (or 35 per cent) of the total structures in the Gaza Strip have been either damaged or destroyed. The governorates of Gaza and Khan Younis experienced the highest amount of destruction. Famine[3] is imminent in Gaza, especially amongst isolated populations in northern Gaza, who have been deprived of humanitarian assistance.
• On 18 March, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) partnership released its latest food security outlook. It concluded that up to 1.1 million people in Gaza are facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity. The report highlights the fast-deteriorating food security conditions, including a nearly 80 per cent increase in the number of people facing the highest classification of food insecurity since December, when the initial assessment was conducted. The increase has been triggered by the intensity of hostilities, extremely limited humanitarian access and severe limitations on the supply of goods and basic services. According to UNICEF and UNRWA nutrition screenings in February, the rates of acute malnutrition among children in northern Gaza and Rafah have nearly doubled in just one month. The IPC report also predicts a worsening of malnutrition rates unless aid increases and reaches the most vulnerable and hard to reach populations.
• Following the announcement that famine is imminent there has been no significant change in the volume of supplies entering Gaza or improved access to the north. The first 20 days of March saw an average of 159 aid trucks per day crossing into the Gaza Strip. This remains well below the operational capacity of both border crossings and the target of 500 per day, with challenges at both Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) and Rafah. Security to manage the crossings has been severely impacted due to the killing of several Palestinian policemen in Israeli airstrikes near the crossings in early February.
• As of 16 March, the total number of UNRWA colleagues killed since the beginning of hostilities is 169, an increase of one.
• As of 20 March, up to 1.7 million* people (over 75 per cent of the population) ** have been displaced across the Gaza Strip, the majority 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 1 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 Northern Gaza and Gaza City governorates. UNRWA currently estimates that the population of Northern Gaza and Gaza City governorates is up to 250,000 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 ISF, and the constant need for safer locations have resulted in people being displaced multiple times.

**UNRWA reported on 15 January 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 fighting 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 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.