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UNRWA Situation Report #116 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem - All information from 25-27 June 2024, is valid as of 27 June 2024 at 22:30 (local time)

UNRWA

28 Jun 2024

Days 263-265 of Hostilities

Download UNRWA multimedia resources here

Key Points

• UNRWA's Senior Communication Officer describes the worsening living conditions with hundreds of thousands of people deprived of adequate shelter, food, medicine and clean water with trash piling up and ability to dispose garbage, and treat sewage severely restricted.

• On 25 June, UNRWA's Commissioner-General (CG) held a press briefing during the UNRWA Advisory Commission in Geneva. The CG highlighted that the number of crossings into Gaza remained far too limited. He further said that aid agencies are confronted with a near total breakdown of law and order, with truck drivers regularly threatened or assaulted and less and less willing to move assistance from the border to warehouses and from the warehouses to the people. In addition to the security situation, there remain critically low levels of fuel available to carry out aid missions. The CG made a call for sustainable, meaningful and uninterrupted supply of aid into the Gaza Strip.

• Ongoing strikes by Israeli Forces continue, with aerial, land and maritime bombardment across the Gaza Strip. These result in civilian casualties, displacement and the destruction of residential structures and civilian infrastructure. Airstrikes have been especially intense in central Gaza (middle areas), particularly in Bureij, Maghazi and Nuseirat refugee camps and eastern Deir Al Balah. The Israeli Forces' ground offensive continues to expand, particularly in the southern regions of Gaza City and eastern Rafah, deepening the humanitarian crisis and significantly destabilizing humanitarian aid flows.

• The military operation in Rafah and challenges in retrieving fuel from the Kerem Shalom crossing are leading to major fuel shortages, impacting aid operations and the functioning of critical water, sanitation, health and other facilities across the Gaza Strip.

• The latest information of supplies entering Gaza via Kerem Shalom and Rafah can be found here: Gaza Supplies and Dispatch Tracking | UNRWA

• The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report on Gaza reports that 96 per cent of the population are facing acute food insecurity at crisis levels or higher, with almost half a million people in catastrophic conditions. According to UN Women[1], at least 557,000 women in Gaza are facing severe food insecurity and the situation remains concerning for mothers and adult women, who often prioritize feeding others and report greater difficultly in accessing food compared to men.

• The Nutrition Cluster[2] released its latest vulnerability and situation analysis covering the period of April through May 2024. The report highlighted a high level of deprivation in dietary diversity, with 93 per cent of children surveyed having eaten two or fewer food groups in the 24 hours before the survey. Furthermore, 85 per cent of parents report that their child had gone a whole day without eating due to lack of money or other resources.

• As of 27 June, the total number of UNRWA colleagues killed since 7 October is 193.

• [1] At least 557,000 women in Gaza are facing severe food insecurity - occupied Palestinian territory | ReliefWeb

  [2] Nutrition Vulnerability and Situation Analysis /Gaza (June 2024) - occupied Palestinian territory | ReliefWeb

The West Bank, including East Jerusalem

The West Bank, including East Jerusalem update is now once a week.

• According to OCHA, between 7 October 2023 and 24 June 2024, 536 Palestinians, including 130 children, were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
• Overall Situation

The Gaza Strip

• According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, as of 24 June, at least 37,626 Palestinians have been reported killed in the Gaza Strip since 7 October. Another 86,098 Palestinians have been reported injured.

Humanitarian Access, Protection of Civilians

The Gaza Strip

UNRWA is working to verify the details of incidents reportedly affecting UNRWA premises. Further information will be provided once it becomes available.

• Three incidents have been reported impacting UNRWA installations and internally displaced people (IDPs) sheltering there. While verification of details and casualty figures remain ongoing, initial reports indicate:
  • On 31 May 2024, a male IDP and his two children were injured by detonated unexploded ordnance (UXO) in a school in Khan Younis (south).
  • On 25 June 2024, 12 IDPs were killed and 33 were injured in a school in Beach camp, in Gaza City, when the north-west building was hit by an airstrike. 18 injured IDPs were transferred to the hospital and 15 others received medical care at the school. Among the injured was an UNRWA staff member who sustained moderate injuries. A child was reported missing. The school building sustained major damage.
  • On 25 June 2024, the Israeli navy fired two shells at an UNRWA guesthouse in the Mawasi area in Rafah. There were no injuries (no UNRWA staff were present at the premises); minor damage was reported.
• 449* incidents impacting UNRWA premises and the people inside them have been reported since the beginning of the war (some with multiple incidents impacting the same location), including at least 72 incidents of military use and/or interference at UNRWA premises. 188 different UNRWA installations have been impacted.
• UNRWA estimates that in total at least 520* IDPs sheltering in UNRWA shelters have been killed and at least a further 1,595* injured since the start of the war. UNRWA is still verifying the number of casualties caused by incidents that impacted its installations, and notes that these figures do not include some reported casualties where the number of injuries could not be determined.

* Numbers continue to be subject to change once further verifications have been conducted.

UNRWA Response

The Gaza Strip

Health

• As of 24 June, 91 medical points and eight (out of 26[1]) UNRWA health centres were operational. These health centres provide primary health care, including outpatient services, non-communicable disease care, medications, vaccination, antenatal and postnatal health care and dressing for the injured.
• On 23 June, UNRWA opened a new temporary health centre in the middle area to meet increased demands of health services due to increased numbers of IDPs in the area.
• Over 1,000 staff continue to work in operational health centres and medical points across the Gaza Strip, providing 16,824 medical consultations on 24 June.
• As of 24 June, UNRWA provided mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services in the Middle and Khan Younis areas with teams of psychiatrists and supervisors to assist special cases referred from health centres and shelters. UNRWA teams responded to 603 cases. UNRWA teams responded to cases in health centres and at medical points through individual consultations, awareness sessions and support for cases of gender-based violence. UNRWA teams provided medical care for 418 post-natal and pregnant women at high risk.

[1] Pre-conflict UNRWA had 22 health centres, following the conflict an additional temporary health centres have been established.

Psychosocial support (PSS)

• With the support of more than 300 counsellors, UNRWA continues to provide lifesaving psychosocial support (PSS) services in Gaza, including psychosocial first aid, individual and group counselling, fatigue management sessions, recreational activities, Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) and protection cash assistance, reaching children, youth and adults.
• Since the onset of the conflict, it is estimated that 680,000 IDPs, including 430,000 children, have benefited from a total of 228,042 PSS sessions/activities. From 15 - 22 June 2024, a total of 51,033 IDPs, including 21,253 children, benefited from these services. Specifically, counsellors addressed 1,864 individual consultations and provided 906 group awareness sessions. Additionally, they conducted 1,090 recreational activities engaging 20,768 children. Counsellors also provided 329 EORE sessions to 6,709 adults and 391 sessions to 7,259 children.

Food Security

• As of 20 June, UNRWA continued to distribute flour in the southern governorates. To date, a total of 380,225 families (nearly 1.9 million people) have been reached, of whom 367,768 families have received two rounds of flour and another 300,978 families have received three rounds.
• As part of its emergency response UNRWA also distributes food parcels in southern governorates. UNRWA food parcels consist[1] of flour, rice, chickpeas, lentils, cheese, hummus and fish and are designed to cover approximately 90 per cent of the calorific needs. To date, approximately 210,920 families (nearly 1.15 million people) have been reached, of whom 34,839 families (nearly 215,000 people) have received two rounds of food parcels.
• In addition to distribution of its own food parcels, UNRWA has distributed other in-kind food parcels on behalf of other UN organizations, reaching approximately 1.4 million people.

[1] Note the composition of the food parcel may change based on food item availability

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

Due to the security situation, in combination with challenges to internet connectivity, we have been unable to provide any additional updates since Sitrep 67.

Quote from Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General:

"Humanitarian aid delivery into Gaza continues to be constrained. Gaza is an active war zone with a complex operating environment for aid agencies including UNRWA. Aid at scale is not reaching people in need, eight months on a brutal war."

See the full tweet here.

ENDS-