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UNRWA Situation Report #130 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. All information from 20-21 August 2024, valid as of 21 August 2024 at 22:30 (local time)

UNRWA

23 Aug 2024

Key Points

The Gaza Strip

• First case of polio in Gaza in 25 years has been confirmed by WHO. The first case was confirmed in a 10-month-old child who has developed paralysis in the lower leg. Two rounds of polio vaccination are planned in the coming weeks, UNRWA medical teams will support delivery of vaccines in UNRWA clinics and mobile health teams, working in partnership with WHO and UNICEF. UNRWA remains a major actor in the health sector, providing health services across 10 primary health centres and up to 100 mobile medical points across the Gaza Strip.
• Ongoing strikes by Israeli Security Forces (ISF) continue, with aerial, land and maritime bombardments across the Gaza Strip, resulting in civilian casualties, displacement and the destruction of residential structures and public infrastructure.
• The Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) for the occupied Palestinian territory issued a statement highlighting that in August, so far, Israeli Security Forces (ISF) have issued 12 evacuation orders - on average, once every two days - forcing as many as 250,000 people to move yet again.
• During the reporting period, the ISF issued several evacuation orders. On 21 August evacuation orders were sent to residents of Al-Mahta neighborhoods, south of Deir El Balah in the Middle Areas. Three UNRWA installations are within the evacuation zone. The following day, on 22 August, the ISF issued another evacuation order for residents of Bani Suheila, Sheikh Nasser, Barbah, Al Sater, Markaz Al Madina, Al Makhata and Al Katiba, in the Khan Younis area. The number of UNRWA installations within the evacuation zone is being verified.
• According to a FEWS NET latest Gaza Strip Targeted Analysis Update, food assistance declined further as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza persisted. The update highlighted that by the end of July, an estimated 1.7 million people - or around 80 per cent of Gaza's total population - were sheltering in Al-Mawasi, reinforcing its status as one of the most densely populated displacement sites in the world. Amid the large-scale displacement that occurred in June and July, the amount of humanitarian food supply that entered Gaza through the southern border crossings in July dropped to the lowest level recorded since October 2023, amounting to only one quarter of the quantity that entered on average each month between November and May.
• The Nutrition Cluster reported an increase in levels of acute malnutrition among children under the age of five (6-59 months) in northern Gaza in July. The Nutrition Cluster assessed that the increase in acute malnutrition is linked to food consumption and disease factors, exacerbated by the lack of physical access to, and inconsistent operation of, nutrition and health services, as well as limited stocks of essential supplies, especially in Gaza City. UNRWA remains one of the largest nutrition actors providing nearly 15 per cent of all nutrition sites in Gaza, as well as specialised outpatient therapeutic programming, supplementary feeding, infant and young child feeding programmes.
• New IRC research highlights that the risk of family separation has increased dramatically in the past months, exacerbated by multiple rounds of displacements, arrests, Israeli evacuation orders and fatalities, with children found living alone in hospitals as one example. About 17,000 children in Gaza are estimated to be unaccompanied or separated from their parents according to UNICEF, but actual numbers may be higher.
• According to the UN, up to 1.9 million people (or nine in ten people) across the Gaza Strip are internally displaced, including people who have been repeatedly displaced (some up to 10 times).
• As of 21 August, the total number of UNRWA team members killed since 7 October is 209.
• Several challenges stand in the way of collecting much needed humanitarian supplies from the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing point in southern Gaza. These include deteriorating law and order, the war and insecurity, damaged infrastructure, fuel shortages and access restrictions. According to OCHA, between 1 and 12 August 2024, an average of only 76 humanitarian trucks entered the Gaza Strip every day. This is well below the pre-crisis average of 500 trucks per working day.
• The latest information on supplies entering Gaza can be accessed through the below link:

Gaza Supplies and Dispatch Tracking | UNRWA