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UNRWA Situation Report #137 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. All information from 13 - 16 September 2024, valid as of 16 September 2024 at 22:30 (local time)

UNRWA

18 Sep 2024

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.
• Humanitarian pauses across specific areas of the Gaza Strip have enabled the first round of the emergency polio vaccination campaign. The Polio vaccination campaign was rolled out in phases, focusing on one zone at a time - starting in the Middle Areas, shifting to the south, and finally to the northern governorates. Between 1-13 September, nearly 560,000 children were reached in the middle, southern and northern areas of the Gaza Strip according to WHO.
• As winter approaches, WFP as the logistics cluster lead agency warns that worsening conditions and damaged roads in Gaza will complicate the delivery of food, water, medicine, and hygiene supplies to areas where they are critical for the survival of communities.
• According to the Health and WASH Clusters, there remains a critical shortage of essential hygiene items such as soap, shampoo, and detergents. Families are struggling to maintain basic hygiene in overcrowded shelters, which increases the risk of health conditions like infectious diarrhea. Handwashing with soap can reduce diarrheal diseases by 40 per cent and respiratory infections by 20 per cent, yet soap and detergents are now either unavailable or priced beyond what families can afford. For example, a 75 gram piece of soap costs up to US$ 10, forcing families to make the hard choice between essential food or hygiene.
• On 14 September, the Israeli military issued yet another evacuation order affecting three neighbourhoods in central Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza. According to the Site Management Working Group, this order affects two internally displaced collective centres and one makeshift site, hosting a total of 850 people. The ongoing issuance of mass evacuation orders without ensuring that those displaced have safe and adequate places to stay, is worsening the humanitarian crisis for hundreds of thousands of people, especially those who are repeatedly and forcibly displaced. As of 16 September, according to OCHA, more than 55 evacuation orders remain in effect, covering about 86 per cent of Gaza.
• According to the UN, at least 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 or more).
• As of 17 September, the total number of UNRWA team members killed since 7 October is 220.
• 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, war and insecurity, damaged infrastructure, fuel shortages and access restrictions. According to OCHA, between 1 and 9 September 2024, an average of only 62 humanitarian trucks entered the Gaza Strip per 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

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 9 September 2024, 674 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Separately, UNICEF confirmed that over 150 children have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, during the period, 7 October 2023 to July 2024.
• On 10 September, ISF resumed operations in northern West Bank (following their last withdrawal on 6 September), targeting Tulkarm, Nur Shams, and El Far'a camps. On 12 September, the ISF withdrew from Tulkarm Camp, and on 13 September from El Far'a Camp. The operation left extensive destruction, including damage to roads, residential and commercial buildings, and led to the interruption of basic services including water supply, electricity and sewerage networks.
• As a result of the resumed operations, 12 Palestinians were killed, including one UNRWA staff member shot and killed by live ammunition fire while on the roof of his house in El Far'a Camp early on 12 September. Two drone strikes were reported during the operations, both on 11 September: one targeting a vehicle in Iktaba, killing three Palestinians; and one in the vicinity of a mosque in Tubas, resulting in six Palestinians killed.
• Furthermore, on 15 September, a Palestinian assailant was shot dead after allegedly stabbing and injuring an ISF personnel in Jerusalem's Old City.
• Movement restrictions remained in place across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. On 15 September, at least 23 Palestinians were detained at a checkpoint near Ramallah while attempting to reach their workplaces inside Israel.