• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

UNRWA Situation Report #143 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. All information from 11-13 October 2024, is valid as of 13 October 2024 at 22:30 (local time)

UNRWA

16 Oct 2024

Days 372-374 of Hostilities

Download UNRWA multimedia resources here

Key Points

The Gaza Strip

• Strikes by Israeli Security Forces (ISF) continue, with aerial, land and maritime bombardments across the Gaza Strip, resulting in civilian casualties and the destruction of residential structures and public infrastructure.
• On 13 October, Muhannad Hadi, Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory made a statement highlighting the critical situation in northern Gaza, where since 1 October 2024, Israeli authorities have increasingly restricted access to essential humanitarian supplies. Since 7 October 2024, Israeli military operations have intensified in northern Gaza, with evacuation orders reissued on 7, 9, and 12 October to around 400,000 people. In the two weeks preceding 13 October, over 50,000 people have been displaced from the Jabalia area which is now cut off, due to a "military siege that deprives civilians of essential means of survival".
• According to UNICEF, these latest evacuation orders threaten the lives of premature babies in incubators and critically ill children in intensive care units in the Kamal Adwan Hospital, the only hospital with a paediatric unit in northern Gaza. The evacuation orders also threaten the survival of patients in the other two major hospitals in the north.
• UNICEF announced on 11 October that localised humanitarian pauses and the halting of evacuation orders are essential for the roll out of the second polio vaccination campaign, which will focus on north Gaza. UNICEF aims to vaccinate at least 90 per cent of children under the age of ten and administer Vitamin A to help reinforce the children's immune system.
• The latest satellite-based agricultural damage assessment (covering the period 7 October 2023 to 1 September 2024) conducted by the FAO and the United Nations Satellite Centre shows that 67.6 per cent of Gaza's cropland had been damaged. Additionally, over 71 per cent of orchards and other trees, 67 per cent of field crops and 58.5 per cent of vegetables had been damaged. Furthermore, most of the Gaza City port infrastructure and vessels were destroyed in October 2023 and remain non-functional, with severe repercussions on trade and livelihoods.
• According to the UN, at least 1.9 million people - or about 90 per cent of the population - across the Gaza Strip are internally displaced. Many have been displaced repeatedly, some 10 times or more.
• According to the Ministry of Health (MoH) Gaza, as reported by OCHA, more than 42,010 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Gaza and 97,720 have been reported injured (between 7 October 2023 to 9 October 2024).
• As of 13 October, the total number of UNRWA team members killed since 7 October 2023 is 228.
• Several challenges continue to 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, only 93 humanitarian trucks were permitted to enter the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing from 1 to 7 October 2024. This represents a daily average of only 13 humanitarian trucks, the third lowest number since October 2023. 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 30 September 2024, 695 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, this includes 160 children according to UNICEF.
• Between 30 September and 6 October, 24 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Late on 3 October, a massive ISF airstrike in Tulkarm camp in northern West Bank hit a multi-story building including a coffee shop, killing 18 Palestinians, among them three children. The airstrike purportedly targeted Palestinian armed actors. The airstrike was the deadliest airstrike recorded in the West Bank since 7 October.
• In the week preceding 6 October, there were at least 148 recorded ISF search and arrest operations across the West Bank. Movement restrictions were tightened at checkpoints and roads within the West Bank, both linked to the Iranian airstrikes on 1 October as well the lead-up to the anniversary of the onset of the Gaza conflict on 7 October 2023.
• Harassment of Palestinian farmers participating in the olive harvest was reported in numerous locations across the West Bank, perpetrated both by Israeli settlers and by the ISF. At least 15 Palestinian farmers picking olives were reportedly injured between 30 September and 6 October: two in Huwarra and two in Haris, in northern West Bank, and 11 in Al Lubban al Gharbi in central West Bank.

Overall Situation

The Gaza Strip

• According to the Ministry of Health (MoH) Gaza, as reported by OCHA, more than 42,010 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Gaza and 97,720 have been reported injured (between 7 October 2023 to 9 October 2024).

Humanitarian Access, Protection of Civilians

• UNRWA is working to verify the details of incidents that reportedly impact UNRWA premises. Further information will be provided once it becomes available.
• During the reporting period, information on one incident impacting an area close to an UNRWA installation and internally displaced people (IDPs) sheltering nearby was recorded:
  • On 9 October, an ISF strike reportedly hit a location approximately ten metres away from an UNRWA water well in Jabalia camp, resulting in casualties, including fatalities, among the IDPs living in nearby tents.
• 464* 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 least74* incidents of military use and/or interference at UNRWA premises. 190* Agency installations have been impacted by munitions or subjected to armed actor interference through these incidents. UNRWA estimates that, in total, at least 563* IDPs sheltering in UNRWA installations have been killed and at least 1,790* injured since the start of the war. UNRWA is verifying the number of casualties caused by these incidents.

*Since the start of the war, latest figures are continuously under review as UNRWA gains access to locations that were previously inaccessible and as further verification occur. Total summary figures will be published once further verification has been conducted, noting that these numbers are subject to change once verifications have been conducted.

UNRWA Response

The Gaza Strip

Health

• According to the Health Cluster, UNRWA remains one of the largest health actors operating in the Gaza Strip, contributing to over half of the people reached with health services since 7 October 2023. Between 7 October 2023 and 29 September 2024, UNRWA provided over 5.87 million medical consultations across the Gaza Strip. In addition to medical consultations, UNRWA (in partnership with and support from other UN agencies, including UNICEF and WHO) continues to provide vaccines, with over 193,000 children vaccinated between the start of 2024 until 22 September 2024.
• As of 12 October, seven out of 27[2] UNRWA health centres were operational in Gaza. Health services were also provided by 80 mobile medical teams working in 43 medical points inside and outside IDP shelters in the middle area, Khan Younis, Mawasi and Gaza. UNRWA health facilities provide primary health care, including outpatient services, non-communicable disease (NCD) care, medications, vaccinations, antenatal and postnatal health care, laboratory services, dental services, physiotherapy and dressings for the injured. The number of operational health facilities changes constantly based on demand, access and security.
• As of 12 October, 1,156 UNRWA health staff continued to work in health centres, temporary clinics and medical points across the Gaza Strip, providing 17,960 medical consultations on that day.
• UNRWA continued to provide 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 UNRWA health centres and shelters. On 12 October, UNRWA teams responded to 545 cases in health centres and at medical points through individual consultations, awareness sessions and to address cases of gender-based violence (GBV).
• On 12 October, UNRWA medical teams provided care for 453 post-natal and pregnant women at high risk.
• Stocks of medicines in UNRWA health facilities are low and at least 56 items will run out by November. UNRWA laboratory services are now limited to four tests out of nearly 35 that were provided before 7 October 2023 due to zero stock of most laboratory supplies. All laboratory equipment requires maintenance or replacement.

Psychosocial Support and Learning

• UNRWA remains the largest provider of emergency learning and psychosocial support (PSS) across the Gaza Strip. More than 659,000 children continue to be out of school since the beginning of the war. On 1 August 2024, UNRWA began to roll out its first phase response of "Back to Learning" with a focus on mental health activities. This is taking place in up to 45 UNRWA schools-turned-shelters[3]by expanding ongoing PSS activities, focusing on arts, music and sports and raising awareness on the risks of explosive ordnance, with the support of nearly 750[4] school counsellors and up to 500 teachers. UNRWA continues to provide lifesaving PSS services in Gaza, including psychological first aid (PFA), 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 and up to 3 October, around 700,000 IDPs, including over 500,000 children, have benefited from 262,385 PSS sessions/activities. Between 3 and 8 October, a total of 11,565 IDPs have accessed these services.
• Following the roll out of the UNRWA "Back to Learning" programme in UNRWA shelters, more than 11,000 children, 57 per cent of whom are girls, have benefited from this initiative. Between 3 and 8 October, 10,987 children (4,832 boys, 6,115 girls, including 327 children with disabilities) participated in a variety of "Back to Learning" activities, including basic literacy and numeracy sessions, PSS sessions, and recreational activities such as arts, music and sports.
• Since the war began, UNRWA's social work team has provided services to 184,012[5] IDPs, including PFA, PSS, family and individual activities, as well as case management. These interventions aim to address family issues and strengthen relationships.
• Protection services were provided to 1,500 survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) and 2,408 children, including 1,335 unaccompanied children, covering reunification, safe sheltering, medication, dignity kits and non-food items (NFIs) through referrals. The team also supported 19,632 persons with disabilities with PSS; 7,752 of these individuals received assistive devices and rehabilitation services. Awareness sessions on GBV, child protection, disability and special needs, as well as managing social and psychological stressors were conducted for 115,791 IDPs.

Food Security

• From 7 October 2023 to 3 October 2024, a total of 380,236 families (nearly 1.9 million people) have been reached with two rounds of flour; 366,944 of those families have received three rounds.
• UNRWA continues to distribute food parcels in the southern governorates. These include[6] flour, rice, chickpeas, lentils, cheese, hummus and canned fish, and are designed to cover approximately 90 per cent of daily calorific needs per quarter. To date, nearly 1.15 million people have been reached, of whom nearly 215,000 people have received two rounds of food parcels since the war started.
• In addition to the distribution of UNRWA food parcels, the Agency distributes food parcels on behalf of other UN organisations, reaching around 1.4 million people.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

• Since October 2023, UNRWA has carried out emergency WASH activities across the Gaza Strip. Main activities include the operation and continued maintenance of water wells, desalination systems and water through water trucking and bottled water. In addition, UNRWA continues to distribute hygiene kits and maintain hygiene in UNRWA shelters and sites through providing cleaning supplies, community-based solid waste management and pest control.
• UNRWA continues to be one of the largest WASH actors in the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the war, the Agency has maintained and rehabilitated eight wells, reaching over 600,000 IDPs with access to water. In September 2024, UNRWA was able to provide over 70,000 m3 of domestic water. In Jabalia, UNRWA rehabilitated a well which supports over 20,000 IDPs. With the available fleet for sanitation, UNRWA continues to provide a solid waste collection and transfer service in the Khan Younis, middle area and Gaza areas. In September, more than 6,000 tons of waste were collected from camps and emergency shelters. In addition to waste management and collection, over 400 manholes have been cleaned in preparation for winter along with other winterization activities including the removal of debris in the streets and support for flood-prone areas.

[1] Some of the information is reported during the reporting period but does not necessarily correspond to the reporting period.

[2]Pre-conflict, UNRWA had 22 health centres. Following the onset of the conflict, an additional five temporary health centres were established.

[3]Initially reaching 45 UNRWA schools/shelters, 'back to learning' will gradually expand to 94 schools in future phases.

[4] 176 school counsellors and 566 assistant counsellors.

[5] Results from 7 October 2023 to 8 October 2024.

[6] The composition of the food parcel may change based on food item availability.

Tweet from Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General:

"Northern Gaza. Two long weeks of intense Israeli Forces' airstrikes and ground operations. Hundreds of Palestinians are reported killed, among them children. More than 400,000 people continue to be trapped in the area. [...] Civilians are given no choice but to either leave or starve."

ENDS-