UNRWA Situation Report #123 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem

Ongoing strikes by Israeli Security Forces (ISF) 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. The ISF ground offensive continues to expand, with ISF issuing a new evacuation order covering parts of the so-called “humanitarian zone” in the Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis. According to OCHA as of 22 July, nearly 83 per cent of the Gaza Strip has been placed under evacuation orders or designated as “no-go zones” by the Israeli military.
UNRWA Commissioner-General posted on his official X account on 21 July that a UN convoy heading to Gaza City experienced heavy shooting from Israeli Security Forces, with one vehicle receiving at least five bullets while waiting just ahead of the ISF checkpoint south of Wadi Gazi. Like all other similar UN movements, the UN convoy movement was coordinated and approved by the Israeli Authorities.
According to ANERA, slow and inadequate delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza is creating desperation among the people, leading to lawlessness. Security threats to aid workers — including attacks on truck drivers and distribution centres, looting, and navigating spontaneous roadblocks — are becoming the norm. ANERA stated that civilian police were unable to maintain order as they had been targeted by Israeli forces.
According to WHO, the health system continues to be dismantled, with reduced health service availability, with only 16 out of 36 hospitals (44 per cent) partially functional and 45 out of 105 (43 per cent) primary health care facilities functional. UNRWA remains a major actor in the health sector, providing health services across 10 primary health centres and up to 100 medical points across the Gaza Strip. Vaccine-derived polio virus type 2 (VDPV-2) was found in six locations in Khan Younis and Deir Balah. UNRWA, WHO and UNICEF are to assess how far poliovirus has spread to determine emergency measures to stop any further spreading.
As of 22 July, the total number of UNRWA colleagues killed since 7 October is 197.
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).
According to OCHA, fuel shortages continue to undermine humanitarian operations and jeopardize the functioning of health, water, and food production facilities. Between 1 and 21 July, just over 2.1 million litres of fuel entered Gaza, including 378,700 on 21 July alone. On average, this is about 103,000 litres of fuel per day, or a quarter of the estimated 400,000 litres of fuel needed daily to sustain humanitarian activities in Gaza.
Several challenges stand in the way of collecting much needed humanitarian supplies from the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing point in southern Gaza. One of the factors is the deteriorating law and order, other factors are the war and insecurity, damaged infrastructure, fuel shortages and restricted access.
The latest information on supplies entering Gaza can be found below:

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 15 July 2024, at least 554 Palestinians were killed. Separately, UNICEF¹ reported that 143 children, were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem since 7 October, an average of 1 child being killed every 2 days.
Between 15 and 21 July there were at least 169 recorded ISF search and arrest operations across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. More than 110 Palestinians, including Palestine Refugees, were detained by the ISF during this period and there were three recorded Palestinians killed. One person was killed during an ISF operation in Beit Ummar, in the southern West Bank, on 19 July.
On 15 July, ISF demolished five houses in Al Walajah village, north of Bethlehem, resulting in the displacement of an estimated 39 Palestine Refugees. Following the release of the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice published on 19 July, attacks by Israeli settlers were reported against Palestinian communities in Huwwara and Burin, in the northern West Bank, and in Masafer Yatta, in the southern West Bank.
[1] Child casualties in the West Bank skyrocket in the past nine months – UNICEF

UNRWA Field Office and Headquarters in Gaza City on 21 July 2024. © 2024 UNRWA Photo

Overall Situation

The Gaza Strip

According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, as of 22 July, at least 39,006 Palestinians have been reportedly killed in the Gaza Strip since 7 October. Another 89,818 Palestinians have been reportedly 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. 
One incident has been reported impacting UNRWA installations and internally displaced people (IDPs) sheltering there. While verification of details and casualty figures is ongoing, initial reports indicate:

On 18 July 2024, two IDPs were killed and at least 15 others were injured as a result of two missiles that struck a number of classrooms in an UNRWA school in Gaza City. Three IDPs sustained moderate injuries, two had severe injuries, while 10 others suffered minor injuries. All the injured were transferred to Al Alhi Hospital. Two classrooms were completely destroyed while partial damage to the adjacent classrooms was reported.

Please note that another incident has been reported on 20 July 2024. Details are being verified and reporting will be included in the next sitrep.
462* 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 74 incidents of military use and/or interference at UNRWA premises. 189 different UNRWA 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 shelters have been killed and at least another 1,783* injured since the start of the war. UNRWA is verifying the number of casualties caused by incidents that impacted its installations. It 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 15 July, 86 medical points and ten (out of 26²) 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 15 July, almost 1,100 UNRWA health staff continued to work in operational health centres and medical points across the Gaza Strip, providing 17,474 medical consultations.
As of 15 July, 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 510 cases. They responded to cases in health centres and at medical points through individual consultations, awareness sessions and support for cases of gender-based violence. The teams provided medical care for 422 post-natal and pregnant women at high risk.
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. Between 7 October – 14 July, UNRWA provided over 4.7 million medical consultations in health centres and medical points across the Gaza Strip. In addition to medical consultations, UNRWA continues to provide vaccines, with over 130,000 children vaccinated since the start of 2024.
Due to challenges in bringing health supplies into the Gaza Strip as well as challenges in retrieving health supplies and transporting them to health facilities, stock levels remain very low, with up to 60 per cent of medicines either fully depleted or available in very low quantities.

[2] 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 500 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, around 700,000 IDPs, including over 500,000 children, have benefited from a total of 242,648 PSS sessions/activities. From 8 - 21 July 2024 counsellors addressed 3,004 individual consultations and provided 1,461 group awareness sessions for caregivers. Additionally, they conducted 1,538 recreational activities engaging 26,645 children. Counsellors also provided 388 EORE sessions to 6,348 adults and 591 sessions to 7,553 children.

Food Security

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 distributes food parcels in the southern governorates. UNRWA food parcels include³ flour, rice, chickpeas, lentils, cheese, hummus, and fish, and are designed to cover approximately 90 per cent of daily calorific needs. 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 distributed other food parcels on behalf of other UN organisations, reaching around 1.4 million people.

[3] 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:

"Gaza: our UNRWA teams visited the compound. This used to be home to our central offices and one of the largest UN compounds in the region. Having been there myself many times, it’s extremely hard to recognize. This is one of hundreds of UN buildings destroyed in this war. Beyond the rock and stone, this is a horrific attack on what the United Nations stands for, including moral values and humanitarian principles. It is a must to find the facts including who caused this destruction. Whether it’s Palestinian armed groups including Hamas or the Israeli Forces, those responsible must be held accountable for another blatant disregard of international humanitarian law.”