UNRWA Situation Report #129 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 bombardments across the Gaza Strip, resulting in civilian casualties, displacement and the destruction of residential structures and public infrastructure.
During the reporting period, the Israeli Authorities issued additional evacuation orders (17 August), warning people living in parts of Deir al Balah (Middle Areas), including the entire Al Maghazi Refugee Camp. Since October, according to OCHA, approximately 314 square kilometres, or nearly 86 per cent of the Gaza Strip, has been placed under evacuation orders by the Israeli military.

On World Humanitarian Day, 413 humanitarian organisations around the world including UNRWA and other UN agencies, ICRC, IFRC and NGOs appealed to all States, parties to armed conflict and the wider international community to:
- End attacks on civilians and take active steps to protect them and the critical civilian infrastructure they rely on.
- Protect all aid workers, including local and national actors, and their premises and assets and facilitate their work, as called for in UN Security Council Resolution 2730 adopted last May.
- Hold perpetrators to account. Those who commit violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) cannot go unpunished.

On World Humanitarian Day, UNRWA's Commissioner-General paid tribute to aid workers killed and injured around the world including at UNRWA. Gaza continues to be one of the most dangerous places in the world for humanitarian aid workers and health workers, with at least 289 aid workers, including 207 UNRWA team members killed, in addition to 885 health workers.
The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UNRWA and partners are expected to launch polio vaccination campaign to over 640,000 children under ten years of age across the Gaza Strip starting end of August. WHO and UNICEF have requested all parties to the conflict to implement humanitarian pauses in the Gaza Strip for seven days to allow for two rounds of vaccination campaigns to take place. These pauses in fighting would allow children and families to safely reach health facilities and community outreach workers to get to children who cannot access health facilities for polio vaccination. Without the humanitarian pauses, the delivery of the campaign will not be possible.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres appealed to all parties to “provide concrete assurances right away guaranteeing humanitarian pauses” for a polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, reiterating that “the ultimate vaccine for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”
According to the Health Cluster's latest evacuation orders and forced displacement into small and overcrowded areas, continue to have a negative impact on public health including: i) limited access to basic amenities like WASH facilities and a limited supply of safe drinking water; ii) overcrowding with people living in tents or poor shelter infrastructure, leading to an increased risk in the occurrence and spread of infectious diseases; iii) poor access disrupting emergency medical services and response.; iv) overwhelmed health facilities, compromising the quality of care and putting patients’ lives at risk.
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).
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, only an average of 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

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 12 August 2024, at least 594 Palestinians have been killed. Separately, UNICEF[1] reported that 143 children have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 7 October.
Between 12 and 18 August, there were 143 recorded Israeli Security Forces (ISF) search and arrest operations across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. At least 111 Palestinians, including Palestine Refugees, were detained by the ISF during this period.
During this period, 13 Palestinians were killed, including six in two separate ISF missile strikes in Balata Camp and Tammun, in the northern West Bank, on 14 August. Two other Palestinians were killed in an ISF drone strike in Jenin on 17 August.
On 14 August, additional demolitions took place in the Bedouin refugee community of Umm al Kheir, in the South Hebron Hills. Eleven people who had been previously displaced as a result of demolitions last June were displaced for a second time by these ISF demolitions.
On 15 August, a Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli settlers in Jit village, in northern West Bank. An attack on the village was reportedly initiated by a group of more than 100 Israeli settlers, who set fire to Palestinian houses and vehicles, and clashed with the village’s residents. During the attack, access to the village was reportedly hindered by a mobile checkpoint set up by the ISF.

[1] Child casualties in the West Bank skyrocket in the past nine months – UNICEF

UNRWA staff remembering and paying tribute to humanitarian workers killed and injured around the world, World Humanitarian Day 2024, Jordan. © 2024 UNRWA Photo

A UN convoy entering Gaza City to deliver fuel, Gaza Strip, August 2024. © 2024 UNRWA Photo

Overall Situation

The Gaza Strip

According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, as of 19 August, at least 40,319 Palestinians have been reportedly killed in the Gaza Strip since 7 October. Another 92,743 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.
During the reporting period, two incidents, impacting UNRWA installations and internally displaced people (IDPs) sheltering there, have been reported. While the verification of details and casualty figures are ongoing, initial reports indicate impact to UNRWA facilities:
- On 18 August, bullets hit the northern side of the UNRWA Khan Younis Training Centre (KYTC) during an ISF operation in the vicinity of Hamad City. No injuries were reported.
- On 18 August 2024 a drone strike hit approximately 150 metres east of the UNRWA Zuwayda guesthouse and office. One person was seriously injured (a Palestinian non-UN person). No injuries to UNRWA personnel were reported.
As of 31 July 2024, 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 least 74* 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 incidents that impacted its installations.

*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

As of 18 August, 79 medical points and 10 (out of 27[2]) UNRWA health centres were operational. These health centres provide primary health care, including outpatient services, non-communicable disease care, medications, vaccinations, antenatal and postnatal health care and dressings for the injured. The number of health facilities fluctuates constantly based on demand, access and security.
On 18 August, almost 1,100 UNRWA health staff continued to work in operational health centres and medical points across the Gaza Strip, providing 15,263 medical consultations on that day.
On 18 August, 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 596 cases in health centres and at medical points through individual consultations, awareness sessions and in support for cases of gender-based violence (GBV).
On 18 August, medical teams provided medical care for 453 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 since 7 October. Between 7 October 2023 and 11 August 2024, UNRWA provided over 5.1 million medical consultations in health centres and medical points across the Gaza Strip. In addition, the Agency (in partnership with and support from other UN agencies, including UNICEF and WHO) continues to provide vaccines, with over 130,000 children vaccinated since the start of 2024 up until mid-July 2024

Psychosocial support (PSS)

With the support of over 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 450,000 children, have benefited from a total of 246,188 PSS sessions/activities. Between 6 and 18 August, a total of 14,816 IDPs including 9,713 children have benefited from these services. UNRWA counsellors provided 404 individual consultations and 168 group awareness sessions for caregivers. Additionally, 453 recreational activities for children were conducted and 368 EORE sessions to adults and children.
Since the onset of the conflict, UNRWA’s social work team has provided services to 146,751 IDPs, including psychological first aid, PSS, family and individual interventions, and case management. These efforts aim to address family issues and strengthen relationships. Furthermore, protection services were provided to 1,244 GBV survivors and 1,592 children, including 842 unaccompanied children, covering reunification, safe sheltering, medication, dignity kits and non-food items through referrals. The team also supported 17,387 persons with disabilities with PSS; 7,445 of these people received assistive devices and rehabilitation services. Awareness sessions on GBV, child protection, disability and special needs, and managing social and psychological stressors were conducted for 106,812 IDPs.

Food Security

To date, a total of 380,225 families (nearly 1.9 million people) have been reached with flour, of these, 367,768 families have received two rounds of flour and a further 300,978 families have received three rounds.
UNRWA continues to distribute food parcels in the southern governorates. These include[3] 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 distributes food parcels on behalf of other UN organisations, reaching around 1.4 million people.

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.

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

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

Tweet from Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner General:

“On World Humanitarian Day, we remember and pay tribute to aid workers killed and injured around the world. In Gaza, there have been way too many of them since the war started 10 months ago. At least 289 aid workers including 207 UNRWA team members and 885 health workers lost their lives. […] The war in Gaza broke all existing rules of war. Those responsible must be held accountable.”