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26 July 2024
Gaza: Hunger fears persist as Israeli operations further harm enclave’s farmers
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24 July 2024
Where do I go now, ask Gazans uprooted by new Israeli evacuation orders
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24 July 2024
Gaza City-bound UN aid convoy comes under Israeli fire, says UNRWA
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The Sustainable Development Goals in Palestine
The UN and its partners in Palestine are working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: 17 interconnected Goals which address the major development challenges faced by people in Palestine and around the world. These are the goals the UN is working on in Palestine:
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26 July 2024
Gaza: Hunger fears persist as Israeli operations further harm enclave’s farmers
The development comes as media reports indicated that truce and hostage swap talks in Doha scheduled on Thursday in Qatar had been postponed until early next week. Some 116 hostages are still missing, with 44 believed to have died, reports say, nearly 10 months since Hamas-led terror attacks on multiple targets in southern Israel left around 1,250 dead and more than 250 taken captive.In a bleak assessment of hunger levels in Gaza late Wednesday, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, warned once again that too little relief is reaching the people who need it most.“Insecurity, damaged roads, the breakdown of law and order, and access limitations continue to hamper movement along the main humanitarian cargo route between Kerem Shalom Crossing and Khan Younis and Deir al Balah,” the UN agency insisted.Community kitchens at riskOCHA noted that ongoing insufficient deliveries of both fuel and aid supplies from central/southern Gaza to the north have left six bakeries in northern Gaza - four in Gaza city and two in north Gaza - receiving “only scarce” quantities that have been sufficient to keep them running for a few days at a time.“Critical shortages” of commodities have impacted community kitchens and increased the “risk of spoilage and infestation of stranded food supplies” amid scorching summer temperatures, it warned.“In addition, hot meal production capacity in Gaza and North Gaza governorates has been insufficient to support tens of thousands of newly displaced people,” OCHA continued, as it explained that “the lack of entry of commercial supplies into northern Gaza for nearly three months has resulted in a near total lack of protein sources such as meat and poultry on the local market.”Today in northern Gaza, only a few types of locally produced vegetables are available at “unaffordable” prices, the UN agency explained, while warning that the lack of “seeds, fertilizers and other animal and crop production inputs” remained “a key obstacle” to restoring local food production in Gaza.OCHA also pointed to Israeli military operations that have devastated Rafah since early May and sparked an exodus this week from eastern Khan Younis, “where significant agricultural production was concentrated prior to the war”.In addition to the latest damage caused to greenhouses, Gaza’s farms and fields are now unattended. “The implications of missing the upcoming agricultural season will likely devastate people’s livelihoods,” the OCHA update warned. That assessment is in line with previous alerts from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which highlighted that agriculture in the Gaza Strip represents over 40 per cent of the enclave’s surface area and contributes up to 30 per cent of daily consumption.“The damage to the agricultural sector due to the hostilities is extensive, bringing crucial local production of fresh and nutritious food to a near total halt, decreasing the population’s access to essential food items required for a healthy diet,” it said.According to the latest UN-partnered IPC report on hunger levels, 96 per cent of the population in Gaza – some 2.15 million people – face acute food insecurity at “crisis” level or higher. That's level three of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) index (check out our explainer on the IPC system here).
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24 July 2024
Where do I go now, ask Gazans uprooted by new Israeli evacuation orders
with barely any belongings and little idea where they will end up, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.In Khan Younis, the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) reported witnessing “thousands of people fleeing” westwards as part of the exodus from the enclave’s southern city amid ongoing hostilities, leaving children traumatized and crying uncontrollably.“Elderly people on the back of donkey carts…disabled people being pushed in wheelchairs through the sand with the belongings piled up on top of their lap,” said Louise Wateridge, UNRWA Senior Communications Officer. “People running, hearing gunfire [and] running for their lives. Families are really only carrying what they can hold in their hands…People do not know where to go. That is the main question people are asking today, ‘Where do I go?’”Al Mawasi shrunkIsrael’s evacuation orders have also impacted about 8.7 square kilometres of land in the so-called “humanitarian zone” of Al Mawasi, which lies on the coast near Khan Younis, reducing the size of the zone by nearly 15 per cent, according to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA.“Initial reports indicate that families are currently moving towards areas in Deir al Balah and western Khan Younis,” OCHA said. “Both areas are already heavily overcrowded, have limited shelters and services available and can barely accommodate the additional influx of displaced people.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.”UN rights office condemnationCondemning the “repeated” evacuation orders, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, insisted that the Israeli military had given “no time” for civilians to understand where they were expected to leave or where they should go.At least 70 Palestinians, including women and children were killed amid ongoing violence on Monday, the UN rights office said, citing the local health authorities. At least 200 others were also injured, some critically, amid reports of intensifying Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis since Sunday, with “multiple” strikes on Monday and an “intensification” of shelling in the east of the city.“Israeli military operations continued in and around the area unabated,” OHCHR said, noting that the evacuation order covered parts of Salah al-Deen Road – “one of two main routes vital for the transport and distribution of aid, raising concerns that delivery and provision of desperately needed humanitarian assistance will be further reduced or prevented”.UNICEF vehicles hit with live fireTwo clearly marked UNICEF vehicles were hit with live ammunition while waiting at a designated holding point near Wadi Gaza on Tuesday, the UN Children's Fund said."They were en route to reunite five children, including a baby, with their father", the agency's regional director added, in a post on X."One vehicle was struck by three bullets but fortunately no injuries occured", said Adele Khodr.This is the second shooting incident involving UNICEF cars in the past 12 weeks and Palestine refugee agency UNRWA suffered a similar incident on Sunday, the UN Spokesperson reminded the regular noon briefing in New York."We strongly reiterate that humanitarian workers are protected under International Humanitarian Law and must not be targeted", Ms. Khodr continued. UNICEF also reported that it had managed to transfer some water pipes to northern Gaza on Monday which will be used to provide water to the Jabalya area.Polio outbreak alert updateMeanwhile, concerns continue to grow over the impact of a possible polio outbreak in Gaza, amid disastrous sanitary conditions and a lack of access to health care.Dr. Ayadil Saparbekov, Team Lead for Health Emergencies at the UN World Health Organization (WHO) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said on Tuesday that he was “extremely worried” about the spread of polio and other communicable diseases, which could lead to more people dying of preventable illness than from war-related injuries.Hepatitis A was already confirmed last year in the Strip, he told journalists, via video link from Jerusalem.“With the crippled health system, lack of water and sanitation, as well as lack of access of the population to health services… this is going to be a very bad situation,” he maintained. “We may have more people dying of different communicable diseases than from injury-related conditions.”On 16 July, the WHO said that vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2) had been identified at six locations in sewage samples collected on 23 June from Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah.WHO explained last week that polio virus can emerge in areas where poor vaccination coverage allows the weakened form of the orally administered vaccine virus strain to mutate into a stronger version.So far, the virus has been found in sewage samples only and no one in Gaza has been identified with polio-induced paralysis. Further genomic sequencing by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta indicated that the virus is linked to a strain that was circulating in Egypt during the second half of 2023, WHO said.Dr. Saparbekov explained that human samples have not yet been collected, as there is a lack of equipment and of lab capacity to test them. A WHO team will be coming into Gaza on Thursday with up to 50 sample collection kits; it will send the specimens to a lab in Jordan for further analysis.The WHO official said that together with partners, the agency is conducting an epidemiological investigation and risk assessment to identify the source of the virus, which is at high risk of spreading within Gaza and internationally.“Based on the results of the assessment, WHO and the [Global Polio Initiative Network] partners will consolidate a set of recommendations, including the need for a mass vaccination campaign,” he said.Dr. Saparbekov stressed that given the water, sanitation and hygiene situation in Gaza, it will be “very difficult” for the population to follow advice on handwashing and drinking safe water.“Unfortunately, the majority who live in shelters with one toilet for 600 people and maybe 1.52 litres of water per person will definitely not be able to follow the recommendations,” he said.The UN health agency representative also insisted that if a mass vaccination campaign is decided, it will be the responsibility of COGAT, the Israeli body responsible for the flow of aid in Gaza, to facilitate the arrival of vaccines into the enclave.He added that WHO has “so far received reassurances that this will be done.”Healthcare system shut downTurning to the devastation of Gaza’s health system, Dr. Saparbekov said that less than half of primary health care facilities are operational and only 16 out of the enclave’s 36 hospitals are “partially functional”, meaning that they provide only minimal health care services such as triage of the injured.On Monday, WHO and partners conducted a mission to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, where they have been rehabilitating the outpatient department, destroyed in March 2024, and converting it into an emergency department."The only functional equipment that unfortunately remains in Gaza [at Al Shifa hospital] is a stationary X-ray machine,” Dr. Saparbekov said. “All other major hospital equipment, such as ventilation machines, anaesthesia machines, operating theatre equipment have unfortunately been destroyed and it needs to be replaced.”WHO and partners are “working around the clock” to make sure that that desperately-needed equipment is being brought into Gaza despite of the “restrictions on dual use list”, he said, meaning items which are banned from entering the enclave because the Israeli authorities consider that they could be repurposed for military purposes.
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20 July 2024
Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territory ‘unlawful’: UN world court
and that “all States are under an obligation not to recognize” the decades-long occupation.The Court was responding to a request for an advisory opinion by the General Assembly on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.The advisory from the ICJ is a legal opinion provided by the Court on questions of international law.Unlike judgments in contentious cases between States, advisory opinions are non-binding and are sought by United Nations bodies such as the General Assembly or the Security Council.While not legally binding, advisory opinions can shape international policies, increase moral pressure, and unilateral measures adopted by individual States such as sanctions.Israel’s obligationsIn its advisory opinion, the ICJ concluded that Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful and that it is under an obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence “as rapidly as possible”.Israel is also “under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the opinion continued, as well as “reparation for the damage caused to all natural or legal persons concerned”. States’ obligationsIt further stated that “all States are under an obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence” of Israel.States are also under the obligation to “not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by the continued presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.International organizations’ obligationsFor international organizations, including the UN, the Court noted the “obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence” of Israel.The ICJ further noted that UN, and especially the General Assembly and the Security Council, “should consider the precise modalities and further action required to bring to an end as rapidly as possible the unlawful presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”Call for engagementFollowing the issuance of the opinion, UN Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated his call for the parties to re-engage on the “long-delayed political path” towards ending the occupation and resolving the conflict in line with international law, relevant UN resolutions and bilateral agreements.“The only viable path is the vision of two States – Israel and a fully independent, democratic, contiguous, viable and sovereign Palestinian State – living side by side in peace and security within secure and recognized borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the capital of both States,” his spokesperson said in a statement.The statement also noted that the UN chief will promptly transmit the advisory opinion to the General Assembly, which had requested the Court's advice.“It is for the General Assembly to decide how to proceed in this matter,” the statement added.Israel’s responseAccording to media reports, Israel’s Foreign Ministry rejected the ICJ’s opinion as “fundamentally wrong” and “blatantly one-sided”.It also repeated its stance that a political settlement in the region can only be reached through “direct negotiations”.General Assembly requestThe General Assembly adopted a resolution in December 2022, which among other points requested the ICJ to provide its opinion under Article 96 of the UN Charter and Article 65 of the Court’s Statute.
The opinion lays out the legal consequences of Israel’s “ongoing violation” of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of territories occupied since 1967, and discriminatory measures, including those affecting Jerusalem’s demographic composition and status.It also sought to understand how these policies and practices of Israel affect the legal status of the occupation and its legal consequences.
The opinion lays out the legal consequences of Israel’s “ongoing violation” of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of territories occupied since 1967, and discriminatory measures, including those affecting Jerusalem’s demographic composition and status.It also sought to understand how these policies and practices of Israel affect the legal status of the occupation and its legal consequences.
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18 July 2024
UN Official: There are two million sad stories in Gaza
described Gaza as a situation where “everything is a priority” leaving humanitarians facing “a challenge on every front.”Having returned from the enclave last week, he shared harrowing testimonies from women in the Gaza Strip, recounting how they have gone months without showers amid a complete lack of privacy. “Some women actually told me that they had to cut their hair – totally shave their heads – because of the lack of shampoo, lack of hygiene, lack of hygiene material,” he said.He described the pervasive sense of danger, noting, “there is no safe place in Gaza”.“People are stranded on sides of roads, having been displaced multiple times, with extremely little,” Mr. Hadi added, stressing that the situation is dire for everyone, especially women, children, the elderly and those with special needs. ‘Two million sad stories’He also highlighted the lack of proper shelter, explaining that there are few real tents. “People try to sew together some plastic sheets to give themselves some cover through the nights,” he explained. The constant displacement means families must quickly grab whatever they can – primarily their loved ones – and move from place to place.“There are two million sad stories in Gaza. Seeing Gaza on the news, reading about Gaza is one thing, but going there and listening to the agony of the people, it’s totally something else,” Mr. Hadi said, emphasizing the emotional toll of the ongoing crisis.Over 1,000 attacks on healthcareThe World Health Organization (WHO) has registered more than 1,000 attacks on healthcare facilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since the October 7 terror attacks in Israel sparked the on-going war in Gaza.In a press briefing, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the West Bank and Gaza, told journalists there are currently no functional hospitals in the enclave’s southernmost city of Rafah, following Israel’s recent offensive there.The availability of hospital beds has drastically declined, dropping from 3,500 before the conflict erupted, to just 1,400 today, he added.He said 600 of those 1,400 are being provided by field hospitals “so currently from the Ministry of Health and NGO fixed hospitals, there's only 800 hospital beds in service from the 3,500, plus 600 field hospital beds, for a population of 2.2 million people".The WHO official also highlighted the urgency of allowing critically ill patients to leave Gaza, stating that around 10,000 patients still require urgent evacuation, half of whom are suffering from severe trauma - including spinal injuries and amputations.Despite the readiness of hospitals in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to accept patients – along with neighbouring countries – safe corridors for evacuation are essential, he underlined: firstly, to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, secondly, to Egypt via Rafah, with Jordan as a third option.Many countries have offered medical evacuation services Dr Peeperkorn added. “Don’t let politics stand in the way of life-saving care for patients who are in critical condition,” he pleaded.Entire population traumatisedThe mental health crisis in Gaza is also of significant concern, affecting all 2.2 million residents and humanitarian workers.“It’s about children…It’s about adolescents. It's about women. It's about men. It's about the elderly. It's about health workers. It's about first responders…No one is not affected by what happened, and this also will require special attention in the early recovery and rehabilitation,” Dr Peeperkorn emphasised.
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19 July 2024
No end in sight to the ‘war on women’ in Gaza
the UN Women Special Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said on Thursday. “They are losing their lives, they are sick, hungry, exhausted, holding families together despite their constant fear and loss,” said Maryse Guimond, speaking from Jerusalem to journalists at UN Headquarters in New York.Ms. Guimond recently concluded a weeklong mission to Gaza - a place she has visited more than 50 times in her six years in the job, including after previous escalations. She was not prepared for “the total destruction and inhumanity” that she saw this time.War ‘embedded’ on women’s faces and bodies“What I witnessed defied my worst fears for the women and girls I have been working with for so many years,” she said. “It was unbearable to witness the daily escalation of violence and destruction of a war on women with no end in sight.”The UN Women Representative said she entered a world of devastation and total deprivation when the fence at the Kerem Shalom border crossing closed behind her.“I cannot underline enough the impact that this war has had on women and girls. I barely recognized women who I knew before the war. The last nine months is embedded on their faces, on their bodies.” Death, displacement, deprivationMs. Guimond explained that Gaza is “a war on women” simply because of the numbers who have been killed and injured, and the overall level of devastation that women there are facing. “We have never seen this before,” she said.More than 10,000 women have been killed since the start of hostilities on 7 October 2023, following the brutal Hamas-led attacks against Israel in which some 1,200 nationals and foreigners were killed and another 250 taken hostage.Conditions in the enclave are dire. More than half a million women “are severely hungry, eating the last and the least of their families, skipping meals and not eating healthy foods for months and months,” she said, citing UN Women data.Furthermore, people are “living in overcrowded spaces, where infectious diseases are much more rampant”. Because there is no water, women have been forced to shave their heads to avoid infections.Pregnant women ‘fearful’“I could not recognize the Gaza I knew,” Ms. Guimond said. “Homes, hospitals, shops, schools, universities have been destroyed. Crowds of men, women, children trying to survive and in makeshift tents and overcrowded shelters surrounded by rubble and total destruction.”As most hospitals are no longer functioning, access to healthcare and medical treatment is limited. Asked about the situation of pregnant women, Ms. Guimond replied that “some of them are so fearful of delivering in conditions that they have no control over that we’re hearing that some are actually asking if there’s a way for them to deliver more rapidly.”‘No safe places’Since January, UN Women have published several reports on the gender aspects of the Gaza conflict, highlighting how it is “fundamentally a protection crisis for women”.Gaza has a population of some two million, and 90 per cent have been displaced, including nearly a million women and girls who have been uprooted multiple times in an increasingly shrinking space.“There are no safe places to be a woman in Gaza,” she said. “They move with no cash, with no possessions, and with no clue how and where they're going to live. Many women told me that they will not move again as it does not make a difference for their safety or survival.”Yet in the face of death, disease and displacement, women in Gaza “show remarkable strength and humanity in their struggle to survive, with hope and solidarity amidst the devastation,” she added.The latest UN Women Gender Alert, published last month, examined how the war is impacting 25 women-led organizations in the occupied Palestinian territory, 18 of which are based in Gaza.They have over 1,500 personnel who provide shelter site management, hygiene kits, food parcels, psychosocial support, and other essential services, , despite a shortfall in funding.These organizations need financial support to sustain their efforts, she said. But they also need to see an increase of women's representation at the decision-making table in every step of the humanitarian assistance - from planning to final delivery - and they need them now.”Ms. Guimond ended her briefing by echoing the UN’s longstanding call for peace in Gaza, full access for humanitarian aid through the opening of all land crossings into the enclave, an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages.
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24 July 2024
Gaza City-bound UN aid convoy comes under Israeli fire, says UNRWA
“Heavy shooting from the Israeli Forces at a UN convoy heading to Gaza City. While there are no casualties, our teams had to duck and take cover” in the incident on Sunday, according to the head of UNRWA, Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, in a post on X, which called for the perpetrators to be held accountable.One armoured vehicle was hit by “at least five bullets” while waiting just ahead of the Israeli Forces’ checkpoint south of Wadi Gaza, which divides the north and south of the enclave, he noted.“The car was severely damaged, it left the convoy. The teams re-assembled and finally reached Gaza City,” said Mr. Lazzarini, adding that the mission had been “coordinated and approved” by the Israeli Authorities “like all other similar UN movements”.New evacuation orders impact Khan YounisThe development came as further Israeli airstrikes and heavy artillery continued to hit targets in villages east of Gaza’s Khan Younis. New evacuation orders by the Israeli military have been issued to people sheltering in areas that it had previously designated as a “safe” humanitarian area west of Khan Younis, where some 400,000 people are believed to be sheltering, according to local authorities.Media reports citing the Israeli military have indicated that it would be dangerous to stay in these areas as it intended to respond to attacks launched against it from there.According to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, about nine in 10 people in Gaza have been displaced at least once since last October.Many live in appalling conditions, the UN agency warned, amid “surging” infectious diseases. It cited the UN health agency, WHO, which reported that from 7 October to 7 July, nearly one million cases of acute respiratory infections have been recorded.“Nearly 575,000 cases of acute watery diarrhea and more than 100,000 cases of jaundice have also been documented”, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in an update, although the real number of infections is likely far higher.West Bank uptick in child killingsMeanwhile in the occupied West Bank, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported on Monday that the killing of youngsters more than tripled since 7 October, compared to the first nine months of 2023, with one Palestinian youngster dying every two days, on average.The UN agency said that 143 Palestinian children have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel sparked the war in Gaza, compared with 41 Palestinian children killed from January to September 2023.Two Israeli children were also killed in the West Bank in conflict-related violence during the same period, UNICEF said, adding that more than 440 Palestinian children have also been injured with live ammunition.“For years now, children living in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have been exposed to horrific violence,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “The situation has deteriorated significantly, coinciding with the escalation of hostilities inside Gaza. We are seeing frequent allegations of Palestinian children being detained on their way home from school or shot while walking on the streets. The violence needs to stop now.”Living in fear every dayChild casualties have been reported in 10 out of 11 governorates in the occupied West Bank; more than half of the killings were in Jenin, Tulkarm and Nablus. “These areas have seen an increase in large and militarized law enforcement operations over the past two years, indicating a shift in intensity and scope,” UNICEF explained.“The increasing tensions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are also impacting the physical and mental well-being of thousands of children and families, who are now living in daily fear for their lives. Children report being scared to walk around their neighbourhoods or to travel to school.”Prior to 7 October 2023, children in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, were already exposed to the highest levels of violence in 20 years, UNICEF maintained, with 41 Palestinian children and six Israeli children killed in the first nine months of last year. They have also been heavily affected by movement and access restrictions that disrupted their daily lives.UNICEF renewed its call for parties to immediately end and prevent further grave violations against children, including the killing and maiming of children. Parties must adhere to their obligations under international law to protect children. Children’s right to life must be upheld and children should never be the target of violence, no matter who or where they are.“The true cost of the violence in the State of Palestine and Israel will be measured in children’s lives, those lost and those forever changed by it,” said Ms. Russell. “What the children desperately need is an end to violence and a lasting political solution to the crisis, so that they can reach their fullest potential in peace and safety.”
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17 July 2024
Multiple strikes kill dozens near UN aid hub as thousands flee fighting
UN agencies said on Tuesday, as thousands continue to face displacement amid the ongoing war.Reports of strikes landing near an aid centre in Deir Al-Balah came from the UN humanitarian office, OCHA, said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, who provided updates on the situation in the besieged enclave.“The [aid] operations are continuing,” he told journalists at UN Headquarters. “But, if there’s a strike 100 metres away from the place where you work, it just adds to an already overwhelming level of stress for our colleagues not to mention the impact it has on civilians who are routinely killed in these strikes.”Displacement surge from northern GazaGazans also continued to face numerous evacuation orders from the Israeli military nine months into the conflict, which was sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks in multiple Israeli locations that left some 1,200 dead and more than 250 taken hostage.Families joined the exodus from Gaza City to Deir Al-Balah, with more than 1,000 people crossing over the past week, mainly on donkey carts, motorcycles or by car, the UN Spokesperson said.“Many of those people have told us that they have been displaced dozens of times,” Mr. Dujarric added.As a result, UN teams have been deployed along the route to provide water, hot meals, food and health services to those fleeing Gaza City, he noted.Chronic fuel shortagesIn terms of fuel needed to operate humanitarian services, he said shortages persist.“The lack of fuel continues to hinder the work of basic service providers, including hospitals, ambulances, bakeries and aid trucks,” he said. “Over the past two weeks, we’ve been able to collect over 80,000 litres of fuel per day on average.”While that’s an improvement from the previous daily average of 40,000 litres, Mr. Dujarric said it falls short of the 400,000 litres needed every day.He said Israeli authorities are still not allowing the allocation of fuel to key local humanitarian responders, preventing them from transferring supplies within Gaza.For its part, the UN took possession on Monday of 10 flatbed trucks to deliver aid, Mr. Dujarric said.Clinic offers glimmers of hopeDespite enormous challenges, including shortages of medical supplies and medicines and the destruction of many clinics due to the war, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, continues to provide vital health services, working tirelessly to meet the growing health needs of the displaced.For UN News, Ziad Taleb visited the agency’s clinic in Deir Al-Balah and met some of the displaced there, highlighting the immense suffering they are going through.Amid the spread of infectious diseases and difficult living conditions, the UNRWA clinic remains a lifeline for many, providing free treatment and much-needed medical support.Situation ‘deteriorating dramatically’Displaced people in the Gaza Strip are living in extremely difficult living conditions, Inas Hamdan, UNRWA’s public information director, said.“Things are deteriorating dramatically with each passing day because this war has been going on for more than nine months,” she said. “The health situation is also very tragic because of the spread of diseases among the displaced, especially children.”That includes skin diseases and viral hepatitis, in addition to gastrointestinal diseases and diarrhoea.“There are a number of factors that led to this, the first of which is the lack of medical supplies and medicines needed to treat such cases,” she explained. “The most important thing is the living conditions that lack the most basic necessities of life inside tents or shelters. Most of these displaced people live in tents or shelters.”Closed border crossings are making it increasingly difficult to bring in aid, including sufficient quantities of water alongside medical and hygiene supplies.Free servicesThe majority of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million relies heavily on UNRWA clinics. Ashraf Abu Maghsib, a displaced person from eastern Deir Al-Balah, explained that he comes to UNRWA clinics because they provide free medicine, unlike pharmacies and other clinics that sell it at high prices.Hiba Hassanein, who has been displaced from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, said “we chose the agency’s clinic because it provides free treatment to all citizens. We suffer from skin diseases, hepatitis and poor hygiene.”Others echoed those concerns. Enas Othman, a displaced person from Jabalia in northern Gaza, said some of the most dangerous diseases are skin-related, pointing to the widespread presence of mosquitoes and the scarcity of potable water among displaced people. Indeed, the salty water causes many diseases, she added.“We currently live in the Al Mawasi area in Khan Younis, which is a place full of insects that harm people and cause the spread of diseases,” she said.Lifeline for displaced peopleMore than 700 staff work in the UNRWA health sector, spread across different medical points between the displaced and the main clinics, where they have been providing health services, continuously, to the displaced for more than 10 months.However, many UNRWA clinics in different areas of the Gaza Strip were put out of service after being destroyed by the war.Still, UNRWA clinics continue to provide a lifeline for displaced people in Gaza amid medical shortages as the war rages on.
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16 July 2024
UN aid official: I witnessed “some of the most horrific" scenes I had experienced in nine months in Gaza
In an update from Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.“With not enough beds, hygiene equipment, sheeting or scrubs, many patients were treated on the ground without disinfectants, ventilation systems were switched off due to a lack of electricity and fuel, and the air was filled with the smell of blood,” said Mr. Anderson, Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator and Director of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza.Left on hospital floorThe overwhelmed facility received more than 100 severe cases in one day, the UNRWA official continued. “I saw toddlers who are double amputees, children paralyzed and unable to receive treatment and others separated from their parents,” Mr. Anderson said, adding that parents had moved into the “so-called humanitarian zone” of Al Mawasi, in the hope that their children would be safe there.In a statement, the Israeli military said that it had been targeting a Hamas military commander at Al Mawasi, which lies west of Khan Younis city, by the coast. The sand and seafront zone is now home to hundreds of thousands of people, including many forcibly uprooted from Rafah in southernmost Gaza in early May ahead of an incursion by Israeli forces.Monday’s renewed hostilities in Rafah and central Gaza followed media reports of another strike on an UNRWA school-turned-shelter on Sunday in Nuseirat refugee camp. At least 17 people are believed to have died in the attack at the school, according to the local authorities.Two other UNRWA schools were hit last week, with 190 of the UN agency’s facilities struck since the war erupted.Tent miseryLast Wednesday, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, led an inter-agency mission to two informal shelter sites at Al Bureij and Al Maghazi refugee camps in Deir al Balah, central Gaza.In Al Bureij, OCHA reported that 3,800 people were sharing 388 tents with no health services nor basic items including water and hygiene products. In Al Maghazi, more than 1,000 people including seven cancer patients were crammed into a damaged UNRWA school with no medical care, water or food.“My colleagues from the humanitarian community are doing everything possible to increase medical capacity in Gaza, but impediments to humanitarian operations prevent us from supporting people anywhere near the scale necessary,” Mr. Anderson said, before repeating calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all remaining Israeli hostages taken during Hamas-led terror attacks on 7 October, and a “meaningful opportunity” for healing to begin, stressing that civilians must be protected at all times.No escaping aid delaysMultiple obstacles continue to prevent an appropriate level of aid entering Gaza, including long delays at checkpoints and a breakdown in law and order among people desperate for food. But efforts to provide referral services, tents, beds, stretchers, disposables and medications are ongoing, Mr. Anderson said.Around 1.9 million displaced people in Gaza face dire conditions as the conflict continues to escalate, with thousands lacking clean water, sanitation and food, according to the latest reports from humanitarian agencies.At a school in Deir al Balah where 14,000 people are sheltering, only 25 toilets are available, UNRWA noted. An ongoing lack of fuel deliveries into the enclave has also continued to hamper aid relief operations and the running of desalination plants, hospitals and other public services, with only 25 per cent of the daily fuel needed for humanitarian operations reported to have entered Gaza so far in July, causing a 40 per cent drop in public water distribution.And amid ever-present fears of rising levels of malnutrition among the most vulnerable, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned that lack of access to food, water, sanitation and basic health services was leaving people more vulnerable to disease.Between 8 and 11 July, 152 Palestinians were killed and 392 injured, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health (MoH). Since 7 October, at least 38,345 Palestinians have been killed and 88,295 injured, according to local health authorities in Gaza. Gaza’s displaced ‘need everything’Nine out of 10 Gazans are displaced and many “can’t afford to move anymore”, Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator Anderson told UN correspondents in New York on Monday, speaking from Khan Younis.UNRWA teams are trying their hardest to make sure basic necessities such as access to food, water, medicine and hygiene kits, are being met.Among the constant impediments to reaching people in need are restrictions on movement, safety for humanitarian staff, telecommunications challenges and fuel, he said.“Recently there’s been a substantial breakdown in law and order”, he added, with municipal policing virtually non-existent following the Israeli order for officers to stay at home last February.Hunger, anger, desperationThe lack of public order is having a “significant impact on our ability to bring things in, to scale”, he said, noting that truck drivers have also “been regularly threatened or assaulted.”“We have had some challenges with people looting, which really isn’t a surprise after nine months. People are hungry, people are angry, people are desperate.”Telling the storyMr. Anderson also bemoaned the lack of international media access given by the Israeli military, emphasizing that factual reporting is “desperately needed” and “a very vital function by informing the public about what is happening”, especially regarding the impact on innocent civilians.“So we would urge the Israeli authorities to allow international journalists to enter the Gaza Strip and at the same time, every effort must be made to protect the journalists and media workers wherever they are in Gaza.”Most importantly, he told the briefing, “civilians must be protected at all times.”
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Story
15 July 2024
Guterres ‘shocked and saddened’ by deadly strikes on Al Mawasi, as WHO and partners aid medical response
which have reportedly left at least 90 dead and around 300 injured, according to figures from the war-torn enclave’s health ministry.The UN Secretary-General António Guterres said via his Spokesperson late on Saturday that he was “shocked and saddened by the loss of lives”.Israeli officials said the attack had been a “precision” strike targeting top Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif and his deputy Rafa Salama.The strike took place close to the city of Khan Younis in an area reportedly designated by the Israeli military as a safe zone for civilians.'Nowhere is safe in Gaza'UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that reports indicated the attack had taken place in a densely populated area “designated as a humanitarian zone sheltering displaced people.”“This underscores that nowhere is safe in Gaza”, he stressed. “The Secretary-General condemns the killing of civilians, including women and children.”The Secretary-General underlined once again that there must be an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, with all hostages released “immediately and unconditionally.”In a post on X, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that 134 “severely injured people” had been admitted to the nearby Nasser Medical Complex “which is extremely overwhelmed by the influx”.Multiple hospitals treating the injuredWHO staffers are at the hospital along with two emergency medical teams helping to treat the injured, he continued.“We have dispatched 50 foldable beds and 50 stretchers to increase the hospital’s capacity while our prepositioned medicines and trauma supplies are being used to save lives.”Some of the injured have also been taken to a field hospital run by the International Medical Corps in Deir Al Balah where WHO supplies have been provided to meet the urgent needs of around 120 others. Other NGO field hospitals have also received patients in need of urgent treatment, he said.Senior Communications Officer for the UN refugee agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) Louise Wateridge, tweeted harrowing video from Al Nasser hospital on Saturday afternoon local time where workers were “mopping up pools of blood with water alone.”She described children lying on blood stained matresses “traumatised from losing siblings. Some had lost limbs. Many had life changing injuries.”The UN human rights office (OHCHR) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory issued a statement condemning the continued use of weapons which have a wide-area impact in populated areas of Gaza.It is clear that using bombs in such close proximity to thousands of those displaced by the fighting has led to disproportionate harm to civilians and damage to civilian infrastructure suggesting "a pattern of willful violation" of international humanitarian law, especially when the military had told civilians that area was a designated safe zone, OHCHR said. ‘Senseless massacre’The independent UN expert who monitors human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese, said in a post on X that she was “horrified” at the deaths and injuries sustained during the strikes on what an Israeli military official said was an operational Hamas compound, in an “open area”.Hamas said it was “false” that Israel had targeted it’s two top military commanders.Of the Israeli attack which she said was “yet another senseless massacre” of civilians, Special Rapporteur Albanese tweeted “The justification is always the same: ‘targeting Palestinian militants’.”Officials from Gaza’s civil defence authority also reported that at least 20 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on a prayer centre inside the Shati camp for the displaced, to the west of Gaza City on Saturday.
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Story
11 July 2024
UN humanitarians warn against Israeli evacuation orders in Gaza City
many of whom have been displaced multiple times, the UN relief coordination office, OCHA, has warned. The directive, issued by the Israeli military, follows evacuation orders affecting several parts of the city in recent days.“These civilians must be protected – and their essential needs must be met, whether they flee or stay,” OCHA said.“This is what we mean when we say that all parties must respect international humanitarian law, at all times.”Ceasefire talks resumeThe situation is unfolding as a new round of negotiations towards a ceasefire in Gaza resumed in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday.“We're obviously following these developments very closely. The Secretary-General is being kept informed,” said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, speaking in New York.“Our message to the parties is to find the political courage to reach this deal - for the sake of the people of Gaza, for the sake of the people of Israel, for the sake of the hostages, to make this deal.”Aid efforts affectedMeanwhile, the UN and partners continue efforts to support displaced communities across Gaza.OCHA noted, however that the evacuation orders “are also forcing the humanitarian community to reset their aid operations over and over again.”“Aid workers are responding, but what they can deliver falls far short of needs,” UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Muhannad Hadi, said on Wednesday in a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. He stressed that “more funding is urgently needed – as is a safe, enabling environment inside Gaza.”Mr. Hadi visited Deir Al-Balah on Tuesday, where he witnessed firsthand the consequences of the breakdown in public order and safety as he entered and exited the Kerem Shalom crossing, OCHA reported.“He saw groups of men with sticks waiting for trucks to leave the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. All trucks he passed were badly damaged, with broken windshields, mirrors and hoods,” the agency added.The Humanitarian Coordinator also observed bags of fortified flour from the World Food Programme (WFP) and UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA) scattered alongside the road coming out of Kerem Shalom.The top official “also saw that the city of Khan Younis has largely been reduced to sand and rubble, without a single structure left untouched.”Meeting with Palestinian womenWhile in Gaza, Mr. Hadi met with women’s groups who told him about the harrowing conditions at sites for displaced people. Many women have cut off their hair due to lice, difficulties in accessing shampoo and other personal hygiene products, and the lack of privacy, for example. Others voiced despair over the inability to provide for their families, especially for relatives living with disabilities and those who are sick. Women also reported on how extreme overcrowding in displacement sites can lead to tensions within communities. They also said that overcrowding, despair and the breakdown in public order and safety are fueling an increase in sexual and gender-based violence. Mr. Hadi also visited the IMC Field Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, together with the Regional Director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Hanan Balkhy. “Mr. Hadi said he was humbled to see how doctors and nurses provided trauma care for hundreds of patients with severe wounds, despite nearly impossible operational conditions, including the inability to get basic medical supplies such as gauze,” the agency said. West Bank attacks OCHA also reported on Wednesday that it has documented more than 1,000 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank since October, leading to casualties and damage to property, trees and saplings. Nearly 1,400 people, including 660 children, in more than two dozen Bedouin and herding communities have been displaced during the same period due to settler violence and access restrictions. OCHA added that Israeli forces in the West Bank killed 14 Palestinians between 2 and 8 July, the vast majority during two operations in the Jenin and Tulkarm cities and their adjacent refugee camps.
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Press Release
10 July 2024
OHCHR: Palestinians have nowhere left to shelter
On 7 July, IDF issued an order to civilians in areas of central parts of Gaza City, including At Tuffah and Ad Daraj, to immediately evacuate to the west of Gaza City. While issuing this evacuation order, the IDF intensified its strikes in the south and west of Gaza City, targeting the very areas where they had instructed people to move to. In the morning of 8 July, IDF issued a statement confirming that they had hit an UNRWA HQ located west of Gaza City, again in the area where people had been told to relocate. Later, on 8 July, IDF issued another order calling people in parts of Gaza City, including those in its western part, to further evacuate to Deir al Balah -which is already seriously overcrowded with Palestinians displaced from other areas of the Gaza Strip and where there is little infrastructure and limited access to humanitarian assistance.Palestinians have nowhere left to shelter.The UN Human Rights Office has repeatedly raised concerns that IDF’s evacuation orders are confusing, often instructing people to relocate to areas where IDF military operations are ongoing. We reiterate our call on Israel to take all efforts to ensure the safety of civilians in Gaza.Against this backdrop, the UN Human Rights Office is also deeply worried about the fast-deteriorating civil order throughout the Gaza Strip, which is having a significant negative impact on the protection of Palestinians in Gaza and on the humanitarian space.The Office calls for an immediate ceasefire.
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Press Release
11 June 2024
Shock at impact on civilians of Israeli raid in Gaza to free hostages
We are profoundly shocked at the impact on civilians of the Israeli forces’ operation in An Nuseirat at the weekend to secure the release of four hostages. Hundreds of Palestinians, many of them civilians, were reportedly killed and injured. The manner in which the raid was conducted in such a densely populated area seriously calls into question whether the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution - as set out under the laws of war - were respected by the Israeli forces.Our Office is also deeply distressed that Palestinian armed groups continue to hold many hostages, most of them civilians, which is prohibited by international humanitarian law. Furthermore, by holding hostages in such densely populated areas, the armed groups doing so are putting the lives of Palestinian civilians, as well as the hostages themselves, at added risk from the hostilities.All these actions, by both parties, may amount to war crimes.The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, welcomes Security Council Resolution 2735 calling for a "full and complete ceasefire", the release of hostages held by Palestinian armed groups, the return of the remains of dead hostages, and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners. An immediate priority must be to ensure the full and unfettered flow of humanitarian aid to the desperate population of Gaza.The High Commissioner calls on all parties as well as third States, in particular those with influence over the parties to the conflict, to also maximise efforts to work towards the goal whereby Israelis and Palestinians can fully enjoy all human rights and live side by side, in peace.
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Press Release
31 May 2024
UN Human Rights Office in OPT: Conflict and threats severely undermining crucial work of Palestinian NGOs
In Gaza, several staff members of local NGOs have been killed, injured or detained, and many employees displaced multiple times, including outside of the Strip since 7 October 2023.Along with the rest of the population in Gaza, the people running and working for civil society organizations have lost family members, friends and their communities.They are trying to keep working, in the face of enormous challenges, with much of their organizations’ physical infrastructure, including their offices and assets, destroyed by Israel. It is clear that the ability of NGOs to monitor and report on gross human rights violations that are being committed by Israel and Palestinian armed groups has been severely undermined at a time when their work is needed more than ever.Across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, staff of civil society organizations face the continued risk of being harassed, arrested, arbitrarily detained, subjected to ill-treatment, and even deportation resulting from their work by all three duty bearers, including the Palestinian Authority and the De facto Authorities. In 2021, six well-known Palestinian human rights NGOs were designated by Israel as “terrorist organizations” without evidence, and the allegations against them remain unproven. The negative impact of these designations on OPT civil society has been massive, including reduced donor support, loss of staff, fear of working on important human rights issues, and staff morale.Civil society should be the backbone of any society and must be facilitated to work in an independent manner without interference or threat. Israeli human rights groups working on the OPT have also been affected by the shrinking space, including proposed legislation to restrict their access to foreign funding. All three duty bearers must create and sustain conditions that are conducive for the work of civil society organizations and member states must continue to support human rights NGOs.The latest reports that Israel has been interfering in the work of the International Criminal Court, the Commission of Inquiry on the OPT, and prominent Palestinian human rights NGOs are also deeply disturbing.International institutions mandated to ensure respect for international law, including by ensuring accountability for violations, must be respected. Such abhorrent interference must stop immediately.
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Press Release
24 May 2024
UN Human Rights oPt: Alarming impacts of intensification of IDF operation in North Gaza
On 11 May, the IDF issued an evacuation order to residents of areas in Jabalya and Beit Lahiya to move to locations west of Gaza City. This was followed by intense air strikes, shelling and ground operations, especially in and around Jabalya Camp. Evacuation orders were reissued on 14, 15 and 18 May, covering specific areas of Beit Lahiya. By 20 May, approximately 100,000 people were reportedly displaced from these areas – many being forced to locations where there is little or no shelter and limited access to basic services. Despite the issuance of evacuation orders to the civilian population, IDF air strikes and shelling continued in the area, exposing civilians to serious risk.The IDF operations have not spared the few remaining hospitals in the North Gaza that had managed to retain some limited functions, despite being subjected to intense attacks and raids in November and December 2023 and only a few weeks after Al Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City was completely destroyed. Three main hospitals in North Gaza – Al Awda, Indonesia and Kamal Adwan Hospitals – were included in the evacuation orders issued by the IDF on 11 and 15 May. Kamal Adwan Hospital and its vicinity have come under intense airstrikes and shelling. The IDF raided Al Awda Hospital on 22 May after a four-day siege during which it was subjected to shelling and shooting. Since 22 May, all three hospitals have become inaccessible, and remaining staff are struggling to maintain service. Hospitals and ambulances enjoy special protection under International Humanitarian Law. They must not be used for military purposes and must not be objects of attack. The IDF must cease all attacks on or in the vicinity of hospitals and must ensure that their protected status is respected. Furthermore, the IDF must ensure that hospitals are able to receive essential medical equipment and medicines, and that civilian access to them is unhindered.Ongoing military operations in North Gaza also reportedly killed three journalists in Jabalya in the span of less than 10 days. Although the IDF has not made a statement on any of these specific killings, on 18 May the IDF described Palestinian journalists in Gaza as “Hamas mouthpieces,” raising concerns that they may have been directly targeted. Since 7 October at least 135 journalists have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate. Journalists along with the rest of the civilian population are protected under International Humanitarian Law and deliberately targeting them may constitute a war crime.While intense destruction and killings continue in North Gaza, IDF military operations continue to impact other parts of the Strip, including Gaza City, Middle Gaza and southern Gaza. With the intensification of IDF’s ground incursion into Rafah, over 800,000 people have been displaced, many of them multiple times, to locations where there is little shelter or infrastructure and limited or no access to life saving humanitarian assistance.There is no safe place in Gaza. IDF must take immediate steps to protect civilians, particularly the most vulnerable, and facilitate their access to essential humanitarian assistance commensurate with their needs.OHCHR calls on all parties to the conflict to immediately implement a ceasefire. For more information and media requests, please contact:UN Human Rights office at ohchr-opt@un.org
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Press Release
10 May 2024
Statement by the UN Country Team in Palestine on the attack against the UNRWA office in East Jerusalem
It is unacceptable that a UN agency is forced to close its offices due to insecurity, with UN staff physically and verbally threatened while UN property is vandalised. The Hague Regulations of 1907 (article 43), the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 (article 59), and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations of 1946 (article 2), as well as customary international law, clearly outline that it is the responsibility of the host Government and the occupying power of OPT to ensure that United Nations personnel and facilities are protected at all times.This is not an attack on UNRWA alone, but an assault on the entire UN system operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The UN in Palestine demands accountability for these acts, for immediate intervention by law enforcement should similar incidents occur in the future, and for Member States to recognise the longer-term consequences these attacks on the UN will have. We must not allow the failure to respect UN facilities to become the new normal.
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