Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel Flash Update #26. Nov 1

Displacement

The cumulative number of IDPs since the start of hostilities in Gaza is estimated at over 1.4 million. This figure includes nearly 690,400 people staying in 149 UNRWA facilities, 121,750 sheltering in hospitals, churches, and other public buildings, and about 96,400 in 76 non-UNRWA schools. The remaining 550,000-600,000 IDPs are residing with host families, with as many as 150,000 having relocated to shelters in the past few days, seeking food and basic services. 

The average number of IDPs per shelter in UNRWA facilities has reached almost four times their intended capacity. The Khan Younis Training Centre is currently the most crowded shelter, hosting 22,100 IDPs, more than ten times its capacity. 

Over 15 per cent of the IDPs are estimated to have disabilities, yet most shelters are not adequately equipped for their needs. Shelters lack the required medical mattresses and beds, causing ulcers for people unable to move and other medical issues that cannot be treated in unsterilized conditions. In recent days, UNRWA, in cooperation with the ‘Humanity and Inclusion’ NGO, has provided 2,600 persons with disabilities, injured persons, children and the elderly with hygiene kits, assistive devices, eyeglasses, first aid kits and baby kits. 

In Israel, hundreds of thousands of people residing near the Gaza Strip, as well as along the border with Lebanon, have fled or been evacuated, with the Israeli authorities providing for the needs of these IDPs (this report focuses on the humanitarian situation in Gaza).

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Settler-related Violence

In the past 24 hours, in three incidents, Israeli settlers broke into At Taybe community near Tarqumia town (Hebron) and Khallet al Louza community and Al Khadr town (both in Bethlehem) and vandalized two residential and three agricultural-related structures. 

The already high level of Israeli settler violence recorded during the first nine months of 2023 has sharply increased since the escalation of hostilities. Since 7 October, OCHA has recorded 186 settler attacks against Palestinians, resulting in Palestinian casualties (26 incidents), damage to Palestinian property (128 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (32 incidents). This reflects a daily average of seven incidents, compared with three since the beginning of the year.  

Out of the 186 settler attacks, more than one-third involved threats with firearms, including shooting. Almost half of all incidents involved Israeli forces accompanying or actively supporting the attackers. Many of the latter incidents were followed by confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinians, where three Palestinians were killed, and dozens injured. Affected properties included 25 residential structures, 42 agricultural/animal-related structures, 74 vehicles and more than 670 trees and saplings. 

Read the full reportL Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #26


Packaging food parcels in a United Nations facility. Photo by UNRWA/Hussein Owda

UN relief chief: The crisis in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory is a global crisis

UN relief chief: The crisis in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory is a global crisis

Statement by Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, following his two-day visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory

New York, 1 November 2023

Scores of civilians have reportedly been killed in Gaza following recent attacks on the Jabalia refugee camp. This is just the latest atrocity to befall the people of Gaza where the fighting has entered an even more terrifying phase, with increasingly dreadful humanitarian consequences. 

October 7th and its aftermath will leave indelible scars on the lives of millions.  

In Israel, a nation was left in shock after the brutal and graphic killing of some 1,400 people. The families of more than 200 hostages continue to live in anguish, unsure about the fate, wellbeing and whereabouts of their loved ones. 

In Gaza, women, children and men are being starved, traumatized and bombed to death. They have lost all faith in humanity and all hope of a future. Their despair is palpable.  

In the West Bank, the death toll is rising. Violence and the closure of checkpoints mean that people cannot access food, jobs, health care and other essential services.

Meanwhile, the world seems unable, or unwilling, to act. 

This cannot go on. We need a step change. 

We need the hostages to be released immediately and unconditionally.

We need to be able to provide the essentials for survival – particularly water, food, medicine and fuel – safely, immediately and at scale. The more than 200 trucks which have crossed into Gaza so far following painstaking negotiations offer some relief but are nowhere near enough.  

We need the warring parties to agree to pauses in the fighting. This is the only viable option to get relief items into Gaza right now. Repeated humanitarian pauses would allow us to provide more aid to those in need across Gaza, thus alleviating people’s suffering and reducing the risk of civil disorder. Such pauses would also allow the sick and wounded to seek medical care and those who wish to flee to do so safely. 

Put simply, we need the parties to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, including by taking constant care in the conduct of military operations to spare civilians and civilian objects.

And we need those with influence to use that influence to ensure respect for the rules of war, deescalate the conflict and avoid a spillover.

Failure to act now will have consequences far beyond the region, because this is a global crisis.

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel Flash Update #25

Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)

As of 17:00 on 31 October, one out of the three water supply lines from Israel, servicing the Middle area, was restored for the first time since it was cut off on 8 October. While water provision resumed in Nuseirat, Bureij, Maghazi, and Zawaida areas, the volumes received have yet to be assessed. On the other hand, on 30 October, two main water wells in Nuseirat were struck and seriously damaged.

Additionally, the second supply line from Israel to western Khan Younis, which stopped on 30 October was not restored. This line previously supplied 600 cubic metres of drinking water per hour. The third pipeline from Israel to northern Gaza remains also closed since 8 October.

In the Middle Area and southern Gaza, the operation of two seawater desalination plants at about 40 per cent of their capacity, alongside 120 water wells and 20 pumping stations, has continued. This has been enabled by the delivery of small amounts of fuel by UNRWA and UNICEF. As a result, households still connected to the water network have been receiving water for a few hours a day, while others have received water by trucks.

Almost all water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) support is largely limited to southern Gaza, while access to water in Gaza city and northern Gaza is far more challenging. Neither the water desalination plant nor the Israeli pipeline supplying those areas is operational. While UNRWA and UNICEF have also provided limited amounts of fuel to a number of water wells, water is provided by trucks only. Over the past two days, water trucking activities came to a halt due to the ongoing military operations.

On 31 October, three trucks out of the aid convoy were carrying about 3,700 hygiene kits and 22,000 bottles of water, which are set to be distributed among the IDP centres in the south of Gaza. Overall, out of the 217 trucks that have entered Gaza since 21 October, at least 18 carried drinking water (jerrycans and bottles), water tanks, water purification equipment, and hygiene kits.

for the full report: Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #25

Displaced Palestinians staying at Al Quds hospital in Gaza, 29 October 2023. Photo by WHO