Attachments
BACKGROUND
Gaza has experienced a protracted humanitarian and food security crisis, exacerbated by successive conflicts. Since 2007, Israel has imposed a restrictive blockade on Gaza,1 which was subject to a series of escalations, with the two most significant in 2008–2009 and in the summer of 2014. Other rounds of fighting were much smaller, such as those that occurred in November 2012, May 2021, and August 2022. The recent escalation of hostilities between Hamas and Israel, which erupted on 7 October 2023, has further exacerbated the challenges faced by the population, with distinct consequences for men and women.
As of 5 March 2024, according to OCHA’s latest flash update, at least 30 631 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, approximately 70 percent of whom were women and children. Additionally, about 72 043 people have been injured. The situation remains critical also in the West Bank, where 413 Palestinians have been killed, including 107 children. Over 1.7 million people in Gaza are internally displaced, including some 17 000 children who are unaccompanied or separated,4 and many who have fled multiple times, and most are in need of immediate food assistance.
Prior to the current conflict, Gaza already faced a dire economic situation characterized by high unemployment, food insecurity, electricity shortages, and health and sanitation crises.6 According to the World Bank, during the first half of 2023, Gaza’s economy contracted by 2.6 percent largely due to a decline in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector, which shrank by almost 30 percent following the restrictions imposed by Israel on the sale of fish from Gaza to the West Bank since August 2022.
Before the current crisis, more than 1.5 million Palestinians already required essential food security and livelihood assistance. This represented 53 percent of the population in Gaza and 11 percent in the West Bank. Moreover, according to FAO, up to 2021, 28.1 percent of the population was moderately or severely food insecure and 4 percent was severely food insecure, with 30.2 percent of women experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity, compared to 26 percent of men. The main cause of food insecurity prior to 7 October 2023 was the lack of economic access to food resulting from high levels of poverty driven by high unemployment rates.
This situation is compounded by the alarming state of water resources, with over 97 percent of water from the coastal aquifer in Gaza reported unfit for human and animal consumption, as per UNICEF’s 2021 findings. Lack of access to food and water has particularly harsh impacts on lactating and young women who are already vulnerable due to preexisting inequalities shaped by harmful social and cultural norms.
The current hostilities are accompanied by genderrelated risks and impacts, and it is therefore crucial to identify the specific needs, resources, capacities, and coping strategies of different groups of men and women, girls and boys including those further impacted by other factors such as the disability status, in order to ensure an appropriate and accountable response that identifies and addresses gender-based constraints and vulnerabilities, making sure to leave no one behind.