Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #13 [EN/AR/HE]

KEY POINTS

• As hostilities entered the thirteenth day, relentless bombardments on Gaza continued, resulting in an additional 307 Palestinians killed in the past 24 hours (as of 17:00). This brings the cumulative fatality toll in the Gaza Strip to 3,785, including at least 1,524 children, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. Hundreds of additional fatalities are believed to be trapped under the rubble.

• At least 30 per cent of all housing units in the Gaza Strip have been either destroyed (12,845), rendered uninhabitable (9,055) or moderately/lightly damaged (121,000), since the start of the hostilities, according to the Ministry of Housing in Gaza.

• The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Gaza is estimated at about one million, including over 527,500 people staying in 147 UNRWA-designated emergency shelters in increasingly dire conditions.

• The complete siege of Gaza continues. The Rafah Crossing has remained closed, preventing the entry of desperately needed humanitarian aid, including food, water, medicines and fuel, awaiting on the Egyptian side. The Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings with Israel have also remained closed. Speaking in Cairo on 19 October, the UN Secretary-General reiterated his call for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” highlighting the need for “unrestricted access of humanitarian aid.”

• The average water consumption for all needs (drinking, cooking and hygiene) is currently estimated at three litres per day per person in Gaza. People consume more and more water from unsafe sources, risking death and placing the population at risk of infectious disease outbreak.

• Palestinian armed groups’ indiscriminate rocket firing towards Israeli population centres continued, with no new Israeli fatalities reported (as of 21:00) in that context. Overall, about 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, according to the Israeli authorities, the vast majority on 7 October. Israeli media reported that, as of 19 October, the names of 705 of these fatalities have been released; of those for whom age was provided, 20 are children.

• At least 203 people are held captive in Gaza, including Israelis and foreign nationals, as per Israeli estimations. The Secretary-General has called upon Hamas to release the hostages immediately and unconditionally.

• In the West Bank, Israeli forces have killed 14 Palestinians in the past 24 hours (as of 21:00), including eleven in Nur Shams refugee camp, while another Palestinian was killed by an Israeli settler. This brings the total fatality toll by Israeli forces and settlers since 7 October to 79, including 20 children. One Israeli soldier was also killed by Palestinians, according to Israeli media.

• At least 74 Palestinian households, comprising 545 people, over half of whom are children, have been displaced from 13 herding/Bedouin communities in Area C of the West Bank since 7 October, amid intensified settler violence and access restrictions.