Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #19 [EN/AR/HE]

KEY POINTS

• As hostilities entered the nineteenth day, the reported number of Palestinian fatalities in Gaza reached a new high: 756 people, including 344 children, over the past 24 hours (as of 18:00 on 25 October), according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza. Overall, 6,547, of whom 68 per cent are said to be children and women, were killed in Gaza since the start of hostilities, according to MoH. About 1,600 people, including 900 children, have been reported missing and may be under the rubble. Heavy Israeli bombardments have continued throughout the day.

• On the night of 24 October, the Rafah crossing with Egypt opened for the fourth consecutive day, allowing the entry of eight trucks (out of 20 planned) carrying water, food and medical supplies. This brings the total number of trucks with humanitarian aid that entered Gaza since 21 October to 62. Most of this aid has already reached hospitals, ambulances, and internally displaced persons (IDPs). The daily average of trucks allowed into Gaza prior to the hostilities was about 500.

• Fuel, which is desperately needed to run backup generators, remains banned by the Israeli authorities. As a result, UNRWA, the largest humanitarian provider in Gaza, has almost exhausted its fuel reserves and began to significantly reduce its operations.

• On the morning of 25 October, the Israeli military called upon the residents of two neighbourhoods east of Khan Younis and Deir Al Balah (south of Wadi Gaza), with a population of over 40,000, to evacuate westwards to Al Mawasi area, on the seacoast, by 14:00. That area has almost no sheltering capacity. The volume of movement as a result of this call remains unclear.

• An estimated 1.4 million people in Gaza are internally displaced, with some 629,000 sheltering in 150 UNRWA-designated emergency shelters (DES). Overcrowding is a growing concern, as the average number of IDPs per shelter has reached 2.7 times their designated capacity, with the most overcrowded one reaching 11 times its intended capacity.

• Water supply through the network in areas south of Wadi Gaza has temporarily improved. This happened after UNRWA and UNICEF managed to deliver small quantities of fuel they had retrieved from their existing reserves to key facilities. However, the available fuel in these facilities will be exhausted by 26 October and supply of piped water is expected to cease again.

• Palestinian armed groups’ indiscriminate rocket firing towards Israeli population centres continued, reportedly reaching as far as Eilat and Haifa cities, with no reported fatalities. Overall, about 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed since 7 October, according to the Israeli authorities, the vast majority on the first day.

• According to the Israeli authorities, 220 people are held captive in Gaza, including Israelis and foreign nationals. The UN Secretary-General has called upon Hamas to release hostages immediately and unconditionally. A total of four hostages were released on 20 and 23 October.

• In the West Bank, since the afternoon of 24 October (as of 21:00 today), Israeli forces have killed seven Palestinians, including two children. This brings the number of Palestinian fatalities by Israeli forces or settlers since 7 October to 102, including 31 children.