Attachments
HIGHLIGHTS
- Nearly everyone in the Gaza Strip is living in poverty. Households in the West Bank are also suffering from substantial welfare losses.
- In September 2024, the total number of humanitarian and commercial trucks entering Gaza was the lowest since March 2024. Months of reduced inflows have heavily impacted the availability of essential food and goods, potentially leading to a rapid deterioration of the situation.
- UNICEF has reached one in three people in Gaza since 7 October 2023, providing cash assistance to 864,692 people, including 424,201 children, 23,802 people with disabilities, and 98,387 women-headed households. UNICEF is the primary provider of humanitarian cash transfers, accounting for 71 per cent of all transfers.
- The first round of the polio vaccination took place in September, and the second round will take place in October.
- UNICEF also supported 9,449 school children in Gaza and 2,160 school children in the West Bank with stationary kits.
SITUATION OVERVIEW AND HUMANITARIAN NEEDS
The Palestinian economy is nearing a state of collapse, with a 35 per cent decline in the real Gross Domestic Product in the first quarter of 2024, marking the largest economic contraction on record. The Gaza Strip is in a deep recession; its share of the Palestinian economy has fallen from 17 per cent to less than 5 per cent. Unemployment is at a record high in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Most businesses have stopped operating, leaving most households without income. The cost of basic items has risen by nearly 250 per cent since August 2023, with the biggest contributing factors for the increased costs being the increased transport costs and import policies. Most businesses have been destroyed or damaged, and many owners and workers have been displaced. This has left most households without any source of income. The remaining businesses are informal, selling essential goods on the black market at high prices. In the West Bank, over 87 per cent of workers have seen their income fall since the conflict began.
The number of 145 trucks which entered the Gaza Strip in average per day in September, comprising both commercial and humanitarian aid, is the lowest number of trucks entering since March 2024, according to UNICEF’s analysis. The total weight of the transported goods amounts to 87,455 tons, with the private sector accounting for 59 per cent of this total. Months of reduced inflows have been depleting reserves and the situation is likely to deteriorate quickly. Only a holistic response combining increased entry of both commercial goods, humanitarian aid, and humanitarian cash transfers can avert a further worsening of the conditions ahead of winter – especially in the North. Since the onset of the war in October 2023, UNICEF’s monthly surveys have been tracking recipients’ perception of the availability of essential goods on the markets. After a drastic worsening of this indicator in June followed by a bounce-back in July, UNICEF recorded a moderate worsening of goods availability in September in all geographic areas but particularly in the north of the Gaza Strip. A worsening was also detected in the indicator tracking dietary diversity of children 6-23 months old and pregnant and breastfeeding women, across all geographic areas. The worsening of both indicators, “goods availability” and “dietary diversity,” correlates with a reduction in the total volume and type of goods available inside the Gaza Strip.
The 2024/2025 school year began on 9 September. However, in the Gaza Strip education did not resume, putting children at risk of missing their second consecutive year of education. Ongoing hostilities, restricted access to learning spaces, and the use of schools as shelters for displaced families have contributed to this crisis. Additionally, access to remote learning is further hindered by a lack of internet connectivity, electronic devices, and reliable power sources to charge those devices.
In the West Bank, 2,459 schools reopened with 806,361 students (51 per cent girls) and 51,447 teachers operating at an 80 per cent face-to-face modality. Movement restrictions are expected to continue as a result of military operations and settlers’ violence. It is estimated that at least 58 schools serving around 6,500 students in the most vulnerable areas of the West Bank (50 in Area C and 8 in East Jerusalem) have pending demolition or stop-work orders. Dozens of other schools are in hotspot areas where major protection concerns may disrupt students’ education. The latest assessment of Gaza's educational infrastructure revealed that 94.7 per cent of schools have suffered damage, with 87.4 per cent needing full reconstruction or significant repairs. Continued airstrikes intensified fear among parents, children, and teachers, limiting their willingness to participate in learning activities and threatening education response efforts.
At least 491 health care workers have been killed (345 men, 146 women) since the escalation of hostilities. As of 25 September, 516 attacks on health workers were recorded in the Gaza Strip, with 110 health facilities and 115 ambulances affected. Life-threatening risks including non-communicable diseases, hunger, and poor nutrition during pregnancy, are affecting the public health of an estimated 177,000 women as of September 2024. In consequence to the identification of the polio 2 virus in the Gaza Strip in June 2024, after 25 years of being polio-free, a first round of a comprehensive polio vaccination campaign was implemented. During the first 12 days of September, more than 559,000 children (an estimated 283,000 boys and 276,000 girls) were vaccinated.
As of 30 September, 41,615 Palestinians were reported killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of hostilities. Up to 51 per cent (out of 34,344 identified fatalities) are reported to be children or women. Additionally, at least 96,359 Palestinians were reported injured, with up to 50 per cent (out of 54,000 identified injuries) reported to be women or children. As of 30 September, 304 aid workers have been reported killed.
Across the West Bank, ten Palestinian children were killed in September. Among them, seven were killed in the Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas governorates of the northern West Bank, which remain highly impacted by militarized operations, including aerial strikes, explosive weapons, and exchanges of fire. The intensity of operations increases children’s risk of grave violations and other harm to their physical and mental well-being. One girl was also killed in the context of a settler attack on a village in Nablus governorate. Since 7 October 2023 until 30 September 2024, 167 Palestinian children and two Israeli children were killed in conflict-related violence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In total, since 7 October, at least 695 Palestinians were killed. More than 1,040 children were reported injured in the same period, almost half with live ammunition. Some 6,100 Palestinians, including more than 2,700 children, have been displaced, mainly in Area C and East Jerusalem, due to settler violence and intimidation, home demolitions, and destruction of residences during militarized law enforcement operations. As of 25 September, there have been 619 attacks on healthcare facilities affecting at least 56 health facilities, 20 mobile clinics, and 444 ambulances.
Israeli authorities report that approximately 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed in the attacks of 7 October 2023 including 37 children, and more than 7,500 people reported injured. Some 255 people including 36 children were abducted from Israel into the Gaza Strip, of whom 154 were released or returned including 34 children, with very limited information available on the children remaining in captivity.