Attachments
Key Points
The Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip update will shift to twice a week, every Monday and Thursday.
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Israeli Security Forced (ISF) operations from air, land and sea continue across the Gaza Strip. On 11 April, ISF announced that a ground operation had begun in central Gaza. ISF operations continue to cause civilian casualties, displacement and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
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Following the withdrawal of ISF from Khan Younis on 11 April, UNRWA alongside other UN agencies participated in a UN inter-agency assessment mission. The mission concluded there are significant challenges in operating safely due to the presence of unexploded ordnance (UXOs), including 1,000-pound bombs inside schools and on roads. Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) require a range of lifesaving assistance, including health, water and sanitation and food.
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The March 2024, IPC report stated that famine is imminent as 1.1. million people experience catastrophic food insecurity. The same report stated that famine can be halted by restoring humanitarian access to the entire Gaza Strip through the delivery of health, food, nutrition and WASH services. OCHA’s latest humanitarian needs and response update[1] highlights the challenges faced in the delivery of health, nutrition, food security and wash services especially with regards to reaching northern Gaza. Restrictions by Israel on UNRWA access to the north have been in place since 24 March. The last time UNRWA was able to deliver food supplies to the area was on 23 January 2024.
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OCHA released its Gaza Humanitarian Access Snapshot for March 2024[2]. According to the report, the Gaza Strip is undergoing an unparalleled humanitarian crisis marked by relentless hostilities and mounting challenges in accessing critical humanitarian aid and services. Despite ongoing efforts, the situation is further exacerbated by frequent aerial bombardments in densely populated urban areas, extensive military ground operations, risks from unexploded ordnance (UXO), pervasive insecurity, closures of key crossing points, restrictions on movement and access by Israeli authorities, and damage to infrastructure.
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There has been no significant change in the volume of humanitarian supplies entering Gaza or improved access to the north. Since the beginning of April, an average of 181 aid trucks have crossed into Gaza per day via the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) and Rafah land crossings. This remains well below the operational capacity of both border crossings and the target of 500 trucks per day.
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As of 14 April, the total number of UNRWA colleagues killed since the beginning of hostilities is 178.
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As of 14 April, up to 1.7 million* people (over 75 per cent of the population)** have been displaced across the Gaza Strip, the majority multiple times.*** Families are forced to move repeatedly in search of safety. Following intense Israeli bombardments and fighting in Khan Younis and the Middle Area in recent weeks, a significant number of displaced people have moved further south.
*This includes 1 million people living in or near emergency shelters or informal shelters. As of 12 October, approximately 160,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were recorded in UNRWA shelters in Northern Gaza and Gaza City governorates. UNRWA currently estimates that the population of Northern Gaza and Gaza City governorates is up to 300,000 people. The ability of UNRWA to provide humanitarian support and updated data in these areas has been severely restricted. The ongoing hostilities, evacuation orders issued by ISF, and the constant need for safer locations have resulted in people being displaced multiple times.
**UNRWA reported on 15 January in Situation Report 64 that up to 1.9 million IDPs were either residing in 154 UNRWA shelters or near these shelters. Due to the continued escalation of fighting and evacuation orders, some households have moved away from the shelters where they were initially registered.
*** There are instances where the same IDPs are registered in multiple shelters due to the fluid movement of populations; hereafter, estimates are used for these shelters. UNRWA plans to conduct a more accurate count of IDPs in shelters, including informal shelters, as soon as the security situation allows.
The West Bank, including East Jerusalem
The West Bank, including East Jerusalem update will shift to once a week, every Monday.
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The disappearance and killing of an Israeli settler child on 12 April instigated two days of extreme settler violence across the West Bank, resulting in at least two Palestinians killed and dozens of injuries. One of the fatalities was a child killed in Beitin village, in the central West Bank. Israeli settlers attacked and destroyed Palestinian property, including houses, vehicles and agricultural equipment. The village of Al Mughayyer in the northern West Bank was particularly affected by settler violence, with at least 40 Palestinians injured due to violence from Israeli settlers and ISF between 12 and 14 April. Widespread movement restrictions including road closures and mobile checkpoints were in place during the ISF search operation for the Israeli settler child.
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An ISF operation in El Far’a refugee camp in the northern West Bank on the morning of 12 April resulted in one Palestinian killed and three others injured. A house inside the camp was reportedly directly hit by an ISF anti-tank missile during the operation.
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UNRWA schools across the West Bank moved to remote learning on 14 April following the overnight air attack by Iran against Israel.