UNRWA Situation Report #149 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. All information updated for 19-25 November 2024, valid as of 25 November 2024 at 22:30 [EN/AR]

Highlights

• Heavy rains hit the Gaza Strip on 25 November, further worsening living conditions for displaced people amid limited humanitarian response capacities.
• UNFPA reports that there are around 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, with 4,000 deliveries expected in the next month alone. Approximately 15,000 of them are likely to be on the verge of famine.
• WHO reports that, between 1 and 11 November 2024, out of eight WHO missions to health facilities across the Gaza Strip, all three planned for North Gaza were impeded or denied.
• On 25 November 2024, the Israeli authorities issued an evacuation order for the areas of Beit Lahiya and Jabalia. Forty-three UNRWA installations are located within the area affected by the Israeli Forces evacuation zone.
• According to a report by the Child Protection Area of Responsibility, the Gender Based Violence Area of Responsibility, and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, families in the Gaza Strip are having to resort to harmful and unsustainable coping mechanisms including reducing food intake, consuming contaminated water, selling personal items, and managing menstruation needs in a way that puts women’s health at risk.
• According to OCHA, as of 22 November 2024 has become the deadliest year on record for humanitarian personnel, with 281 personnel killed globally. Most of them were UNRWA staff killed in the Gaza Strip (249 to date since the start of the war).

Key Points

The Gaza Strip

• Strikes by the Israeli Forces continue, with aerial, land and maritime bombardments across the Gaza Strip, resulting in civilian casualties and the destruction of residential buildings and public infrastructure.
• In northern Gaza, since 6 October 2024, the Israeli Forces have been carrying out a ground offensive and continue to impose a tight siege. Intense military operations are ongoing amid a near total lack of humanitarian aid entering the area, in addition to severe communications and internet disruptions. Some parts of the North Gaza governorate have been under a tightened siege for 50 days. Access remains extremely challenging, and partners’ ongoing attempts to deliver aid into these besieged areas continues to be largely prevented.
• As of 18 November, the UN and its partners estimated that between 100,000 and 131,000 people had been displaced since 6 October 2024 from North Gaza governorate to Gaza City. The influx has raised the population in the Gaza City governorate from around 250,000, estimated to have been present as of the end of September 2024, to approximately 375,000 people. Between 65,000 and 75,000 people are estimated to remain in North Gaza governorate, accounting for less than 20 per cent of the population there before the intensification of military operations and the siege.
• Heavy rains hit the Gaza Strip on 25 November, further worsening living conditions for displaced people amid limited humanitarian response capacities. The heavy rains are estimated to affect over 1.6 million people living in makeshift shelters across the Gaza Strip, with thousands of displaced families living in tents along the coast in southwest Gaza being particularly affected by flooding and rising seawater. According to preliminary assessments, about 7,000 families residing along the shoreline were affected by recent rains, with thousands of tents flooded, belongings destroyed and shelters damaged. Harsh winter temperatures compounded by heavy rains and rising sea tides are further exacerbating sewage accumulation, the spread of disease, and risk of collapse of damaged buildings where many families have sought refuge.
• The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reported that, with up to 130,000 people forcibly displaced from North Gaza to Gaza City since 6 October 2024, up to 70 per cent of people sheltering in some displacement sites are children and women. UNFPA highlighted that many women and girls are seeking shelter in abandoned homes and destroyed clinics, or sleeping out in the open, exposing them to gender-based violence, abuse, disease and infections. Amid all this, according to UNFPA, there are around 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, with 4,000 deliveries expected in the next month alone. In the Gaza Strip, over 550,000 women are reported to be facing acute hunger and more than 15,000 pregnant women are estimated to be on the verge of famine.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that denial and impeding of humanitarian missions to North Gaza continue to affect the health response. Between 1 and 11 November 2024, out of eight WHO missions to health facilities across the Gaza Strip, all three planned for North Gaza were impeded or denied. On 17 November, after four unsuccessful attempts, a WHO-led mission managed to reach the Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza and delivered 10,000 litres of fuel and medical supplies sufficient for 1,500 trauma patients, in addition to some food and water supplies.
• Between 6-12 November 2024, WHO documented five attacks on healthcare, including three in North Gaza, one in Deir al-Balah and one in Rafah.
• Between October 2023 and 13 November 2024, out of 15,600 cases requested for medical evacuation, 5,238 (34 per cent) have been evacuated, with only 336 patients evacuated since the closure of Rafah crossing in May 2024.
• On 22 November, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that skin and respiratory infections, acute diarrheal illnesses and other viral diseases continue to rise across Gaza, with over 300 children treated daily at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. According to OCHA, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also reported that, in the six months between 9 May and 9 November, 31 per cent of all patients seen in the outpatient department of the Red Cross Field Hospital in southern Gaza were children under the age of 14, with respiratory infections, injuries and burns constituting the bulk of all cases treated.
• According to a report published by the Danish Refugee Council on 25 November, 95 per cent of people involved in the study reported knowing someone killed or injured by active warfare, 90 per cent of them reported destruction or damage to their home, and 70 per cent returned to areas affected by active fighting. Over half of the people interviewed reported encountering explosive ordnance (EO) at least once, with some up to 10 times, and 58 per cent of them reported looking under rubble for essential items, despite knowing the risk of encountering EO. Moreover, 23 per cent knew someone injured or killed by EO, with only 19 per cent of victims receiving emergency aid, only 6 per cent had access to physical therapy, and just one per cent had access to mental health services.
• On 25 November, the Child Protection Area of Responsibility, the Gender Based Violence Area of Responsibility, and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report on the impact of aid shortage on the protection situation in the Gaza Strip.
• According to OCHA, the near halt to commercial trucks entering the Gaza Strip has not only driven commodity prices up and threatened market stability, but also worsened the nutritional status of vulnerable children and women, who for months have faced severely limited access to adequate food, water and hygiene products.
• On 21 November, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory Muhannad Hadi stated that the delivery of critical aid across Gaza is grinding to a halt. According to OCHA, between 10 and 22 November, WASH Cluster partners received only 12 per cent of the daily minimum requirement of 70,000 litres of fuel to meet critical WASH and public health needs, including water production and distribution, sewage management, repair works and solid waste management.
• According to OCHA, as of 19 November, around 79 per cent of the Gaza Strip is under active Israeli-issued evacuation orders.
• According to the UN, at least 1.9 million people – or about 90 per cent of the population – across the Gaza Strip are internally displaced. Many have been displaced repeatedly, some 10 times or more.
• As of 17 November 2024, over 100 UNRWA school buildings in the Gaza Strip are being used to shelter over 415,000 displaced people*.
• On 25 November 2024, the Israeli authorities issued an evacuation order for the areas of Beit Lahiya and Jabalia. Forty-three UNRWA installations are located within the area affected by the Israeli Forces evacuation zone. Overall, since the start of the Israeli Forces ongoing operation in the North of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli authorities have issued evacuation orders impacting 54 UNRWA installations critical to providing humanitarian assistance to displaced people in the North. Some of these facilities serve as emergency shelters.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 26 November 2024, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza as reported by OCHA, at least 44,249 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Gaza and 104,746 have been reported injured.
• OCHA reports that, on 20 October, the MoH published the breakdown of 40,717 out of 42,010 fatalities as of 7 October 2024. These reportedly include 13,319 children, 7,216 women, 3,447 elderly, and 16,735 men. Among the child fatalities, 786 children are under one year of age, representing about six per cent of killed children whose full identification details have been documented, MoH further reported. Additionally, as of 7 October 2024, MoH noted that 35,055 children had lost one or both parents over the past year.
• As of 25 November, the total number of UNRWA team members killed since 7 October 2023 is 249.
• According to OCHA, as of 22 November, 2024 has become the deadliest year on record for humanitarian personnel with 281 personnel killed globally. The war in Gaza is driving up the numbers. Many humanitarian personnel were killed in the line of duty while providing humanitarian assistance. Most of them were UNRWA staff members.
• Several challenges continue to stand in the way of collecting much needed humanitarian supplies from the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing point in southern Gaza. These include deteriorating law and order, war and insecurity, damaged infrastructure, fuel shortages and access restrictions.
• According to OCHA, between 1 and 23 November, 1,489 humanitarian trucks were permitted to enter the Gaza Strip. This represents a daily average of only 65 humanitarian trucks, well below the pre-crisis average of 500 trucks per working day. OCHA reported that, of the 456 humanitarian movements coordinated with Israeli authorities across Gaza from 1 to 25 November 2024, 158 were denied access, 73 impeded, 41 cancelled due to logistical and security challenges and only 184 facilitated.
• Out of the 99 aid movements needed to pass through the Israeli military-controlled Al Rashid or Salah Ad Din checkpoints to reach areas north of Wadi Gaza between 1 and 25 November, 40 were denied, 25 were impeded, nine had to be cancelled, and 25 were facilitated.
• Between 1 and 25 November, the UN attempted to reach besieged areas in North Gaza 41 times, 37 of which were outright denied. Four were initially approved, but then severely impeded on the ground such that the assistance could not be delivered to people trapped in the besieged area. Since the tightened siege started in early October, none of UN’s attempts to support besieged people in that area has been fully facilitated.
• OCHA reported that coordinated aid missions to areas in Rafah governorate, which has been under an ongoing Israeli military operation since early May, have faced similar challenges, with 24 out of 28 coordinated requests submitted to Israeli authorities denied, one impeded, one cancelled, and only two facilitated. This excludes 63 coordinated movements to Kerem Shalom crossing, of which 11 were impeded, 10 cancelled, and 42 facilitated.
• On 18 November, the Logistics Cluster conducted a general assessment of the Karem Abu Salem/Kerem Shalom platform. Preliminary findings indicate that the platform holds approximately 12,000 pallets, including about 1,000 pallets of damaged and/or expired goods. Clearing the platform would require an estimated 550 trucks. As of 21 November, 933 UN and International NGO trucks (60 per cent of which loaded with food supplies) were on standby in Al Arish, ready to be dispatched into Gaza.
• The latest information on supplies entering Gaza can be accessed through the link below:

Gaza Supplies and Dispatch Tracking | UNRWA

The West Bank, including East Jerusalem

The West Bank, including East Jerusalem update is now once a week.

• According to OCHA, between 7 October 2023 and 31 October 2024, 736 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, of those, 430 Palestinians were killed since the beginning of 2024.
• According to UNICEF, around 170 Palestinian children have been killed by the Israeli Forces and settlers in the West Bank since the war started. This corresponds to a child killed almost every other day.
• Between 18 and 24 November, 11 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Of these, seven were killed during a two-day Israeli Forces operation in Jenin governorate starting overnight on 18-19 November, which extended to Jenin camp, Ash Shuhada, and Kafr Dan. Drone-deployed missiles were purportedly used by Israeli Forces during the course of the operation, which resulted in extensive infrastructure damage to Jenin camp and the temporary suspension of UNRWA services.
• A Palestinian child was killed on 18 November during a search operation by Israeli Forces in Nablus, and another Palestinian was killed on 21 November in Camp No. 1 during a search operation. Two Palestinians, including one child, were killed in a search operation in Ya’bad, west of Jenin, late on 24 November.
• An estimated 15 Palestinians were reported injured in Tulkarm camp late on 24 November, when rocket fire from Lebanon was intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome, with debris landing inside the camp.
• The Israeli National Security Minister visited Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque on 22 November as part of an Israeli settlers’ gathering associated with the Jewish commemoration of Shabbat Chayei Sarah. Across 22-23 November Israeli settlers in Hebron Old City reportedly harassed Palestinian residents.