UNRWA Situation Report #151 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. All information updated for 4 - 10 December 2024, valid as of 10 December 2024 at 22:30 [EN/AR]

Days 425- 431 of Hostilities

Highlights

• On 10 December, a joint United Nations (UN) convoy delivered urgently needed food to communities in southern and central Gaza along the Philadelphi corridor.
• An analysis from the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Sub-Cluster showed that, between October 2023 and September 2024, 96 per cent of women surveyed experienced some form of GBV, with 94 per cent of women surveyed living in tents or camps and 64 per cent sharing spaces with eight or more people.
• On 4 December, 5,500 people were forcibly displaced from Beit Lahiya to Gaza City.
• United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reported that women and girls in Gaza, including 50,000 pregnant women, have been left without the essentials to survive.
• According to World Food Programme (WFP), interrupted food assistance in the Gaza Strip has led to a severe decline in food access, a tripling of households experiencing poor or severe food consumption, and a doubling of those facing food shortages since July.

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 over 60 days. Access remains extremely challenging and partners’ ongoing attempts to deliver aid into these besieged areas continues to be largely prevented, leaving between 65,000 and 75,000 people without access to food, water, electricity or reliable healthcare, as mass casualty incidents continue.
• On 10 December, a joint UN convoy delivered urgently needed food to communities in southern and central Gaza. A total of 105 trucks successfully completed their journeys along the Philadelphi corridor and adjacent routes, and the convey was able to provide food for nearly 200,000 people.
• According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), attacks on health facilities continue to be reported across the Gaza Strip, particularly in North Gaza governorate. There, hospitals are barely functioning amid severe supply shortages and ongoing hostilities.
• On 4 December, 5,500 people were forcibly displaced from Beit Lahiya to Gaza City.
• OCHA reported that on 3 December, the World Health Organization (WHO) completed a three-day mission during which it delivered to Kamal Adwan Hospital 10,000 litres of fuel, 200 food parcels from the World Food Programme (WFP), blood units and medical supplies, and evacuated 23 patients to Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. WHO also delivered 24,000 litres of fuel and medical supplies to Al Shifa hospital for further distribution.
• WFP reported that interrupted food assistance in the Gaza Strip has led to a severe decline in food access, a tripling of households experiencing poor or severe food consumption, and a doubling of those facing food shortages since July. Moreover, in the north, people increasingly resort to burning waste for cooking purposes due to a critical shortage of cooking gas, which has not entered in the north for more than 13 months. WFP also highlighted that in southern and central Gaza, women and children face increased insecurity when they go searching for firewood, which has mostly been depleted in the highly populated areas along the coast during the past year.
• According to OCHA, as of 9 December, only four out of 19 bakeries supported by WFP remained operational across the Gaza Strip, all of them in Gaza governorate. There, the price of a 25-kilogramme bag of flour is about NIS 20-30 (US$ 5.6-8.4), whereas in central and southern Gaza anecdotal market observations indicated that the price of a bag of flour was at least NIS 1,000 (US$ 280) on 1 December in Deir al-Balah and NIS 875 (US$ 245) in Khan Younis.
• OCHA reported that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) conducted a monitoring survey between 26 November and 6 December which showed that nearly 100 per cent of children between six and 23 months of age and pregnant and breastfeeding women in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis are not meeting minimum dietary diversity.
• UNFPA stated that women and girls in Gaza, including 50,000 pregnant women, have been left without the essentials to survive. UNFPA also reported that a GBV analysis conducted by the GBV Sub-Cluster highlighted that from October 2023 to September 2024, 96 per cent of women surveyed experienced some form of GBV. Types of violence included verbal (97 per cent), psychological (90 per cent), economic (52 per cent), physical (39 per cent), and sexual (11 per cent). The analysis also showed that 94 per cent of women live in tents or camps and 64 per cent share spaces with eight or more people.
• According to OCHA, as of 10 December, around 80 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 displaced. Many have been displaced repeatedly, some 10 times or more.
• As of 3 December 2024, around 380,000 displaced people are registered sheltering across over 100 UNRWA school buildings in the Gaza Strip*.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 10 December 2024, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza as stated by OCHA, at least 44,786 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Gaza and 106,188 have been 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, the MoH further reported. Additionally, as of 7 October 2024, the MoH noted that 35,055 children had lost one or both parents over the past year.
• As of 8 December, the total number of UNRWA team members killed since 7 October 2023 is 254.
• Several challenges continue to stand in the way of collecting much needed humanitarian supplies from the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem 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 7 December, 76 humanitarian trucks were permitted to enter the Gaza Strip. This represents a daily average of only 76 humanitarian trucks, well below the pre-war average of 500 trucks per working day.
• OCHA reported that, of the 197 humanitarian movements coordinated with Israeli authorities across Gaza from 1 to 9 December 2024, 84 were denied access, 32 impeded, 21 cancelled due to logistical and security challenges and only 60 facilitated.
• Out of the 56 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 9 December, 26 were denied, 13 were impeded, eight had to be cancelled and 9 were facilitated.
• Aid missions to the North Gaza governorate were particularly disrupted, especially those seeking to reach Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun. Between 1 and 9 December, the UN attempted to reach besieged areas in North Gaza 17 times, 16 of which were outright denied, and one was impeded.
• 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 all the 11 coordinated requests submitted to Israeli authorities between 1 and 9 December denied. This excludes 30 coordinated movements to Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing, of which two were denied, five impeded, two cancelled and 21 facilitated.
• 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.
• Between 2 and 8 December, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed and 46 reportedly injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. During the same period, more than 150 Palestinians were detained by the Israeli Forces.
• Two Palestinians were reportedly killed and one injured in an Israeli Forces’ airstrike on the vehicle they were travelling in near Aqqaba village, in the northern Jordan Valley, on 3 December. On the same day, a Palestinian child was shot and killed by an Israeli settler guard in Silwan neighbourhood of East Jerusalem after allegedly throwing stones at Israeli settlers’ vehicles. On 4 December, an elderly Palestinian died after being physically assaulted by Israeli Forces at the entrance of Aqraba, in northern West Bank. A Palestinian resident of Nur Shams Palestine Refugee camp died in Israeli detention on 4 December. On 6 December, a Palestinian was shot and killed at Qalandiya Checkpoint, at the entrance to East Jerusalem, following which the Israeli Forces temporarily closed the checkpoint. On the same day, a Palestinian was killed in Balata Palestine Refugee camp during an exchange of fire between Palestinian armed actors and Israeli Forces.
• Between 5 and 8 December there was unrest in northern West Bank, particularly Jenin Palestine Refugee camp and city, wherein the Palestinian Security Forces (PSF) clashed with Palestinian armed actors. Exchanges of fire were recorded near the PSF compound in Jenin, as well as Ibn Sina Hospital and Jenin Governmental Hospital.

Overall situation

The Gaza Strip

• Between 7 October 2023 and 10 December 2024, according to the MoH in Gaza as stated by OCHA, at least 44,786 Palestinians reportedly have been killed in the Gaza Strip while 106,188 have been reported injured.

Humanitarian Access, Protection of Civilians

• UNRWA is working to verify the details of incidents that reportedly impact UNRWA premises. Further information will be provided once it becomes available*.
• During the reporting period, five new incidents have been reported impacting UNRWA installations and displaced people sheltering there, including UNRWA personnel:
  • On 3 December, the Israeli Forces reportedly conducted an airstrike, hitting the third floor of an UNRWA school in Gaza City. There were reportedly five fatalities, and several persons injured as a result of the attack.
  • On 3 December, an unmanned aerial vehicle reportedly exploded upon impact on the roof of a store in the UNRWA Gaza Field Office while aid supplies were being offloaded. The explosion caused minor damage. No injuries were reported.
  • On 4 December, the Israeli Forces reportedly directly struck a tent housing displaced persons inside an UNRWA school in Bureij, in the Gaza middle area. Two displaced people were reportedly killed, and ten others were injured. As a result of the strike, 25 IDP tents were burnt and damage to the schoolyard was reported.
  • On 5 December, stray bullet fragments fell inside the upper courtyard of an UNRWA office in Zawayda.
  • On 9 December, the Israeli Forces directly struck an UNRWA school in Jabalia Palestine Refugee camp, north of the Gaza Strip. Several casualties among the displaced people sheltering at the school were reported. Further verification of the casualties is ongoing.

* Since the start of the war in October 2023, the latest casualty figures are continuously under review as UNRWA gets access to locations that were previously inaccessible and as further verifications occur. The summary figures will be published/updated as information becomes available, noting that these numbers are subject to change once verifications are concluded.

UNRWA Response

The Gaza Strip

Health

• According to the Health Cluster, UNRWA remains one of the largest health actors operating in the Gaza Strip, contributing to over half of the people reached with health services since 7 October 2023. Between 7 October 2023 and 1 December 2024, UNRWA provided over 6.7 million medical consultations across the Gaza Strip.
• In addition to medical consultations, UNRWA (in partnership with and support from other UN agencies, including UNICEF and WHO) continues to provide vaccines to children. Over 221,000 children received routine immunisation vaccines from the start of 2024 until 1 December 2024. In addition, around 560,000 children across the Gaza Strip have been vaccinated against polio during the first round of the vaccination campaign in September. During the second round of the polio vaccination campaign, which took place between October and November, reaching 94 per cent of the intended population, UNRWA, WHO, UNICEF and partners vaccinated a total of 556,774 children under 10 across the Gaza Strip, and provided 448,425 children between the ages of two and 10 with Vitamin A supplements.
• As of 8 December, seven out of 27[2] UNRWA health centres were operational in Gaza. Health services were also provided by 94 mobile medical teams working in 54 medical points inside and outside shelters in the middle area, Khan Younis, Al Mawasi and Gaza. UNRWA health facilities provide primary health care, including outpatient services, non-communicable disease care, medications, vaccination, antenatal and postnatal health care, laboratory services, dental services, physiotherapy and dressings for the injured. The number of operational health facilities changes constantly based on demand, access and security.
• As of 8 December, 1,273 UNRWA health staff continued to work in health centres, temporary clinics and medical points across the Gaza Strip, providing 16,205 medical consultations on that day.
• UNRWA continued to provide mental health and psychosocial support (PSS) services in the middle and Khan Younis areas, with teams of psychiatrists and supervisors to assist special cases referred from UNRWA health centres and shelters. On 8 December, UNRWA teams responded to 512 cases in health centres and at medical points through individual consultations, awareness sessions and to address cases of gender-based violence (GBV).
• On 8 December, UNRWA medical teams provided care for 581 post-natal and pregnant women at high risk.
• On 8 December, UNRWA teams provided dental and oral health services in dental stations and mobile dental clinics, reaching 574 patients, including referred cases from remote dental consultations.
• On 8 December, 276 patients received physiotherapy rehabilitation services in health centres and medical points.
• Stocks of medicines in UNRWA health facilities are low and at least 60 items will run out within a month. UNRWA laboratory services are now limited to three tests out of nearly 35 that were available before 7 October 2023. This is due to limited availability of stocks of most laboratory supplies. Laboratory equipment requires maintenance or replacement.
• [1] Pre-conflict, UNRWA had 22 health centres. Following the onset of the conflict, an additional five temporary health centres were established for a total of 27.

Psychosocial Support and Learning

• UNRWA remains the largest provider of emergency learning and psychosocial support across the Gaza Strip. Around 660,000 children are out of school due to the war. On 1 August 2024, UNRWA began its first phase response of “Back to Learning” with a focus on mental health activities. This is taking place in up to 45 UNRWA schools-turned-shelters[3] by expanding ongoing PSS activities, focusing on arts, music and sports and raising awareness on the risks of explosive ordnance, with the support of nearly 750[4] school counsellors and hundreds of teachers. UNRWA continues to provide lifesaving PSS services in Gaza, including psychological first aid, individual and group counselling, fatigue management sessions, recreational activities, Explosive Ordnance Risk Education and protection cash assistance, reaching children, youth and adults.
• Since the onset of the conflict and up to 9 December, around 730,000 displaced people, including over 520,000 children, have benefited from 275,609 PSS sessions and activities. Between 26 November and 9 December, a total of 22,795 displaced people accessed these services.
• More than 18,000 children, over half of them girls, have benefited from UNRWA’s “Back to Learning” programme so far. Between 26 November and 9 December, 16,474 children (7,222 boys, 9,252 girls, including 379 children with disabilities) participated in a variety of “Back to Learning” activities, including basic literacy and numeracy sessions, PSS sessions, and recreational activities such as arts, music and sports. The activities were conducted daily across 86 temporary learning spaces in 40 shelters, for an average of seven hours per day. This is thanks to 963 UNRWA teachers, with support from counsellors, aiming to address the psychosocial needs of children and adolescents.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 9 December 2024, UNRWA’s social work team has provided services to 193,722* displaced people, including psychological first aid, psychosocial support services, family and individual activities, as well as case management. During the same reporting period, protection services were provided to 1,633 survivors of GBV and 3,671* children, including 2,385 unaccompanied children, covering reunification, safe sheltering, medication, dignity kits and non-food items through referrals. The team also supported 21,043 persons with disabilities with PSS; 7,752 of these individuals received assistive devices and rehabilitation services. Awareness sessions on GBV, child protection, disability and special needs, as well as managing social and psychological stressors, were conducted for 128,708 displaced people.

* Due to further verification, figures have decreased compared to those reported in the previous situation report (#149).

Food Security

• From 7 October 2023 to 9 December 2024, a total of 388,054 families (nearly 1.9 million people) have been reached with two rounds of flour; 374,909 of those families have received three rounds.
• UNRWA continues to distribute food parcels wherever possible. These include[5] rice, chickpeas, lentils, oil, salt, sugar, milk powder, hummus and canned fish, and are designed to cover approximately 90 per cent of daily calorific needs per quarter. To date, over 1.46 million people have been reached, of whom 215,000 people have received two rounds of food parcels since the war started.
• In addition to the distribution of UNRWA food parcels, the Agency distributes food parcels on behalf of other UN organisations, reaching over 1.4 million people.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

• Since October 2023, UNRWA has carried out emergency WASH activities across the Gaza Strip. The main activities include operating and maintaining water wells and desalination systems and supplying water with water trucks and bottled water. In addition, UNRWA continues to distribute hygiene kits and maintain hygiene in UNRWA shelters and sites by providing cleaning supplies, community-based solid waste management and pest control.
• UNRWA continues to be one of the largest WASH actors in the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the war, the Agency has maintained and rehabilitated eight wells, providing over 600,000 displaced people with access to water. In the last two weeks of November, around 28,000 cubic metres of water were distributed across the Gaza Strip. However, UNRWA water wells in Jabalia are still not operational due to damage caused by the intense military operations in the area and the Israeli-imposed siege.
• Winterization efforts are ongoing in Khan Younis, the middle area, and Gaza City, with over 353 manholes cleaned, and 40 cleaning campaigns completed in the last two weeks of November. Pest and rodent control measures were completed. UNRWA distributed over 3000 litres of cleaning liquids for shelters across the Gaza Strip.
• UNRWA continues to provide a solid waste collection and transfer service in the Khan Younis, the middle area and Gaza City areas. Over the last two weeks of November, more than 2,100 tons of solid waste have been collected and transported to the temporary dumping sites. However, no solid waste activities could take place in the northern areas due to ongoing military operations.

[1] Some of the information is reported during the reporting period but does not necessarily correspond to the reporting period.

[2] Pre-conflict, UNRWA had 22 health centres. Following the onset of the conflict, an additional five temporary health centres were established for a total of 27.

[3] Initially reaching 45 UNRWA schools/shelters, "Back to Learning" will gradually expand to 94 schools in future phases.

[4] 176 school counsellors and 566 assistant counsellors.

[5] The composition of the food parcel may change based on food item availability.

Quote from Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General:

“On all counts, the humanitarian disaster in #Gaza is worsening by the day, if not by the hour. We are running out of words. Hunger and disease are rampant.”

ENDS-

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