Attachments
Highlights
The Gaza Strip
- Airstrikes, shelling, and gunfire continued across the Gaza Strip, resulting in civilian casualties. Reported escalation continued east of the “Yellow Line”, particularly in eastern Gaza City. Incidents were also reported east of Khan Younis and east of Al Mawasi.
- There are increased reports of scabies, other skin diseases, and rodent infestations in tents. UNRWA and cluster partners are scaling up hygiene kit distribution, and there is an urgent need for pest control materials and chemicals.
- Unavailability of batteries, lubricants, and spare parts are significantly disrupting the Agency's humanitarian operations. Although UNRWA has introduced mitigation measures including reduced electricity generator operating hours, the generators are approaching critical level of mechanical failure.
- The third round of immunisation catch-up campaign, led by UNRWA, WHO, UNICEF, and partners in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, is ongoing. This round aims to systematically reach children under 3 years of age who have previously missed the routine immunisation.
Key Points
The Gaza Strip
Fatalities and injuries
- Between 7 October 2023 and 1 April 2026, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH), as reported by OCHA, 72,289 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip and another 172,040 injured.
- UNRWA has recorded 391 colleagues killed in Gaza since the start of the war (310 UNRWA personnel, and 81 persons who were supporting UNRWA[2]), up to 31 March.
Health crisis
- UNRWA continues to closely monitor the trend in infectious diseases across multiple collective emergency shelters, with heightened risks related to overcrowding, deteriorating wastewater systems, shortages of hygiene supplies on the local market, and restrictions on the entry of chemical products. UNRWA is enhancing tracking and response mechanisms for disease surveillance, and is conducting targeted interventions, in coordination with health and WASH cluster partners.
Displacement, Site management
- UNRWA continues to monitor the movement of displaced persons and displacement sites. An estimated 67,000 displaced people are living in 83 collective emergency shelters managed by the Agency.
- Currently, 127 UNRWA facilities are located within the Israeli-militarised zone behind the so-called “Yellow Line” and in areas where access is subject to Israeli approval or coordination.
Operational implications and humanitarian response
- Around 11,000 Palestinian UNRWA personnel continue to provide services and assistance to people in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, UNRWA continues to play a central role with over 4,000 UNRWA Palestinian personnel providing education, health, and other services to Palestine Refugees.
- All UNRWA international staff are prevented from entering the Occupied Palestinian Territory - the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This follows the implementation of laws passed by the Israeli parliament on 28 October 2024[3] that purport to prohibit UNRWA’s operations in areas that Israel considers its sovereign territory, including occupied East Jerusalem, and seek to bar any contact by Israeli officials with UNRWA. The Israeli authorities have not granted the Agency’s international staff visas or permits to enter the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Gaza, since the end of January 2025.
- Since March 2025, the Israeli authorities have been blocking UNRWA from directly bringing humanitarian personnel and aid into the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, pre-positioned outside Gaza, UNRWA has enough food parcels, flour, and shelter supplies for hundreds of thousands of people.