Attachments
Days 125-127 of Hostilities
Key points
The Gaza Strip
- Increased airstrikes in Rafah have heightened fears which would further hamper overstretched humanitarian operations. Nearly 1.5 million people are in Rafah, six times the population in comparison with before 7 October.
- Intense fighting in/around Khan Younis (southwest of Gaza) over the last three weeks is causing loss of life and damage to civilian infrastructure, including UNRWA’s largest shelter in the southern area, the Khan Younis Training Centre (KYTC). This is forcing thousands of Palestinians to flee further south towards Rafah, which is severely overcrowded, with reports of Israeli Forces’ strikes in Rafah on 7 February. The Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza expressed concern at the prospect of an Israel military offensive in Rafah which could result in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the fighting and warned that the Agency “will not be able to effectively or safely run operations from a city under assault from the Israeli army."
- Accessing isolated populations north of Wadi Gaza remains a challenge. Between 1 January and 5 February only 10 UNRWA/UNRWA inclusive missions reached north Wadi Gazi out of 35 planned.
- During the reporting period (8 – 10 February), Kerem Shalom remains closed since 7 February due to Israeli protestors. Critical supplies to meet food insecurity continue to be blocked due to lack of Israeli Authorities’ approvals to move flour from the Israeli port of Ashdod into the Gaza Strip.
- As of 10 February, the total number of UNRWA colleagues killed since the beginning of hostilities is now **156, an increase of two since sitrep 75. **
- As of 10 February, up to 1.7 million* people (over 75 per cent of the population) ** have been displaced across the Gaza Strip, some 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 days, a significant number of displaced people have moved further south.
*This includes one million individuals residing in or near emergency shelters or informal shelters. As of October 12, approximately 160,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were recorded in north Gaza and Gaza governorates. 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 Israeli Forces, and the constant need for safer locations have resulted in people being displaced multiple times.
**UNRWA has reported in Situation Report 64 that up to 1.9 million IDPs are 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.