Latest updates on country situation
20 March 2024
Famine conditions in northern Gaza have continued to materialise in March 2024, with some reports emerging of children dying from malnutrition and dehydration. The latest IPC assessment projects famine to occur any time before May. Famine means extreme food unavailability for households even after they exhaust all coping strategies, leading to starvation, death, and critical acute malnutrition. As at mid-March, two-thirds of the households in the north were going days without eating at least ten times in the past 30 days. The starvation conditions are mainly resulting from the Israeli military restricting humanitarian access and destroying essential infrastructure, with around 70% of buildings in northern governorates damaged or destroyed as at March 2023. These include essential infrastructure, such as hospitals, schools, and WASH facilities. As at mid-March, humanitarian and commercial access remained highly restricted in these governorates since October 2023. (IPC 18/03/2024, OCHA 19/03/2024, UNICEF 15/03/2024)
20 February 2024
Between 16 October 2023 and 13 February 2024, around 312,700 acute respiratory infections, 222,600 acute watery diarrhoea cases, and 74,700 scabies and lice cases were reported in the Gaza Strip. It is estimated that around 93% of children under five had one or more diseases, more than 70% had diarrhoea, 60% had acute respiratory infections in the two weeks leading to 31 January. Deteriorating nutrition conditions and limited access to clean drinking water and WASH services are among the main drivers. As at January, 90% of children under two were experiencing severe food insecurity, consuming food with limited variety and low nutritional value. In the southern Gaza area of Rafah, 5% of children under two are acutely malnourished. In northern Gaza, where humanitarian access is severely restricted, around 15.6% of children under two are acutely malnourished. (WHO 19/02/2024, Health Cluster/WASH Cluster 20/02/2024, Global Nutrition Cluster 18/02/2024)
05 February 2024
As at 5 February 2024, the current conflict in Gaza continues to affect pregnant women in the Gaza Strip with additional challenges in accessing special foods, medicine, and vitamins. The Israeli siege and indiscriminate targeting of civilian infrastructure have exposed them to unstable shelter and inadequate nutrition. They face challenges in accessing special food items, medicine, and vitamins, as well as in reaching health facilities, with some having had to give birth in shelters with no proper medical equipment. (Al Jazeera 24/12/2023, OCHA 06/02/2024, WFP 02/02/2024)
05 February 2024
As at 5 February 2024, school closures and attacks on the education sector in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023 had affected more than 625,000 students and 23,000 teachers. These attacks on schools and civilian infrastructure in general had led the Ministry of Education to suspend the school year in Gaza on 7 November. (OCHA 05/02/2024, UNICEF accessed 05/02/2024, Al Jazeera 24/01/2024)
09 January 2024
As at 9 January 2024, only 15 of the 36 hospitals in Gaza (nine in the south and six in the north) were functional with partial capacity. The southern hospitals were operating at three times their capacity while facing basic supply and fuel shortages. The six northern hospitals were offering maternity, trauma, and emergency services with shortages in medical staff, supplies, fuel, food, and drinking water. From 7 October 2023 to 5 January 2024, the Israeli military operation resulted in more than 300 attacks on the health sector in the Gaza Strip, resulting in the targeting of 94 healthcare facilities and damaging 26 hospitals. The attacks also targeted 76 ambulances, with 38 sustaining damage. As at 29 December 2023, Israeli forces had detained or arrested 65 health workers in Gaza since 7 October, aggravating the challenges facing the health sector in the enclave. (UN 05/01/2024, WHO 29/12/2023, OCHA 09/01/2024)
19 December 2023
The hunger situation in Gaza continues to worsen. The conflict has forcibly displaced 85% of the people in the enclave. The vast majority have been displaced to the southern governorates, where severe hunger levels have increased from 38% in a WFP assessment conducted during the humanitarian pause to 56% on 14 December, 12 days after the end of the humanitarian pause on 1 December. The hunger situation is likely worse for those who have remained in northern Gaza]. The siege imposed by Israel on Gaza hampers the delivery of essential goods, including food, and prevents large-scale humanitarian operations. Israeli military ground operations and air strikes on heavily populated areas, agricultural lands, and essential infrastructure, such as bakeries and water networks, are also aggravating the hunger situation in the strip. (WFP 14/12/2023, OCHA 18/12/2023, HRW 18/12/2023)
10 December 2023
Between 7 October and 9 December 2023, settler violence and access restrictions displaced over 1,000 Palestinians from 15 Bedouin communities in the West Bank. The Bedouin are highly dependent on humanitarian assistance. Settler violence and displacement have aggravated livelihood and food security needs for these communities and affected their access to humanitarian assistance, such as health and education services. (OCHA 09/12/2023, OCHA 25/01/2023, OCHA 01/11/2023)
current crises
in
Palestine
These crises have been identified through the INFORM Severity Index, a tool for measuring and comparing the severity of humanitarian crises globally.
PSE003 - Conflict in West Bank
Last updated 28/02/2024
Drivers
Conflict
Displacement
Socio-political
Violence
Crisis level
Country
Severity level
3.5 High
Access constraints
4.0
PSE004 - Conflict in Gaza
Last updated 28/02/2024
Drivers
Conflict
Displacement
Socio-political
Violence
Crisis level
Country
Severity level
4.2 Very High
Access constraints
5.0
PSE002 - Conflict
Last updated 28/02/2024
Drivers
Conflict
Socio-political
Violence
Crisis level
Country
Severity level
4.4 Very High
Access constraints
5.0
Analysis products
on
Palestine
08 March 2024
Palestine: humanitarian access to and within the Gaza Strip
DOCUMENT / PDF / 349 KB
This report consolidates all available information on access into and within the Gaza Strip. The aim is to create awareness around access limitations and to support advocacy efforts to scale up the response.
08 March 2024
Egypt: potential impacts of the conflict in Gaza and tensions in the Red Sea
DOCUMENT / PDF / 537 KB
This report aims to provide an overview of the anticipated impacts of the conflict in Gaza and the Red Sea tensions on Egypt’s economy, including analysis of the factors and events with the potential to trigger a deterioration in affected people’s humanitarian situation. It also explains the possible resulting humanitarian conditions for affected Egyptian households, existing refugees, and newly displaced Gazans.
05 March 2024
Palestine: risk of famine in pockets of the Gaza Strip
DOCUMENT / PDF / 353 KB
People in Gaza are facing extreme challenges in meeting their basic needs, including food, because of significant access constraints stemming from insecurity. At the same time, these constraints are preventing humanitarian responders from reaching the affected population.
14 February 2024
Palestine: impact of the conflict on people with disabilities in the Gaza Strip
DOCUMENT / PDF / 501 KB
The Israeli forces’ aerial strikes, ground offensive, and blockade of Gaza that followed the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 have had a disproportionate impact on people with disabilities.
01 February 2024
Palestine: impact of the conflict on children in the Gaza Strip
DOCUMENT / PDF / 876 KB
As at 20 January 2024, almost one million children were estimated to be internally displaced within Gaza. Most were in the southern Rafah governorate bordering Egypt, currently the most populated governorate in the Gaza Strip.