25 August 2014
Highlights
- 26 August will mark the 50th day of the current escalation in the Gaza-Israel conflict that has seen almost 500 children killed. An average of 10 children per day have been killed since 8 July.
- 89 Gazan families have been killed in during the conflict.
- Since the expiration of the five-day ceasefire and the resumption of hostilities on 19 August, at least 28 Palestinian children and one Israeli child were killed. In the past 48 hours alone, an additional nine Palestinian children were killed throughout Gaza.
- An estimated 1,000 of the 3,000 children who have been injured will suffer from a permanent disability.
- The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) has risen to 473,980, and is expected to rise further as hostilities continue.
- 103,200 people are now homeless. 17,200 homes have been completely destroyed or severely damaged; UNRWA is expecting 65,000 to 70,000 Palestinians to shelter in its schools as long-term displaced
- The majority of the population is experiencing severe shortages in water and electricity services.
- 500,000 Gazan children were not able to attend the first day of school on 24 August unlike their peers in the West Bank.
Situation Overview
- Following a series of temporary ceasefires, hostilities resumed on 19 August with ongoing rocket fire from Gaza into Israel and Israeli military strikes in Gaza.
- As of 24 August there are almost 474,000 IDPs in Gaza. The majority are staying in 85 designated UNRWA emergency collective shelters that host 283,220 IDPs. Another 36,136 IDPs are staying in seven government school shelters supported by UNRWA.
- The increased number of IDPs has resulted in major overcrowding in UNRWA schools. In Jabalia Boys Elementary School in North Gaza, as of 25 August, there are 8,988 IDPs seeking refuge. UNRWA NFI stocks are
- running very low and they procure additional NFIs daily to meet demand. These IDPs are currently sharing just 20 toilet units.
- An additional 13,729 IDPs are sheltering in 17 government schools managed by MoSA. This includes six additional shelters opened by MoSA since 21 August to help relieve congestion in UNRWA schools. MoSA has also registered 140,895 IDPs sheltering with host families and referred for assistance by various partners. With the resumption of hostilities, it is anticipated that the number of IDPs in both collective shelters and in host families will increase.
- The shelter cluster reports a gap of 51,678 hygiene kits in Gaza, with the biggest shortfall in the response to IDPs living in the host community. In addition to supply shortages, agencies are often unable to access their warehouses in Gaza on account of a lack safe access or movement inside the Gaza strip. This is compounded by the lack of access to domestic water that makes keeping clean and sanitary conditions extremely difficult.
- The impact of the conflict on families is enormous. On Sunday 24 August, the 89th family was killed since the beginning of the escalation. A mother and her four children were killed in Gaza City when their house was stuck in a missile attack.
- Over 50% of Gaza's WASH infrastructure is thought to be damaged in areas that experienced most intense conflict leading to severe water shortages.
- In relation to child protection, preliminary estimates by the Palestinian Ministry of Health indicate that 1,000 of the 3,000 children injured will have some form of life-long disability. A further 6,000 children are expected to have a parent with a life-long disability as a result of injury. It is also estimated that 1,500 children have been orphaned so far in the conflict and will require sustained support from the child protection and welfare sectors. All of these children, and any other children from families that have experienced death, injury or loss of home since the beginning of the crisis, will require a level of sustained psychosocial support. It is likely that psychosocial support will be needed by more than 373,000 children.
- Thousands of explosive remnant of war are left in civilian areas affected by the conflict, causing a threat for children, especially boys who are typically the first victims of this deadly material.
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Priorities & Messages Humanitarian space must be guaranteed to carry out life-saving activities, repair critical water networks, remove UXOs and protect children. Additional fuel is urgently needed to operate backup generators at essential facilities, including water, sanitation and health, for longer hours. Strengthen response to IDPs in non-UNRWA facilities and with host families. All parties have obligations under international law to protect children from violence and harm. This includes ensuring humanitarian access and space for essential services to reach the population in need. |
Summary Analysis of Programme response
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The major escalation in the conflict has resulted in severe restrictions on humanitarian access and emergency response. UNICEF and partners, like many UN agencies and NG0s, are unable to reach many conflict-affected populations due to the risk of harm to humanitarians. The Erez crossing between North Gaza and Israel has been closed intermittently due to heavy fighting, further hampering humanitarian access. |
UNICEF's emergency response in Gaza is focusing on supporting conflict-affected populations inside collective shelters and in host communities. In East Jerusalem and the West Bank, UNICEF's support will expand with a focus on families affected by recent violence and hostilities.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
- A total of 14 water bladders have now been installed. In partnership with MA'AN, UNICEF is supporting water tankering for domestic use in Gaza City. So far, 2,389 cubic meters of water reached 16,719 beneficiaries.
- UNICEF, in cooperation with PHG, is also supporting water tankering to provide drinking water for 50,000 individuals for one month. As of 25 August they have delivered 1,423 cubic meters of water into 355 communal tanks in the Middle area of Gaza. However, the resumption of hostilities has hampered this humanitarian assistance over the past days and the rate of water delivery has decreased.
- WFP and UNICEF distributed eVouchers for water, hygiene products and food to vulnerable families, many of which have lost their homes. 13,000 families (approximately 78,000 people) have been reached through the distribution and discussions are underway to increase coverage to 50,000 families. While the majority of the eVouchers are spent on food, analysis has shown that over 40% of the vouchers' value has been spent on sanitation products showing a clear need for these items by households.
- UNICEF has been supporting CMWU with urgent water network repairs including to water and sewage pipe systems.
- 3,000 posters with messages on lice and scabies control, hand washing and proper water treatment have been printed and are being distributed in collective shelters.
Child Protection
UNICEF is supporting partners to monitor and document all child fatalities. Daily reports are produced on killings, injuries and other grave violation against children including age and location analysis.
Emergency psychosocial teams (PCDCR) supported by UNICEF have provided initial psychosocial support to 4,449 children across the Gaza Strip. Other partners have also been conducting psychosocial activities in communal shelters. The formation of child/adolescent friendly areas in shelters is also in process.
Radio spots are aired on radio stations to alert children and their families on the dangers posed by UXOs (up to 1 million people in Gaza have been reached to date). Due to power cuts, UNICEF ensures that all protection partners working in the collective shelters also deliver messaging verbally.
Since 20 July, child protection and psychosocial text messages were sent to 710,000 subscribers of Jawwal in Gaza. The messages include actions that caregiver should take to reduce the vulnerability of children to death and injury, to reduce psychosocial distress and to prevent and respond to child abuse. UNICEF and Jawwal provided a free phone number to call for advice and support (Sawa Helpline 121).
Since 13 July, Sawa Child Protection Helpline has been operating 24/7 with increased capacity to take thirty calls at one time. Since 8 July 2014, Sawa has been able to provide counselling to 2,587 callers from Gaza (North Gaza 178; Gaza City 1508; Middle Area 70; Khan Younis 258; Raffah 533; and 41 non-documented). 589 calls were about concerns about the impact of the conflict on children, and 961 calls were about persistent fear of violence.
Preparations are ongoing for the provision of psychosocial response in schools to take place at the resumption of the school year in close coordination with Education colleagues.
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Child Deaths Between 8 July and 20 August 2014, at least 491 Palestinian children were killed. 207 boys and 184 girls, aged between 10 days and 17 years old. 67%, are 12 years old or younger. Child casualties far exceed the combined number of children killed in the two previous conflicts in Gaza, which was 350 in 2008-9 and in 35 in 2012. 89 entire families have been killed since the escalation began. |
Education and Adolescents
- 5,633 adolescents and children have benefited from basic psychosocial and recreational activities provided by UNICEF partners MA'AN and Tamer in 17 government shelters and 3 community-based organisations. The activities are designed to help children and adolescents to better cope with displacement and their experiences during the conflict. UNICEF partners also trained shelter managers on core child protection principles to help with maintaining a proactive environment inside government shelters.
- Children in Gaza will not be able to start the academic school year on Sunday 24th of August. They are being denied their right to education.
- UNICEF is working closely with partners and the Ministry of Education in planning a comprehensive Back to School programme for children in Gaza:
- Prepositioning stationary sets, learning kits, teaching aids, and other supplies;
- Procuring school furniture;
- Providing school uniforms and shoes for vulnerable primary and secondary school children;
- Working with partners and hiring engineers to assess damaged schools in selected areas, in order to proceed with small urgent repairs and support WASH facilities;
- Clearing targeted schools from UXOs and cleaning before the academic school year starts;
- Supporting teachers in integrating psychosocial support activities for children;
- Supporting remedial education for injured children.
Health & Nutrition
- Hospitals and health facilities are being re-stocked with essential drugs, vaccines and supplies worth nearly 800,000 USD. Vaccinations are underway in Primary Health Centers run by the Ministry of Health and UNRWA. UNICEF is monitoring vaccination coverage through PRCS.
- UNICEF is funding Ministry of Health (MoH) Community Health Workers to conduct outreach activities in collective centres. 1,193 men, 1,980 women and 2,037 children participated in awareness sessions on communicable diseases in 19 different collective shelters.
- MoH teams visited 19 shelters and 45 homes providing postnatal and neonatal care and advice to 499 mothers and 752 neonates. This agreement with MoH is a long-standing agreement that focused on outreach to people's homes that has been extended to concentrate on reaching IDPs in the collective centres. Two partners, the Near East Council of Churches (NECC) and Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), are implementing these activities in areas that MoH cannot reach.
- Some 3,000 IEC (information Education and communication) posters have been distributed with hygiene messaging and information on safe hand washing and proper water treatment to mitigate against a possible outbreak of communicable diseases. This is also being monitored by NECC and PRCS.
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Humanitarian leadership and coordination
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Steve Catling, UNICEF Emergency Specialist, State of Palestine Tel: +972 54 778 7608 Email: scatling@unicef.org
Twitter: UNICEFpalestine, www.facebook.com/unicefstateofpalestine
Download Document Files: https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/UNICEFSitRpt_250814.pdf
Document Type: Situation Report, Update
Document Sources: United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF)
Subject: Armed conflict, Assistance, Ceasefire, Children, Gaza Strip, Health, Humanitarian relief, Incidents, Internally displaced persons, Living conditions, Population, Protection, Refugees and displaced persons, Security issues, Shelter, Water
Publication Date: 25/08/2014