Gaza: continued widespread bombardment, shelling and shootings kill and injure scores of civilians – OCHA

19 June 2025

OCHA says that widespread bombardment, shelling and shooting continue, resulting in reports of scores of fatalities and even more injuries, including among those seeking aid in Gaza.

Yesterday, a UN team visited Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, which is struggling to stay operational under relentless pressure and severe shortages. The World Health Organization (WHO) and OCHA were in the Medical Complex following the arrival of hundreds of casualties, including many who were reportedly attacked while waiting for food.

In a social media post yesterday, WHO’s Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus said the hospital was hosting twice as many patients as it can handle. A WHO-supported tent originally set up for pediatric and surgical care is now being used as an overcrowded trauma ward with 100 beds crammed into a space built for 88.

Dr. Tedros said the hospital cannot expand its capacity because it lacks ventilators, monitors and beds, as well as the staff needed to run them. Yesterday, WHO was able to deliver a minimum amount of fuel to the hospital, to power backup generators.

Nasser Medical Complex is in an area that Israeli authorities have placed under a displacement order last Thursday. While it was not required to evacuate, access to the facility has been challenging because there isn’t enough fuel for transportation, and health workers and patients fear for their safety.

OCHA says that no fuel has entered the Strip for 110 days. Yesterday, the UN was able to retrieve about 280,000 litres from the Al Tahreer station in Rafah and transferred it to a more accessible location in Deir al Balah.

While this buys a bit of time, it is far from enough. OCHA says that to keep life-saving operations going, fuel purchased outside must be allowed to enter Gaza. Unless this happens very soon – hospitals, ambulances, water desalination, phone networks and other services critical to survival will grind to a halt.

Meanwhile, OCHA reports that efforts to repair a fibre-optic cable that was damaged are being hindered, causing a major telecommunications outage for the third day in a row. Today, Israeli authorities initially approved but then impeded the movement of a team set to identify where the line had been cut. This is affecting central and southern Gaza. Until the issue is resolved, OCHA warns that people are cut off from life-saving information about where to find help, and humanitarian teams are unable to properly coordinate or move safely.

No shelter materials have entered Gaza since 1 March, before the Israeli authorities imposed a full blockade on aid and any other supplies for nearly 80 days. While some commodities have subsequently been allowed in small quantities, but tents, timber, tarpaulins and any other shelter items remain prohibited.

Nearly everyone in Gaza has been displaced multiple times during the war, and every third person has been displaced at least once again since the collapse of the latest ceasefire, and shelter conditions are quickly deteriorating. Makeshift accommodations are concentrated in bombed-out schools, public lots and urban rubble, often far exceeding site capacity and without basic infrastructure.

The UN and its humanitarian partners have some 980,000 shelter items, including almost 50,000 tents, ready for prioritization and dispatch as soon as access is granted.