OCHA Reports on Escalating Humanitarian Crisis and Displacement in Gaza, Highlights of the noon briefing by Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General – 30 July 2024

30 July 2024

(Excerpt)

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that an estimated 250,000 people have been internally displaced since 22 July, following the latest Israeli evacuation orders. This is more than 11 per cent of Gaza’s population. Just a reminder that since October, 90 per cent of Gaza’s population has been displaced, often many times.

OCHA said it had observed the return of thousands of people into parts of Khan Younis today. This includes central and eastern neighborhoods in the city, as well as the adjacent area of Bani Suhaila. Their return follows the announced completion of ground operations by Israeli forces in those areas overnight.

OCHA is concerned about the impact that repeated evacuation orders are having on civilians in Gaza.

Families often must move under fire, with only what they can carry. Each time their lives are upended, they are forced to start over again in areas that lack basic services. They must seek out new sources of water, food and health care; identify safe places to sleep; and locate facilities to attend to their hygiene needs.

Many displaced families are staying in overcrowded makeshift shelters or tents in urgent need of repair. Others have returned to destroyed buildings, where they are sleeping amid trash and debris.

The UN Development Programme warns that Gaza’s solid waste management system has collapsed. In a new assessment, UNDP says there is no access to major landfills, and waste is accumulating at more than 140 temporary dumping sites. This is causing serious environmental and health risks, including a spike in diarrheal illness and acute respiratory infections.

Meanwhile, UNRWA says that between 800 to 1,000 new hepatitis A cases are being reported weekly from the agency’s health centres and shelters across Gaza. The lack of water, sanitation and hygiene is speeding the spread of diseases.

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