IOM Regional Emergency Response: 14 Months of IOM Gaza Response (October 2023- December 2024)

12 December 2024

SITUATION OVERVIEW

Over the past 14 months, more than 44,000 Palestinians — mostly women and children — have been killed in Gaza. Nearly all of Gaza’s residents have been displaced — many multiple times. Most are living in temporary shelters, exposed to harsh winter rain and cold. Their physical and mental health is severely impacted. Civilians cannot meet even the most basic human needs — water, shelter, food and healthcare. Essentials, including through humanitarian aid, continue to be denied.

Preparations for winter have been affected by ongoing impediments to the movement of supplies into Gaza, including by insecurity, restricted access, hostilities, unexploded ordnance and fuel shortages. The food crisis worsens by the day across the Gaza Strip. Famine is imminent. Meanwhile, the complete breakdown of public order has fueled a surge in the looting of aid trucks. Despite extraordinary challenges, humanitarian workers persist in their efforts to deliver vital aid. As stated by the United Nations, humanitarian workers must have safe, rapid, unimpeded and sustained access to all people in need across Gaza. As the Secretary-General has stressed, the delivery of aid must be predictable and sustained.

IOM RESPONSE

In October 2023, IOM urgently mobilized resources and expertise to establish a regional response. Drawing on experience in mass displacement crises both regionally and globally, IOM has applied its knowledge in shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and site management to enhance the assistance reaching people in Gaza. IOM teams are delivering essential life-saving items to partners on the ground who distribute aid to the affected population in Gaza.

IOM is strengthening technical expertise on the ground in Gaza by providing experts in site management, shelter, WASH and logistics through a staff loan programme to UN partners. In line with its global co-leadership, IOM loanees to UN partners support site management and coordination in Gaza and play a key role in delivering humanitarian aid. Utilizing the IOM Common Pipeline Programme, in-kind donations and bilateral partnerships, IOM quickly procures and transports essential WASH and shelter non-food items (S/NFIs) via Egypt, Cyprus or Jordan. IOM also facilitated the transport of donated items from government and business partners.