OCHA: Bombardment, blockade of Gaza worsen dire conditions

06 May 2025

OCHA continues to warn of a deepening catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, driven by relentless hostilities and a total blockade on humanitarian and commercial supplies, which is now in its third month.

OCHA stresses that under international humanitarian law, civilians must be protected, and their essential needs – including food, shelter, water and healthcare – must be met, wherever they are in Gaza and whether they move or stay.

Yesterday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that all emergency and primary healthcare centres in Rafah are now out of service due to ongoing hostilities. Across Gaza, 13 of PRCS’s 29 clinics have closed. The remaining clinics are barely functional and face severe shortages.

Access to fuel remains a critical concern. Without fuel, health, water, sanitation and communications services are at risk of complete collapse.

Today, a UN team retrieved a small amount of fuel from a station in Deir al Balah, after the Israeli authorities facilitated their efforts to reach it. This limited quantity will be distributed to desalination plants. However, OCHA notes that the Israeli authorities continue to routinely deny humanitarians access to larger, urgently needed fuel reserves in areas such as Rafah.

The UN and its humanitarian partners continue to do everything possible to attend to the needs of people in Gaza wherever they are, whether in their communities or displacement sites across the Strip.

With stocks dwindling over the past nine weeks, humanitarian partners have gone above and beyond to try and sustain life-saving support, including the distribution of hot meals, water, shelter materials, hygiene kits, and health and nutrition services and consultations.

But time is running out. Humanitarian operations are on the verge of shutting down unless Member States with influence press Israel to lift the blockade, allow the immediate entry of essential humanitarian supplies, and ensure a principled and unconditional humanitarian response – at a scale that meets the needs of all civilians and leaves no one behind.

Palestinian communities in West Bank face violence, other threats

OCHA warns of worsening conditions in the West Bank due to violence by Israeli forces and settlers, as well as coercive practices targeting Palestinian communities.

Yesterday, Israeli forces demolished more than 30 structures in Khallet Athaba, a hamlet in Hebron governorate, displacing nearly a dozen families – about 50 people. This constitutes most of the structures in the community and marks the third and largest demolition there since February. The area is designated by Israel as a military training zone.

Israeli forces also began demolishing six homes in Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm yesterday, affecting 17 families. The homes are among more than 100 structures slated for demolition, following an Israeli notice issued at the start of the month.

Today, more than 50 other families in the camp were given brief windows to collect belongings ahead of imminent demolitions of their homes. There has been a strong push for Palestinians living in this area to leave their homes, once again raising concerns about the risks of forcible transfer of the population.

OCHA underscores that Israel, as the occupying power, has a legal obligation under international law to protect Palestinians in the West Bank and ensure their safety and dignity.

Humanitarian partners are mobilizing assistance for affected families in the West Bank, but urgent international engagement is needed to stop these coercive measures and protect vulnerable communities.