OCHA: Escalating hostilities fuel further suffering in Gaza

03 June 2025

OCHA warns that Israeli air strikes, shelling and gunfire have further intensified over the past three days in Gaza. Reports keep coming of civilians killed and injured in what remains of their homes or in displacement sites.

Today, medical teams have reported the deaths of more than two dozen people following another incident where those seeking food at new militarized sites were reportedly shot at. Initial reports point to some 90 trauma injuries today alone. According to the UN Human Rights Office, this is the third day running where people have been killed around such distribution hubs, following similar incidents last week.

OCHA stresses that starving people must not be forced to risk their lives to access food.

Meanwhile, partners on the ground in Gaza are reporting a sharp rise in child labour, early marriage and family separation. This is all driven by hunger, displacement and economic turmoil. Children are increasingly exposed to violence and exploitation during chaotic distributions of basic supplies – including in crowds, when people take flour directly from trucks. Children with disabilities are often those who are worst affected.

In Khan Younis, a safe space for women and girls had to suspend its services in recent days after the area was placed under a displacement order. Partners report that as a result, about 1,000 women and girls have lost access to essential support – including services for survivors of gender-based violence, psychosocial care and help with referrals.

OCHA reports that just yesterday, Israeli authorities issued another displacement order, this time covering four neighbourhoods in Khan Younis, where about 45,000 people were thought to be staying.

Meanwhile, the UN and its humanitarian partners are making the most of the limited opening that began last month, after nearly 80 days of complete blockade. However, OCHA reiterates that the supplies coming into Gaza are still just a trickle and nowhere near enough to meet the immense needs on the ground.

The humanitarian community has enough supplies lined up and ready, close to Gaza – but only limited amounts are actually reaching the people who need them due to conditions on the ground.

Specifically, OCHA warns of bottlenecks in Kerem Shalom, the only crossing point Israeli authorities are allowing for aid into Gaza. Since 17 May, only half of the pre-cleared supplies submitted for a second and final Israeli clearance has made it through to the Palestinian side.

In total, the UN and its partners submitted more than 1,200 pre-cleared truckloads for final Israeli clearance, a process often referred to as manifesting. Fewer than 80 per cent of those – just over 940 truckloads – were approved and sent from warehouses in Israel. After undergoing scanning, offloading, reloading and being shuttled forward, just over 620 truckloads have made it to the Palestinian side.

The UN and its humanitarian partners do not have visibility over that part of the pipeline because Israeli authorities have not allowed them to deploy monitors at the crossing.

Of the supplies scanned in Kerem Shalom, humanitarian teams have managed to collect about 370 truckloads and bring them closer to where people need them inside Gaza. That includes food – mainly flour – as well as medical and nutrition items.

OCHA reiterates that access to both sides of Kerem Shalom is tightly controlled by the Israeli authorities. Inside Gaza, any movement to or from the crossing requires driving through militarized zones where bombing continues. Teams must remain flexible to avoid areas where looting is likely – but they have so far been expected to only follow routes that are approved by the Israeli authorities.

Meanwhile, humanitarian movements that require coordination with Israeli authorities continue to be denied across the Gaza Strip. Yesterday, 10 of 13 attempts to coordinate such movements were rejected. Those included the collection of supplies from Kerem Shalom, as well as other life-saving operations such as trucking water to North Gaza or relocating fuel stocks to where they are needed.

OCHA warns that without immediate access to fuel that is already inside Gaza but located in hard-to-reach areas that are either militarized or subject to displacement orders, more critical services will have to suspend operations soon.

Meanwhile in the West Bank, OCHA reports that yesterday, Israeli forces in the Ramallah area shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy accused of throwing objects towards a road. OCHA warns that this reflects a wider pattern where lethal tactics are used, raising concerns over use of force that exceeds law enforcement standards.

After the killing, Israeli forces withheld the child’s body, raided a nearby home, and confiscated video recordings that documented the incident, according to the family.