OCHA: Civilian suffering deepens as bombardment escalates in Gaza city

15 September 2025

OCHA reports heavy strikes and bombardment across Gaza city over the weekend, with scores of people reportedly killed or injured.

The UN condemns the deadly escalation of the Israeli military offensive which is having an appalling impact on civilians enduring suffering and starvation. The UN reiterates its calls for the protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel, and full respect for international law.

Yesterday, the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said that in the previous four days alone, 10 of the agency’s buildings have been hit in Gaza city. This includes seven schools and two clinics used as shelters for thousands of displaced people. Lazzarini warned that as air strikes in Gaza city and the north intensify, exhausted and terrified civilians are again forced to leave.

People are fleeing using Al Rashid Road, which is the only route available for movement to the south, and as such is extremely congested.

Over the past few days, partners monitoring the movement of people in Gaza counted almost 70,000 displacements heading south, primarily to Deir al Balah and Khan Younis. In the past month, partners observed about 150,000 movements from north to south.

Yesterday, the World Food Programme said that forced displacement from Gaza city exhausts families’ resources and disrupts their last lifelines. Without safe, sustained access, the risk of worsening hunger grows, especially for children.

Meanwhile, the cost of transportation to the south has increased, and many who cannot afford to pay as much as $1,600 to move are having to stay put.

Partners report that one third of malnutrition treatment facilities in Gaza city have already shut down due to forced displacement orders. Today, the Ministry of Health said that three more people died due to malnutrition and starvation over a span of 24 hours. Overall, the Ministry reports that 425 people across Gaza have died due to malnutrition and starvation, about a third of them children, since 7 October 2023.

Partners working in water, sanitation and hygiene have scaled up water production and are distributing water at reception points. They have been able to increase the number of meals being provided in the past few days, distributing about 40,000 additional meals daily. Throughout Gaza as of Saturday, 558,000 daily meals were prepared and delivered by 20 partners through 116 kitchens.

However, health services continue to be heavily constrained, since clinics have suspended their services due to insecurity and displacement orders. In Deir al Balah, more than half of the ambulances are now out of service, with a very limited number to serve thousands of people. In one clinic in Khan Younis, partners recorded a 50 per cent surge in the number of patients in recent weeks – which means an average of 300 patients a day.

OCHA reports that humanitarian movements inside Gaza continue to face impediments. Yesterday, out of 17 missions that humanitarian teams coordinated with the Israeli authorities, only four were facilitated – that is less than a quarter. Seven missions were denied, including the delivery of water tanks to the north. Another four missions were impeded on the ground but three of them were nevertheless accomplished – these included the collection of fuel and food cargo from Kerem Shalom. Two other missions had to be cancelled by the organizers.

OCHA continues to call for unimpeded humanitarian access. Aid should flow at scale through multiple crossings into and within Gaza, including the north.

Meanwhile, humanitarian teams on the ground report that congestion along the routes they use is slowing down humanitarian movements in Mawasi and Deir al Balah, as well as on the way from southern to northern Gaza.

Additionally, partners estimate that about 77 per cent of road networks in Gaza have been damaged, with Gaza and Khan Younis governorates worst affected.

Despite reduced capacity due to access constraints and insecurity, humanitarian partners remain committed to delivering to people in need, wherever they are and wherever they go, as conditions allow.