OCHA: Water, food and essential services still desperately needed as families move north

27 October 2025

OCHA reports that people continue to move across the Gaza Strip over the weekend. Since the ceasefire, more than 470,000 movements of people have been recorded towards the north.

Families are trying to return to their destroyed homes, though many structures are unstable and unexploded ordnance poses a risk. Humanitarian partners report that water, food and essential services are still desperately needed.

Meanwhile, aid continues to enter the Strip. Between Friday and Saturday, more than 300 truckloads were collected from the Palestinian side – mostly from the Kerem Shalom crossing. The aid in these trucks included thousands of pallets of wheat flour, supplies for hot meals, canned food and rice. The supplies also included diapers and jerrycans, as well as hundreds of pallets of health supplies, such as medical equipment and medicine. Tarps, tents and winter clothes also entered Gaza.

While the UN does not yet have the data on the cargo collected on Sunday, it can confirm that hygiene kits, shelter supplies and post-partum kits entered the Strip. Additionally, yesterday, the UN Office for Project Services distributed some 329,000 litres of diesel to support health, food security, telecommunications and other critical humanitarian operations.

As of Sunday, humanitarian partners, working with 170 community kitchens, delivered more than one million hot meals, mostly in south and central Gaza. With 15 UN-supported bakeries producing tens of thousands of bundles of bread in Deir al Balah, Khan Younis and Gaza city, community kitchens and shelters across hundreds of sites are distributing bread for free.

Over the weekend, humanitarian partners continued their work on reducing explosive ordnance risk, reaching nearly 3,200 people in central and southern Gaza. This is increasingly important as people are on the move. Overall, since 7 October 2023, humanitarians have recorded 150 explosive ordnance incidents which led to casualties, including among children.

On the West Bank, OCHA says that since the olive harvest season started on 9 October, more than 85 Israeli settler attacks on farmers and their land have repeatedly disrupted harvesting. These incidents have resulted in the injury of more than 110 Palestinians and the vandalization of over 3,000 trees and saplings across 50 villages. Last week alone, 17 attacks were recorded in 14 towns and villages, mostly in the Ramallah governorate.