OCHA warns Gaza’s humanitarian crisis at worst in 18 months amid record supply blockage

14 April 2025

OCHA warns that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities. It has now been a month and a half since any supplies were last allowed through the crossings into Gaza – by far the longest such halt to date.

Partners on the ground report a surge in attacks causing mass civilian casualties and the destruction of some of the remaining infrastructure that’s needed to keep people alive. This includes yesterday’s Israeli strike on Al Ahli hospital.

In a social media post yesterday, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that Al Ahli hospital has gone out of service after receiving an evacuation order and being attacked.

He cited an update received from the hospital’s director, saying that a child died due to disruption of care. The emergency room, laboratory, X-ray equipment and pharmacy were destroyed. The hospital was forced to transfer 50 patients to other facilities, while 40 critically ill patients could not be moved.

Dr. Ghebreyesus called for an immediate halt to attacks on health care and reiterated that patients, health workers and hospitals must be protected, in line with international humanitarian law. He urged the lifting of the aid blockade and repeated the call for a ceasefire.

Also yesterday, a UN warehouse in Gaza city and a community food distribution point that we supported in Khan Younis were hit by strikes. Our colleagues have confirmed damages to the warehouse.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities continue to issue additional displacement orders, further reducing the limited space available for families. Civilians are effectively trapped in increasingly fragmented and unsafe enclaves, where access to essentials for survival is dwindling by the day.

Four new displacement orders were issued over the weekend – two on Friday and another two on Saturday. Some of them followed reports on Palestinian rocket fire. Combined, these latest orders cover more than 33 square kilometres, approximately 9 per cent of the entire Gaza Strip. Hundreds of thousands of people lived in those areas, based on assessments from February. These areas also included medical points and other facilities supporting people’s survival.

Currently, about 70 per cent of the Gaza Strip is under displacement orders or in “no go” zones, where the Israeli authorities require humanitarian teams to coordinate their movements.

Displacement orders are now undermining access to half of all water wells across the Gaza Strip.

OCHA reports that, due to the closure of the crossings compounded by restrictions within Gaza, dwindling supplies have forced them to ration and reduce deliveries to make the most of the remaining stocks.

Over the weekend, the UN was able to relocate some existing fuel stocks from areas under displacement orders to locations where they are more accessible for humanitarian operations