UNICEF State of Palestine Escalation Humanitarian Situation Report No. 2: 20 October 2023

Highlights

• Over 1 million internally displaced persons across the Gaza Strip face an increasingly dire humanitarian situation with severely limited access to basic needs such as water and electricity and health services.
• 1,524 children have reportedly been killed in the Gaza Strip and a further 3,983 reportedly injured; there have been 48 attacks on health care.
• People in the Gaza Strip are accessing less than three litres of water per day on average, and UNICEF has provided 50,000 litres of fuel as well as water supplies to support up to 800,000 people to access minimum quantities of safe water. The UNICEF supported desalination plant is the only one still functioning in the Gaza Strip.
• UNICEF delivered a cash transfer to 1,057 vulnerable households in the Gaza Strip to support their children’s basic needs.

Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs

The humanitarian situation in the State of Palestine continues to be dramatic and has deteriorated significantly with a massive increase in internal displacement across the Gaza Strip. On 19 October OCHA reported an estimated one million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) including over 527,500 people in 147 UNRWA-designated emergency shelters (DES), of whom 367,500 are in central and southern Gaza alone. The last reported number of IDPs in UNRWA’s DES in Gaza City and North Gaza was nearly 160,000, as of 12 October. In addition, about 66,300 IDPs are staying in 64 non-UNRWA shelters, most of which are in Gaza City and northern Gaza.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH), as of 19 October reportedly 3,785 people had been killed in the Gaza Strip of whom reportedly 1,524 are children, with a further 12,493 people reported injured of whom at least 3,983 are reportedly children. The MoH also reports that children continue to be buried under the rubble. Between 7 to 15 October WHO reports 111 attacks on health care in the State of Palestine, 48 attacks in the Gaza Strip, and 63 attacks in the West Bank.

WASH Cluster reports 50 per cent of water supply infrastructure require repair or rehabilitation. Eleven WASH facilities have been damaged or destroyed including a water desalination plant and a wastewater treatment plant. Fuel for the Gaza Power Plant has run out affecting water supply. The UNICEF supported desalination plant is the only one still functioning in the Gaza Strip.

The situation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, remains tense. At least 71 Palestinians, including 21 children, were reported killed in various areas across the West Bank since 7 October 2023, and the Ministry of Health reported that 1,300 Palestinians were reported injured. Most checkpoints across the West Bank remain closed further exacerbating movement restrictions on the population. Attacks on health care in the West Bank include attacks on ambulances; obstruction to delivery of health care; physical violence towards health teams; detention of health staff and ambulances; and militarized search of health assets.

Israeli sources report that at least 1,300 Israelis have been killed, and 4,629 people injured. No disaggregated data is yet available on Israeli children killed and injured. There are at least 199 Israelis reported as abducted, including more than 20 children.