UNRWA Situation Report #184 on the Humanitarian Crisis in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem

15 August 2025

All information updated for 7 – 13 August 2025 [1]
Days 669- 674 since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip.

©UNRWA

Highlights:

The Gaza Strip

• During the reporting period, the Gaza Strip has been experiencing a heatwave, with record-high temperatures surpassing 40°C (or 104°F). Dehydration is increasing because of the very limited water available.
• As reported by OCHA, on 10 August, the Israeli Forces hit a tent of journalists outside the main gate of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city, killing six journalists and media workers, including four staff of the Al Jazeera Media Network .
• UNRWA Commissioner General said: ”Journalists must be protected and international media must get into Gaza to support the heroic work of their Palestinian colleagues. This is the only way to counter disinformation and prevent doubts about the scale of atrocities committed in Gaza.”
• The UN Secretary-General called for an independent and impartial investigation into these latest killings, which highlight the extreme risks that journalists in Gaza continue to face.
• WHO has warned that public health conditions in Gaza are catastrophic, with hospitals operating far beyond capacity and some life-saving medicines being totally out of stock, while deaths from malnutrition and disease are on the rise.
• A group of UN experts stated that “Health and care workers have been continuously targeted, detained, tortured and are now, like the rest of the population, being starved.” And that “The UN has reported that health and care workers have fainted due to lack of food and starvation, a violation not only of their own right to health, but one that curtails their ability to perform their duties and compromises the care and healing conditions necessary to treat their patients.”
• UNRWA frontline staff have been repeatedly displaced. They are exhausted, psychologically strained, and in many cases enduring acute food insecurity themselves, while they keep on working and serving the community with dedication. Since the war began, nearly 360 UNRWA team members have been confirmed killed.
• The health response in the Gaza Strip continues to face operational challenges, including extensive damage to health facilities, obstacles to safe movements and restrictions on the entry of medical supplies and fuel. UNRWA medical services are under-resourced. The agency has run out of nearly 60 per cent of essential medicines.
• Over 100 NGOs, issued a statement calling for the Israeli authorities to allow them to bring in NGOs to bring in lifesaving goods, as organisations’ requests are rejected as them being “not authorised to deliver aid”, linked to new INGO registration rules introduced by Israeli authorities in March 2025.
• UNRWA has not been allowed to bring any humanitarian aid into Gaza, including medicines and medical supplies, for more than five months now (since 2 March 2025).
• As of 13 August, 86.3 per cent of the Gaza Strip remains within the Israeli-militarized zone, under displacement orders, or where these overlap.

Key points

The Gaza Strip

Fatalities and Injuries

• Israeli Forces continue to carry out heavy bombardments from air, land and sea across the Gaza Strip and expanded ground operations, resulting in tens of thousands of reported casualties, destruction of civilian infrastructure, and large-scale displacement. People are living in inhumane conditions, seeking shelter anywhere they can, including damaged or destroyed buildings, overcrowded displacement sites, and open areas. Strikes on people sheltering in schools and tents, as well as on people trying to access food or other forms of humanitarian assistance keep being reported, resulting in mass casualties, including among children.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 13 August 2025, according to the MoH in Gaza, as stated by OCHA, at least 61,722 Palestinians have been reportedly killed in Gaza and 154,525 have been injured. As reported by OCHA, Gaza MoH recorded that, of the 60,199 identified fatalities as of 31 July, 27,605 were men, 9,735 women, 18,430 children, and 4,429 elderly.
• Since the war began, nearly 360 UNRWA team members have been confirmed killed.

Food insecurity 

• As reported by OCHA, and according to the Nutrition Cluster, almost 13,000 new admissions of children for acute malnutrition treatment were recorded in July 2025: over 2,800 cases were found to be suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) (22 per cent). The most severe cases of children suffering from SAM with complications, who need to be hospitalized and treated in stabilization centres, have also increased, with 129 cases in July alone compared with 215 cases between January and June.
• UNRWA’s latest Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC)-based findings show that malnutrition has reached 21.5 per cent in Gaza City, meaning nearly one in five young children is now malnourished.
• On 10 August, Save the Children stated that the reported death of 100 children due to starvation in Gaza since October 2023 is a “devastating milestone that shames the world and demands long overdue urgent action,” and highlighted the devastating, long-term health repercussions of acute malnutrition on children.
• With minimal food assistance, people in Gaza, particularly the most vulnerable, keep facing hunger and malnutrition, while having exhausted all coping mechanisms.

Health

• The health response in Gaza continues to face severe operational challenges, including extensive damage to health facilities, killing of medical workers, obstacles to safe movements within the Gaza Strip, and restrictions on the entry of medical supplies and critical fuel. This is forcing the few remaining hospitals to ration resources and/or suspend critical services.
• As also reported by OCHA, for over five months since 2 March, UNRWA’s primary healthcare services have been severely disrupted due to UNRWA’s inability to bring in lifesaving medicines and medical supplies, critical shortages of fuel, and obstacles to safe movements. At present, nearly 60 per cent of essential medicines (56 out of 95 items) are out of stock at these health facilities, including antihypertensive drugs, oral antibiotics for adults, antiparasitic products, and iron supplements for children, while 12 per cent (11 items) are only available to cover one month of needs. Moreover, over the past week, limited fuel supplies have forced some UNRWA health centres to operate one shift instead of two.
• Shortages of medicines, fuel and basic infection control materials are having devastating consequences for patient care. Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) patients, including those with diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, are increasingly unable to access their prescribed treatment due to depleted stocks, which will have serious repercussions on their health.
• As reported by UNRWA Director of Health, due to the prolonged siege on aid and supplies, there is a critical shortage of life-saving medicines like insulin. People with type one diabetes, including children, in Gaza, need insulin every day to stay alive. Even when these become available, patients with diabetes are still at risk, as sometimes, insulin works too strongly, causing hypoglycemia, a drop in blood sugar that can lead to unconsciousness and even death. Yet with just a bit of sweet juice, candy, or sugar, it can easily be prevented or treated. However, shortages of basic supplies, including sugar, fruit, or exorbitant prices prevent stopping side effects of medications.
• UNRWA has reported a weekly average of 10,300 infectious diseases cases, which are on the rise due to overcrowding, poor sanitation conditions, and limited access to clean water. Between 4 and 10 August, 9,915 infectious diseases cases were detected, with acute respiratory infections and watery diarrhoea being the most reported diseases across all areas and a growing number of cases of acute bloody diarrhoea being observed, particularly in Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis. A total of 76 cases of Guillain Barre Syndrome were reported as of 7 August, with no medications available for treatment.
• UNRWA warns that without adequate medical supplies, primary healthcare response is undermined, leaving thousands of chronic disease patients and those suffering from communicable illnesses without life-saving support and heightening the risk of a large-scale public health crisis.

Displacement, Site management

• As reported by OCHA, over 86 per cent of the Gaza Strip remains within the Israeli-militarized zone, under displacement orders, or where these overlap, as of 13 August 2025.
• According to the Site Management Cluster (SMC) latest population movement report, 780,358 people have been displaced since the breakdown of the ceasefire, on 18 March 2025, with 12,530 being displaced between 29 July and 12 August, 68 per cent of which originated from Gaza governorate, according to the report.
• According to the UN, at least 1.9 million people – or about 90 per cent of the population – across the Gaza Strip have been displaced during the war. Many have been displaced repeatedly, some 10 times or more. The many displacement orders issued by the Israeli Forces since the collapse of the ceasefire forced more people to flee in search of safety.
• With shelter supplies banned from entering Gaza for over five months now,  tents are deteriorating and unsuitable for summer and the scorching heat  as most of the shelters have been  used for six months to a year and are  worn out due to prolonged sun exposure and frequent displacement, as reported by the Site management cluster. Some shelters are erected on rubble or partially burned structures, posing safety risks.
• Through its site managers and frontline staff, UNRWA continues monitoring movement of displaced persons, as well as sites of displacement. At the time of writing, over 99,000 forcibly displaced persons are estimated to be living in UNRWA shelters and the surrounding areas, with UNRWA running over 60 shelters.
• During the period between 6 to 12 August, three displacement orders were issued by the Israeli Forces across the Gaza Strip, impacting 17 UNRWA installations:
  • 7 August, a displacement order impacted Gaza City (Tuffah and Daraj), with no UNRWA installations affected.
  • 6 August, a displacement order impacted Khan Younis, with 11 UNRWA installations affected.
  • 6 August, a displacement order impacted east Gaza (Zeitoun), with six UNRWA installations present in the area.
• At least 189 UNRWA installations – or over half of all UNRWA installations in the Gaza Strip – are located within the Israeli-militarized zone, under displacement orders, or where these overlap.

Operational implications and humanitarian response

• Despite limited quantities of fuel entering Gaza over the past week, fuel supplies remain critically low, significantly undermining the ability of humanitarian partners to deliver and sustain lifesaving services, particularly those related to water provision. Limited fuel supplies also remain insufficient to sustain UNRWA operations in the Gaza Strip.
• Over 100 NGOs, issued a statement calling for the Israeli authorities to allow them to bring in NGOs to bring in lifesaving goods, as organisations’ requests are rejected as them being “not authorised to deliver aid.”, linked to new INGO registration rules introduced by Israeli authorities in March 2025. This exclusion has left hospitals without basic supplies, children, people with disabilities, and older people dying from hunger and preventable illnesses, and aid workers themselves going to work hungry.
• UNRWA Commissioner General stated that “UNRWA has also been banned from bringing in aid to Gaza for over five months now. Our warehouses in Egypt and Jordan are full with food, medicine and hygiene supplies to fill 6,000 trucks.”
• All UNRWA international staff are banned from entering the occupied Palestinian territory. This follows the passage of two laws by Israel’s parliament, (the Knesset), on 28 October 2024[2], that prohibit UNRWA’s operations in “Israeli territory” and bar any contact between Israeli officials with UNRWA. The Israeli authorities have not granted the Agency’s international staff visas for more than six months now (end of January 2025).
• Meanwhile, around 12,000 Palestinian UNRWA personnel in Gaza continue to provide services and assistance to an entire population in need, while leading the collective humanitarian response. In the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem, UNRWA continues to play a central role with over 4,000 UNRWA Palestinian staff providing education, health and other services to Palestine Refugees.

The occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem:

• According to OCHA, between 7 October 2023 and 4 August 2025, 995 Palestinians – among them at least 210 children – were killed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Of those, 180 Palestinians, including at least 37 children, were killed since the beginning of this year alone.
  • On 7 August, the funeral of the community member shot and killed by an Israeli settler on 28 July in the Bedouin refugee community of Umm al Kheir took place, after his body was released by Israeli authorities. Temporary access restrictions on the community were imposed by Israeli Forces, preventing non-residents from attending the funeral.
  • On 7 August, it was publicly reported that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem had been banned by Israeli Forces from entering the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem for six months, due to end in January 2026. The banning order was purportedly linked to a sermon previously delivered referencing the situation in Gaza.
  • On 10 August, Israeli Forces conducted a search operation in Jericho, with one Palestinian later dying of injuries incurred by live ammunition.
  • On 12 August, tear gas canisters fired by Israeli Forces during the course of an operation in Al ‘Arroub Camp, in the southern West Bank, landed in the grounds of the UNRWA Al ‘Arroub Basic Girls School, causing limited damage.

Gaza Humanitarian overview and response:

Between 7 October 2023 and 13 August 2025, according to the MoH in Gaza, as stated by OCHA, at least 61,722 Palestinians have been reportedly killed in Gaza while 154,525 have been reported injured.

©UNRWA

Humanitarian access, protection of civilians:

• UNRWA is working to verify the details of incidents that reportedly impacted UNRWA premises and/or personnel. Additional information will be provided once it becomes available*.
• From 6 to 12 August, several armed-conflict-related incidents have reportedly impacted UNRWA installations:
  • On 11 August 2025, an UNRWA school in Zaitoun, southeast of Gaza City, was reportedly directly struck by an Israeli Forces airstrike. Moderate damage to the facility and no casualties among UNRWA personnel were reported.
  • Late Report: On 5 August 2025, an UNRWA health centre was reportedly impacted by an Israeli Forces airstrike at Sheikh Radwan, northeast of Gaza city, when structures close to the installation were reportedly directly struck. Significant damage to the facility and no casualties among UNRWA personnel were reported.

As of 12 August 2025, 895* incidents impacting UNRWA premises and the people inside them have been reported since the beginning of the war. 311* (or nearly all) UNRWA installations have been impacted by armed conflict-related incidents since the beginning of the war, with some installations impacted multiple times. UNRWA estimates that, in total, at least 845* persons sheltering in UNRWA installations have been reported killed and at least 2,554* injured since the start of the war. UNRWA continues to verify and update the number of casualties caused by these incidents.

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*Since the start of the war in October 2023, the latest casualty figures are continuously under review as UNRWA gains access to locations that were previously inaccessible and as further verifications occur. The summary figures will be published/updated as information becomes available, noting that these numbers are subject to change once verifications are concluded. 

• OCHA reported that of the 81 planned aid movements coordinated with Israeli authorities across Gaza between 6 and 12 August 2025, 15 per cent were denied, six per cent withdrawn. Forty-three (43) per cent of the movements were facilitated (37 or 51 per cent). Twenty-nine (29) missions were initially approved but then impeded (36 per cent). Facilitated movements included missions to transfer fuel, staff movements and rotations. Denied movements included missions for essential road repairs along Salah ad Din Road.

The Gaza Strip:

Health and Nutrition

• Since 18 March (when the ceasefire collapsed) and until 27 July, UNRWA health teams provided over 1.5 million health consultations (or over 14,000 per working day), including nearly 107,000 maternal consultations including antenatal, post-natal and family planning care, over 56,000 dental and oral health consultations in fixed and mobile clinics, and over 37,500 physiotherapy rehabilitation services sessions. Between 7 October 2023 and 27 July 2025, UNRWA provided over 9.44 million medical consultations across the Gaza Strip.
• In addition to medical consultations, UNRWA (in partnership with and supported by other UN agencies, including UNICEF and WHO) continued to vaccinate children. Over 300,000 routine vaccines have been given to children since January 2024.
• To date, only four out of 22 UNRWA health centres and two additional UNRWA-rented facilities used as temporary health centres were operational in Gaza. In addition, as of 10 August, health services are provided through 116 mobile medical teams working in 21 medical points inside and outside shelters in the Middle Area, Khan Younis, Al Mawasi, Gaza City. UNRWA health facilities provide primary health care, including outpatient services, non-communicable disease care, medications, vaccination for children, antenatal and postnatal health care, laboratory and dental services, physiotherapy and dressings for the injured. The number of operational health facilities changes constantly based on demand, access and security.
• Between 4 and 10 August, an average of over 1,081 UNRWA health personnel per day worked in UNRWA health centres, temporary clinics and medical points across the Gaza Strip, providing 66,957 including health consultations (or around 11,000 per working day).
• Between 4 and 10 August, UNRWA medical teams provided 4,784 consultations for post-natal and pregnant women at high risk, 2,897 dental and oral health consultations in fixed and mobile clinics, and 1,794 physiotherapy rehabilitation services sessions in health centres and medical points. A total of 4,019 lab tests were conducted in UNRWA health centres and medical points.
• Screening of children for Acute Malnutrition: From January to July 2025, a total of 110,829 children (six-59 months) were screened for acute malnutrition, with 6,762 malnourished children detected: of these, 5,902 were diagnosed with Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) and 86 with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). During the same reporting period, a total of 87,320 caregivers were reached with group counselling sessions focused on safe and age-appropriate Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies (IYCF-E) practices.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support 

• UNRWA remains one of the largest providers of emergency learning and PSS services across the Gaza Strip. With the support of 236 school counsellors and over 300 assistant counsellors, the Agency has conducted 318,195 critical PSS sessions for approximately 730,000 displaced persons, including more than 520,000 children. Between 21 Jul to 31 Jul 2025 a total of 13,638 displaced persons accessed these essential services.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 11 August 2025, UNRWA’s social work team provided services to 233,005 displaced persons, including psychological first aid, PSS services, family and individual activities, as well as case management. During the same reporting period, protection services were provided to 2,827 survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) and 4,966 children, including 2,200 unaccompanied children. The team also supported 26,814 persons with disabilities with PSS; 8,276 of these individuals received assistive devices and rehabilitation services. Awareness sessions on GBV, child protection, disability and special needs, as well as managing social and psychological stressors, were conducted for 146,537 displaced persons.
• UNRWA continued to provide mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services in Gaza City, the middle and Khan Younis areas, with health teams of 49 among psychiatrists, psychosocial counsellors and supervisors to assist special cases referred from UNRWA health centres and shelters. From 4 to 10 August, UNRWA teams responded to 2,083 cases in health centres and at medical points through individual consultations, psychological first aid, awareness sessions and to address cases of gender-based violence (GBV).

Learning

• UNRWA has been providing learning services in Gaza in Temporary Learning Spaces (TLSs) and through its distance learning initiative.
• To date, more than 56,000 children, over half t of them girls, have benefitted from learning and recreational activities delivered in 450 TLSs established across 62 UNRWA schools-turned-shelters.
• Between 21 to 31 July 2025, a total of 12,322 children (5,364 boys, 6,958 girls, including 134 children with disabilities) benefited from TLS-based learning activities in 168 active TLSs. UNRWA has also leveraged digital tools to provide basic literacy and numeracy education to 296,028 Palestine Refugee children in Gaza, facilitated by thousands of teachers. Ongoing and reoccurring telecommunications cuts make digital learning a challenge.

Food Security 

• Since 7 October 2023 and until the start of the ceasefire (19 January 2025), UNRWA reached over 388,000 families (nearly 1.9 million people) with two rounds of flour; at least 374,000 of those families have received three rounds.
• Up until the start of the ceasefire, UNRWA reached at least 1.7 million people with food parcels. Of those, at least 215,000 people received two rounds of food parcels since the war started. These include[3] rice, lentils, beans, oil, salt, sugar, milk powder, hummus, halawa, yeast, and canned fish, and are designed to meet the needs of a family of five for two weeks.
• In addition to the distribution of UNRWA food parcels, the Agency has distributed food parcels on behalf of other UN organisations, having reached over 1.4 million people before the start of the ceasefire.
• During the ceasefire, UNRWA reached over 2 million people with critical food assistance. UNRWA ran out of flour and food parcels at the end of April and was forced to halt food distributions. Between 1 March and 19 April 2025, UNRWA distributed nearly 270,000 bags of flour, reaching an estimated 88,000 families – or over 700,000 people. Since the ceasefire collapsed and until 8 April, only around 15,500 families (or an estimated 77,500 people) have received UNRWA food parcels. UNRWA ran out of food at the end of April. The Agency has not been allowed to bring in any humanitarian assistance including food for 5 months now (since 2 March 2025).

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)  

• Since October 2023, UNRWA has carried out emergency WASH activities across the Gaza Strip, at Designated Emergency Shelters and informal settlement areas, supporting around 1.7 million displaced persons. Activities include operating and maintaining water wells and desalination systems and supplying water with water trucks and bottled water. In addition, UNRWA continues to maintain hygiene in its shelters and sites through cleaning supplies, community-based solid waste management, and pest control.
• Despite the displacement orders in Khan Younis, UNRWA water well continued to operate producing over 500 cubic meters of water daily and benefiting displaced persons in north Rafah and Khan Younis camps. Until the end of July, UNRWA has reached around 240,000 Displaced Persons with potable water provision, and 1.2 million displaced persons with domestic water.
• UNRWA continues to provide solid waste collection and transfer services wherever possible.
• During the reporting period, UNRWA teams also conducted 240 hygiene awareness sessions across the Gaza Strip, benefiting 150,000 displaced persons, and conducted 95 cleaning campaigns inside DESs, benefiting over 90,000 displaced persons.