UNRWA Situation Report #88 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem

• Intense Israeli Security Forces (ISF) bombardment from the air, land and sea continued to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement and destruction of civilian infrastructure.  Israeli forces airstrikes continue in heavily populated Rafah in southern Gaza.

• According to UNICEF latest sitrep hospitals continue to experience severe disruptions in providing health care in the Gaza Strip.  UNICEF report that up to 155 health facilities have been damaged, and 32 hospitals and 53 health centres are non-functional due to hostilities or shortages of essential medicines.  UNRWA continues to operate 7 out of its original 23 health centres.
• According to UNICEF, child malnutrition levels in northern Gaza are particularly extreme, with now at least 18 children reported to have died from malnutrition and dehydration in northern Gaza. UNFPA has cautioned that “malnutrition rates amount pregnant and breastfeeding women have spiked, posing significant health risks”.
• The first nine days of March saw an average of 168 aid trucks per day crossing into the Gaza Strip. This remains well below the operational capacity of both border crossings and the target of 500 per day, with challenges at both Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) and Rafah. Security to manage the crossing has been severely impacted due to the killing of several Palestinian policemen in Israeli airstrikes near the crossings in early February.
• As of 9 March, the total number of UNRWA colleagues killed since the beginning of hostilities is now 162.
• As of 9 March, up to 1.7 million* people (over 75 per cent of the population) ** have been displaced across the Gaza Strip, some multiple times.*** Families are forced to move repeatedly in search of safety. Following intense Israeli bombardments and fighting in Khan Younis and the Middle Area in recent weeks, a significant number of displaced people have moved further south.

*This includes one million individuals residing in or near emergency shelters or informal shelters. As of 12 October, approximately 160,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were recorded in UNRWA shelters in North Gaza and Gaza governorates. UNRWA currently estimates that the population of North Gaza and Gaza governorates to be up to 300,000 people. The ability of UNRWA to provide humanitarian support and updated data in these areas has been severely restricted. The ongoing hostilities, evacuation orders issued by Israeli Security Forces (ISF), and the constant need for safer locations have resulted in people being displaced multiple times.

**UNRWA reported in Situation Report 64 that up to 1.9 million IDPs were either residing in 154 UNRWA shelters or near these shelters. Due to the continued escalation of fighting and evacuation orders, some households have moved away from the shelters where they were initially registered.

*** There are instances where the same IDPs are registered in multiple shelters due to the fluid movement of populations; hereafter, estimates are used for these shelters. UNRWA plans to conduct a more accurate count of IDPs in shelters, including informal shelters, as soon as the security situation allows.

The West Bank, including East Jerusalem 

The next update for West Bank, including East Jerusalem will be published on 12 March 2023.