Situation Overview
Since the launch of the Israeli military operation, hundreds of homes have reportedly been directly targeted by Israeli airstrikes, and it is estimated that at least 615 residential properties (including multi-storey buildings) have been totally destroyed or severely damaged, causing hundreds of civilian casualties and displacing the survivors. To date, at least 42 families have lost three or more family members in the same incident, for a total of 253 fatalities, since the onset of the emergency. This represents an important loss of social fabric in Gaza.
Public infrastructure and services continued to be affected by hostilities. The attack on the UNRWA school in Beit Hanoun brings to approximately 120 the number of educational facilities which have suffered damage since 7 July. Since the current emergency started, 85 UNRWA installations have sustained damage. This includes mainly schools and health centres, in addition to a water pump, the Rehabilitation Centre for the Visually Impaired and warehouses containing vital stocks for UNRWA operations. Three UNRWA staff were killed today, including a teacher while returning home after supervising a shelter, bringing to six the number of teachers known to have been killed to date.
Key humanitarian priorities
Protection of civilians: ensuring respect for the IHL principles of distinction, proportionality and and precaution in attack.
Humanitarian space: Increased access for humanitarian workers and their partners to carry out life-saving and emergency assistance is urgently needed, for example through a regular and meaningful humanitarian pause or coordination requests that are respected. This is needed among other reasons, to complete search and rescue operations in several areas of Gaza, such a Ash Shuja’iyeh and Khuza’a; reach IDPs and families in northern Gaza; and repair critical water and electricity infrastructure; but also to provide a predictable basic level of broader humanitarian assistance to a population in need. The inability of actors to provide humanitarian assistance will undermine the credibility of the operations and could increase the security risks of humanitarian workers.
Scale up response to IDPs: additional shelters are needed to reduce overcrowding and accommodate new IDPs, alongside the replenishment of food, water, and NFI stocks. Assistance for IDPs living with host families also needs to be increased, particularly the provision of NFIs and water.