UN humanitarians repeated dire concerns for civilians caught up
in the war in Gaza on Tuesday, amid reports of continued Israeli
bombardment of the southern towns of Deir al Balah, Khan Younis
and Rafah, direct clashes on the ground and the firing of rockets
overnight by Palestinian armed groups into Israel.
The latest warnings from UN relief agency for Palestinians UNRWA
and the UN World Food Programme, WFP, highlighted the
threat of starvation and disease in heavily built-up areas, where
tens of thousands of people have fled intense bombing campaigns
in the enclave’s north and centre.
Skipping meals
“Everyone in Gaza is hungry! Skipping meals is the norm, and each
day is a desperate search for sustenance,” WFP said in a post on
X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday. “People often go the entire day
and night without eating. Adults go hungry so children can eat.”
Well over a million people are now seeking safety in the already
overcrowded southern city of Rafah, according to UNRWA, with hundreds of
thousands sleeping in the open with inadequate clothing or
materials to keep out the cold.
Undernourished children are at particular risk, while “half of
Gaza’s population is starving” UN humanitarians
have warned, in line with
the latest food insecurity
assessments.
Infections are spreading
Echoing those concerns, the UN health agency WHO warned of an
“imminent risk” of communicable disease outbreaks.
Since mid-October, there have been 179,000 cases of acute
respiratory infection, 136,400 cases of diarrhoea among under
fives, 55,400 cases of scabies and lice and 4,600 cases of
jaundice, it reported.
Since the Hamas-led terror attacks in southern Israel on 7
October that left some 1,200 dead and another 240 taken hostage,
clashes in the Gaza Strip and strikes from the air, land, and sea
by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have claimed the lives
of more than 22,000 people, mainly women
and children, according to local health officials.
IDF figures from 30 December indicated that 168
Israeli soldiers have been killed since the start
of the ground operation in Gaza and 955 injured.
Gaza’s health ministry also reportedly stated that more than 200
Palestinians have been killed since Monday alone, with 338
wounded.
Thousands more presumed dead
An additional 7,000 people have also been reported
missing or buried under rubble, the UN health
agency WHO said in its latest emergency
update.
The report also noted that 600 people have been killed in nearly
300 attacks on healthcare since 7 October that have damaged 26
hospitals and 38 ambulances.
Of the 1.93 million displaced in Gaza, some 52,000 pregnant women
are giving birth to around 180 babies every day, according to the
WHO update. It also detailed that 1,100 patients need kidney
dialysis, 71,000 have diabetes and 225,000 need treatment for
high blood pressure.
Health services reviving
UN aid coordination agency OCHA also noted that the
Gazan health authorities had managed to resume some hospital
services in the north of Gaza.
These included Al Ahli Arab Hospital, the Patients Friends
charity hospital, Al Helou International hospital, Al Awda
hospital and a number of other primary care centres.
“This occurred amidst great risks surrounding the movement and
work of medical teams due to the continuous bombing of
residential neighborhoods and the vicinity of health facilities,”
OCHA said.
“Furthermore, the Ministry of Health in Gaza, UNRWA and WHO are
coordinating on a plan for the reactivation of
health centres to meet the needs of displaced
people in all places of displacement.”
West Bank crisis
In a related development, OCHA reported the first case of the
demolition of Palestinian property in the West Bank in 2024, in
al-Maniya in Bethlehem.
Some 300 Palestinians – including 79 children - have been killed
across the occupied West Bank since 7 October, amid increasing
attacks by Israeli Security Forces and settlers that have been
confirmed and condemned by UN
human rights chief Volker Türk.
Before the Hamas-led 7 October attacks, 200 Palestinians had
already been killed in the West Bank last year - the highest
number in a 10-month-period since the UN began keeping records in
2005.
According to a report by the UN human rights office OHCHR encompassing 7
October to 20 November, the period saw a “sharp increase in
airstrikes as well as in incursions by armoured personnel
carriers and bulldozers sent to refugee camps and other densely
populated areas in the West Bank, resulting in deaths, injuries
and extensive damage to civilian objects and infrastructure”.
Last year, Israeli authorities oversaw the demolition of 1,119
structures – a record since data collection began in 2009 –
uprooting 2,210 people, according to OCHA, in its
first update of 2024.
“The threat of destruction of homes and sources of livelihood
contributes to the generation of a coercive environment
pressuring people to leave their areas of residence,” the aid
wing said on its website.
