Gaza: Aid worker fatalities, attacks on so-called 'humanitarian zones, consecutive 'evacuation' orders hinder aid delivery

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Intensified Israeli airstrikes in areas of Gaza where aid organizations are providing services, including Israeli-designated “humanitarian zones” have resulted in mass civilian deaths and further shrinking space to deliver life-saving assistance, warn 20 aid agencies.

Read the Gaza Humanitarian Snapshot #2, released on July 30.

Nearly ten months into the escalation of hostilities in Gaza, Israeli authorities continue to issue relocation orders to Palestinians sheltering in areas previously deemed safe. Civilians are not given sufficient time to flee, and have nowhere safe to go. Recent intensified aerial bombardment in Gaza’s Middle Area where civilians previously sheltering in Rafah were told to flee, has been particularly deadly.  

All the while, crossing closures and attacks on aid agencies continue to hamper humanitarian efforts. On July 13, NGO staff were killed, and between July 21 and 24, both UNICEF and UNRWA came under fire: on July 21, Israeli forces shot at a clearly marked UN convoy attempting to access Gaza City, despite coordination and approval by the Israeli authorities. UNICEF said that on July 23, two clearly marked UNICEF convoys were hit by live fire while waiting at a designated holding point in Wadi Gaza as they traveled to reunite five children, including an infant, with their father. 

Over 200,000 Palestinians were displaced between July 22 and 27 after Israel issued so-called “evacuation orders”. UNRWA has said that some 86% of Gaza has been placed under so-called “evacuation orders” by Israeli Military forces, meaning that Israel expects Gaza's 2.1 million Palestinians to seek shelter in only 14% of the strip.

The decimation of the health system and continuous relocation orders are causing severe overcrowding and stretching already constrained resources, exponentially increasing the risk of water-borne and infectious disease.  On July 23, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a high risk of the polio virus spreading across Gaza, after traces were detected in six wastewater samples. WHO said that tens of thousands of children under age five are now at risk of contracting polio, and the possibility of international spread beyond Gaza cannot be ruled out.

Resources

Gaza Humanitarian Snapshot #2, released on July 30

Gaza Humanitarian Snapshot #1, published on July 15