Bombardment, deprivation and displacement continue in Gaza

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Hostilities across the Gaza Strip continue to take a devastating toll on the population, with daily reports of Israeli strikes killing and injuring many civilians, UN aid coordination office OCHA said on Thursday. 

OCHA said dozens of people, including at least eight children, were killed in Gaza City on Wednesday after an Israeli strike hit a residential building. Many others are still missing under the rubble. 

The agency stressed that civilians must be protected and should never be a target.

Medical evacuations and displacement orders

Israel’s total blockade on all commercial and lifesaving relief supplies remains in place, though the World Health Organization (WHO) pointed to some good news as 18 Gazans were medically evacuated for specialized treatment abroad. 

The patients along with nearly 30 companions headed for Norway, Malta, Luxembourg and Romania via the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza on Wednesday.

WHO noted, however, that some 12,500 patients in the enclave still need to be evacuated.

Access to healthcare facilities has been impacted by displacement orders issued by the Israeli military and the safety of healthcare workers remains at risk.

At least two medical professionals were reported killed as they left their health facility in Gaza City on Monday, according to OCHA.

Today, 12 out of 17 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are partially functional and there is only one field hospital. 

Blockade’s devastating impacts

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the dire health conditions in a media briefing on Thursday.

He said the blockade, which took effect on 2 March, has prevented the entry of all food and medicine. Additionally, 75 per cent of UN missions within Gaza over the past week were denied or impeded.

“This blockade is leaving families hungry, malnourished, without clean water, shelter, and adequate healthcare, and increasing the risk of disease and death,” he said, speaking from WHO Headquarters in Geneva.

He noted that during the recent “precious ceasefire” WHO was able to re-supply the Gaza health system as well as its warehouses. Stocks are now dangerously low and will run out within two to four weeks.

Healthcare under attack

Tedros said that “180,000 doses of routine childhood vaccines – enough to fully protect 60,000 children under the age of two – have not been allowed to enter, leaving newborns and young children at risk.”

Furthermore, it is estimated that since the ceasefire collapsed, almost 1,500 people have been killed, including 500 children, and almost 400,000 people have been displaced again.

“The health system is only functioning partially and is overwhelmed. Meanwhile, healthcare continues to be attacked,” Tedros said, recalling that more than 400 humanitarians have been killed since the Gaza conflict began in October 2023, following the deadly Hamas terror attacks in southern Israel.

Looting on the rise

As supplies inside the Gaza Strip near exhaustion and the situation becomes increasingly dire, there has been an increase in looting in recent days, OCHA said.  

Several incidents were reported in Rafah, and Deir Al-Balah, and Al Zawaida earlier this week.

OCHA once again reiterated the urgency of re-opening crossings to allow the entry of critical supplies. 

Children going hungry

Currently, more than 60,000 children are reportedly suffering from malnutrition at a time when community kitchens are rapidly running out of fuel and supplies.   

Humanitarian partners are also warning of acute water shortages in shelters hosting displaced people. 

“The loss of water – together with the lack of cleaning supplies and cohabitation with livestock – are having a dire public health impact. In March, more than one third of households in Gaza experienced lice infestations,” OCHA said.

This week, humanitarian partners also identified more than a dozen unaccompanied and separated children and are doing everything possible to reunite them with their families.