Gaza City: Daily bombardment, more displacement amid escalating military offensive

This article is published in association with United Nations.

As the Israeli offensive intensifies in Gaza City, nearly one million people estimated to be living there face daily bombardment and further displacement, the UN reported on Thursday. 

UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said people are once again on the move after Israel placed the entire city under displacement orders. Aid partners recorded more than 25,000 displacements between Sunday through Wednesday.

Some critical services have already been suspended while some humanitarian facilities have suffered severe damage, disrupting operations and the delivery of essential services.

Aid partners suspend activities

“Our partners working on health, report that some of them have had to suspend activities at primary healthcare centres, while partners working on nutrition say that 12 out of 49 outpatient therapeutic sites have halted services amid the ongoing airstrikes in Gaza City,” he said,

At least two community kitchens have also suspended operations, and three others have had to relocate within the city.

Furthermore, UN partners working on education are concerned that 95 temporary learning sites in northern Gaza serving about 25,000 children may be at imminent risk of closure due to displacement orders and ongoing insecurity.

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Child malnutrition worsens

UN child rights agency UNICEF has also warned that child malnutrition in the Gaza Strip continues to worsen at an alarming rate. 

The percentage of children identified as acutely malnourished increased to 13.5 per cent in August, from 8.3 per cent in July – or 12,800 boys and girls.

Mr. Dujarric said UNICEF has been working to scale up the entry of essential nutrition supplies and distribute them, alongside nutrition partners, at about 140 sites across the Gaza Strip.

“While stocks of ready-to-use therapeutic food have recently increased, the current quantities of other critical nutrition supplies for infants and pregnant and breastfeeding women are wholly insufficient,” he said.

Meanwhile, almost half of all functioning hospitals are located in Gaza City, including half of all intensive care unit beds for the entire Gaza Strip, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

With the Israeli offensive already underway, the Gaza Strip cannot afford to lose any of these remaining facilities, the UN agency said.

Impediments to aid delivery continue

These developments are happening as delays and impediments to humanitarian movements inside Gaza continue.

Missions still take long hours to complete, even when they are approved in advance by the Israeli authorities, meaning that teams have no choice but to wait on roads that are often dangerous or congested.

Additionally, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has recently observed an increase in denials of the participation of Palestinian staff in missions, including both drivers and personnel.

Mr. Dujarric noted that denials are often communicated at the last minute, resulting in operational delays as alternatives must be quickly identified.

“What we need is full facilitation of the work and movement of humanitarian actors into and throughout the Gaza Strip. This must include unimpeded access to the north and to the south alike,” he said, adding that “every delay can cost lives.”