Highlights of the noon briefing by Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General (excerpt on the crisis situation in Gaza) – 24 July 2024

24 July 2024

(Excerpt)

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Occupied Palestinian Territory

Turning to the situation in Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that intense hostilities and large-scale displacement continue in Khan Younis, with most people moving into an area labeled as a “humanitarian zone” by the Israeli authorities.  As a reminder, this area — which is now smaller than before Monday’s evacuation order — is already overcrowded and lacks almost any infrastructure or services.

The UN and its humanitarian colleagues have been in touch by phone with hundreds of people who are trapped in combat zones of Khan Younis, within the area designated for evacuation. This includes more than 300 people sheltering in schools. As we said yesterday, this also includes people with reduced mobility and family members who have stayed behind to support them. The UN continues to engage with the parties to the conflict to ensure their safety.

Civilian casualties continue to be reported in Khan Younis. The UN received news that two schools there were hit. The World Health Organization and Palestine Red Crescent Society were able to evacuate six of those wounded and bring them to the International Medical Corp field hospital. They also retrieved the bodies of two people who had been killed.

Meanwhile, people continue to cross from northern Gaza southwards. The UN and partners are still registering those who cross, providing them with water, food and other supplies, basic health care, medical referrals, critical information, and child protection services. However, the point where aid workers had been providing this assistance was forced to relocate about 800 metres south, following shelling near the Israeli checkpoint earlier this week.

In northern Gaza, the World Health Organization reports that health services at Al-Ahli have partially resumed, after insecurity in the area rendered them non-functional for a few days. WHO was able to deliver much-needed fuel and medical supplies to the facility last week.

WHO is also working with partners and the Ministry of Health in Gaza to initiate response measures following the detection of variant poliovirus type 2 in six environmental samples.

Meanwhile, the UN and its humanitarian partners in Gaza continue to screen children, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women, for malnutrition – and to provide treatment. Since mid-January, nearly 170,000 children under the age of five and more than 10,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women have been screened.

Over 11,500 of those children have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition and are receiving treatment.

Catherine Russell, the Executive Director of UNICEF, today spoke out on the impediments faced by humanitarian workers in Gaza, saying that we do not have the necessary conditions in the Gaza Strip for a robust humanitarian response. The flow of aid must be unimpeded and access must be regular and safe, she said.

She asserted that the dire situation and attacks against humanitarian personnel continue to obstruct our efforts. Just yesterday, Ms. Russell recalled, a clearly-marked UNICEF vehicle was hit by bullets while waiting at a designated holding point near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint.

And turning to the West Bank, OCHA and the UN Relief and Works Agency are assessing the needs of people displaced during an Israeli military operation in Tulkarm city and the refugee camp there earlier this week.

OCHA reports that at least five Palestinians were killed by drone strikes by Israeli forces on Monday.

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