OCHA: Strikes cause more civilian casualties in Gaza

23 April 2025

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that hostilities continue unabated across the Gaza Strip, with air strikes reportedly hitting tents and areas sheltering displaced families. Meanwhile, the blockade on any supplies into Gaza has gone on for more than seven weeks, further depriving people of the means for survival and undermining every aspect of civilian life.

Amid intense Israeli air strikes, scores more people have reportedly been killed and injured in recent days, including many children.

Yesterday in Khan Younis, an OCHA team carried out assessments at two locations in Al Mawasi that were hit by Israeli strikes on 20 and 21 April, reportedly killing eight people and injuring more than a dozen others, mostly children. Among the injured is a four-year-old boy who lost both of his legs. The team said nearly 20 families lost their shelter and belongings.

OCHA visited another two sites in the Mawasi area yesterday that are hosting nearly 2,500 displaced people, including many who fled after the latest displacement orders on Al Qarara in Khan Younis. The team noted acute shortages of food, water, medicine and shelter. Civilians there are traumatized and have no access to mental health support.

Both communities rely entirely on once-daily hot meals from community kitchens, which are insufficient and frequently run out. Children are going hungry, with reports of injuries during food distributions due to overcrowding and competition.

OCHA says canned food distributions, cash assistance, water storage, emergency health support and temporary learning spaces are urgently required. The presence of injured civilians, as well as people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, underscores the vulnerability of people at these sites.

Throughout Gaza, food supplies are running dangerously low, and malnutrition is rapidly worsening. Last week, one partner screened 1,300 children in northern Gaza and identified more than 80 cases of acute malnutrition – a two-fold increase from previous weeks.

Partners working in nutrition also report severe supply shortages due to the aid blockade and the challenges of moving essential items into and within the Strip. Access to key storage facilities, such as the UNICEF warehouse in Rafah, remains heavily constrained.

Two days ago, a truck carrying nutrition support successfully moved from northern to southern Gaza. The shipment can support approximately 470 children for one month and will be crucial in preventing their conditions from worsening.

Across Gaza, living conditions are appalling. More than half of the population relies on inadequate or non-existent sanitation, while over 75 per cent report exposure to sewage, open waste and rodent infestations.

The public health risks are grave, especially for vulnerable groups – particularly malnourished children under the age of 5, who are highly susceptible to waterborne diseases and infections.

As part of ongoing efforts to respond to growing environmental and public health risks, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) says its sanitation teams are responding with spraying, cleaning campaigns and hygiene awareness sessions to reduce these risks and support displaced families.

Active hostilities and the ongoing aid blockade have further crippled Gaza’s health system. The World Health Organization reports that out of 99 assessed hospitals, field hospitals, governmental primary care centres and UNRWA healthcare centres, more than 30 are non-functional. Nearly 50 are operating only partially, and 18 have been destroyed. Only one is fully functional.

Two-thirds of facilities expected to provide emergency care lack sufficient bed capacity, and about 70 per cent have substandard sanitation facilities.

Despite immense challenges, the UN and its humanitarian partners continue to save lives and provide whatever available aid they have inside Gaza as access allows. However, this effort is not sustainable under current conditions.

Partners on the ground are sounding the alarm: Without a massive influx of aid and restoration of safe humanitarian access, the response risks collapsing – with deadly and disastrous consequences for civilians.

OCHA calls on Member States with influence to press for an immediate end to the blockade and a permanent ceasefire – and to ensure that once supplies are let in, they can be distributed wherever people need them, with full respect for the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.