In an update, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, highlighted that Attacks on civilian infrastructure have not ceased, “particularly in northern Gaza, where the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) reports on the terrible conditions at Kamal Adwan Hospital, and where 61 of the 95 attacks on school buildings have taken place since October 6, 2024.”
Floods have already caused damage to makeshift shelters across the Gaza Strip, but humanitarian teams have only been able to assist 285,000 people for repairs between September and the end of November, because material deliveries to the enclave remain slow. very limited.
“At least another 945,000 people now need urgent winterization support to protect them from the rain and cold,” OCHA said, noting that “Outside Gaza, 58,000 isolation kits and more than 36,000 tarps are waiting, which have already been purchased to cover the needs of some 400,000 people.but it would take two months to bring them in at the current rate of 10 shelter trucks entering Gaza per week.”
truck stop
Aid convoys continue to face “extreme insecurity” once inside Gaza, OCHA warned. “On December 11, a convoy of 70 trucks entering through the Kerem Shalom crossing was violently attacked by looters, resulting in the loss of almost all food and relief supplies. On the same day, a WFP convoy leaving the Kissufim crossing was also attacked and four of five trucks were violently looted.
Aid workers have stressed that such attacks can be avoided, pointing to an agreement last Tuesday with Israeli authorities that allowed a UN convoy to use the Philadelphia corridor, which separates southern Gaza from Egypt, to reach almost 200,000 people facing critical food shortages.
OCHA reported that between December 1 and 16, of 339 planned aid operations throughout the Gaza Strip that required coordination with Israeli authorities, 30 percent (102) were approved, 42 percent (141) were denied and 18 percent (62) were prevented and 10% (34) were canceled due to logistical and security problems.
Increase in diseases
As temperatures drop, the UN health agency has reported an increase in infections, including respiratory illnesses, diarrhea and jaundice. In 2024, more than 1.2 million respiratory infections were recorded, along with 570,000 cases of acute diarrhea. These diseases are expected to worsen, especially among children.
UN aid workers also warned that many displaced people have built shelters on the rubble of destroyed homes in Khan Younis, Ma’an and Bani Suhaila. These structures are fragile and at risk of collapsing with the next rains.
Besieged in northern Gaza
Meanwhile, humanitarian aid to northern Gaza remains blocked by the Israeli army, which has been carrying out a ground offensive since October 6, and clashes with Palestinian armed groups have been reported. Despite multiple attempts, UN aid missions to besieged areas such as Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia have been “largely denied for more than 10 weeks,” OCHA said.
Immediate action is needed to protect vulnerable populations during the winter, aid workers insist, particularly for women and children who need basic supplies such as warm clothing, diapers and baby formula.
Rising toll
In the last week, 273 Palestinians were killed and 853 injured, according to Palestinian authorities in Gaza. And since war broke out on October 7, 2023 following Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel, at least 45,059 Palestinians have been killed and 107,041 injured.
Citing the Israeli military, OCHA noted that between October 7, 2023 and December 17, 2024, more than 1,586 Israelis and foreigners were killed, the majority on October 7, 2023 and its immediate aftermath. This figure includes 386 soldiers killed in Gaza or along the border with Israel and 2,488 wounded since the start of the ground operation.
An estimated 100 Israelis and foreigners remain hostages in Gaza, including those declared dead and whose bodies have not been released.
