UNRWA Report on Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza and West Bank

As forced displacement continues, people seek shelter in an UNRWA school in Deir al-Balah amid the lack of basic supplies, Gaza middle areas, the Gaza Strip, June 2025. © 2025 UNRWA photo by Ashraf Amra

Highlights

• Since the collapse of the ceasefire in Gaza on the night between 17 and 18 March 2025, intense Israeli Forces activities escalated, resulting in tens of thousands of civilians reportedly killed and injured, further damage and destruction to civilian infrastructure, and new waves of forced displacement.

• According to OCHA, people are confined to ever-shrinking spaces, with 82 per cent of the Gaza Strip now within the Israeli-militarized zone, under displacement orders, or where these overlap. The UN estimates that over 640,000  people have been displaced yet again since the breakdown of the ceasefire, including over 200,000 between 15 May and 3 June.

• On 1 June, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini posted on X (previously known as Twitter) that aid distribution in Gaza has become “a death trap”, with mass casualties reported during aid distribution.

• On 2 June, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated that he was appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in the Gaza Strip and called for “an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable.”

• On 29 May it was publicly reported that the construction of 22 new Israeli settlements in the West Bank had been approved by the Israeli cabinet, including the legalization of nine existing outposts.

• Following the demolition order issued on 1 May for 106 houses in Nur Shams and Tulkarm camps, demolitions in Nur Shams Camp resumed on 29 May after a short pause.

Key points

The Gaza Strip

• Since the night between 17 and 18 March, the Israeli Forces have escalated bombardments from air, land and sea across the Gaza Strip and expanded ground operations, resulting in tens of thousands of reported casualties, destruction of civilian infrastructure, and large-scale displacement. Hospitals continue to be hit with extremely severe consequences on the provision of lifesaving treatments, alongside residential buildings, schools, and tents where forcibly displaced people live. According to OCHA, fighting between the Israeli Forces and Palestinian armed groups has been reported.

• Since 19 May, after almost 80 days of siege on the entry of aid and any other supplies into the Gaza Strip – including food, medicine and fuel, the Israeli authorities have allowed only a select number of UN agencies and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to resume the delivery of limited aid into Gaza. OCHA confirmed that limited amounts of certain food, nutrition supplies, medical supplies, and water purification items have entered the Gaza Strip since 19 May. However, UNRWA has not been able to bring in any supplies for more than three months (since 2 March).

• OCHA reported that the militarized distribution mechanism of food supplies, through the newly established Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), began on 27 May at two points set up in Rafah and Deir al-Balah. Since then, thousands of Palestinians reportedly walked towards these distribution sites to receive food packages, but several shooting incidents resulted in mass casualties.

• On 1 June, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini posted on X (previously known as Twitter) that aid distribution in Gaza has become “a death trap”, with mass casualties reported during aid distribution. He stated that “a distribution point by the Israeli-American distribution plan was put far south in Rafah,” adding that “This humiliating system has forced thousands of hungry and desperate people to walk for tens of miles to an area that’s all but pulverized due to heavy bombardment by the Israeli Army.”  

• On 2 June, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated that he was appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in the Gaza Strip and called for “an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable.” He added that “Israel has clear obligations under international humanitarian law to agree to and facilitate humanitarian aid.”

• On 3 June, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, stated that “Palestinians have been presented the grimmest of choices: die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available through Israel’s militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism.” He added that “This militarized system endangers lives and violates international standards on aid distribution, as the United Nations has repeatedly warned,” saying that “The willful impediment of access to food and other life-sustaining relief supplies for civilians may constitute a war crime.”

• The fuel blockade – now entering its fourth month, continues placing life-sustaining services at severe risk. While forced mass displacement continues, no shelter supplies have entered the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the 11-week-long siege imposed by the Israeli authorities on 2 March.

• While aid and supplies available in the Gaza Strip continue to be limited, the nutritional situation of children keeps deteriorating. According to the Nutrition Cluster as reported by OCHA, preliminary analysis indicates that out of 46,738 children under five who were screened for malnutrition in the second half of May, 2,733 (5.8 per cent) were diagnosed with acute malnutrition – up from 4.7 per cent in the first half of May. Available data for pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBW) confirm that there has been a sharp deterioration in their nutritional status in the last two months.

• According to the Protection Cluster, systematic attacks on fishers and fishing infrastructure and Israeli military restrictions on fishing activities in the Gaza Strip, combined with the damage and destruction of other food production infrastructure and severe access restrictions, have “contributed directly to risk of famine and growing protection concerns for vulnerable persons, creating conditions which threaten the survival of Gaza’s population.”

• OCHA reported that, according to humanitarian partners, there has been a sharp rise in child protection challenges, including an increase in child-headed households pushed into dangerous survival strategies. Children are reported working on the streets, participating in looting or gathering within large crowds in search of food supplies at insecure distribution points. Since the ceasefire collapsed on 18 March, nearly 50 child protection centres have been forced to suspend operations because of displacement orders and the displacement of staff, directly affecting at least 40,000 children.

• UNRWA medical services are critically under-resourced. Forty-seven per cent of essential supplies are already out of stock and over one fifth (22 per cent) are projected to run out in under two months.

• All UNRWA international staff are banned from entering the Gaza Strip since the few remaining left at the end of March. This follows the passage of two laws by Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, on 28 October 2024 , which aimed to prohibit UNRWA’s operations in “Israeli territory” and bar any contact between UNRWA and Israeli officials.

• Meanwhile, around 12,000 Palestinian UNRWA personnel in Gaza continue to provide services and assistance to an entire population in need, while spearheading the collective humanitarian response. In the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem, over 4,000 UNRWA Palestinian local staff continue to provide education, health and other services to Palestine Refugees. No visas have been issued from the Government of Israel to UNRWA international staff since end of January 2025.

• With at least 35 displacement orders issued by the Israeli military since 18 March, about 277.6 square kilometres of the Gaza Strip are now under active displacement orders (the total area of the Gaza Strip is approximately 365 square kilometres). According to OCHA, over four-fifths (or 82 per cent) of the Gaza Strip are within the Israeli-militarized zone, under displacement orders, or where these overlap. The UN estimates that over 640,000 people have been displaced yet again since the breakdown of the ceasefire (mid-March), including over 200,000 between 15 May and 3 June alone.

• Between 28 May and 3 June, three displacement orders affecting areas with 157 UNRWA installations were issued by Israeli Forces.

o o On 2 June, the Israeli Forces issued a displacement order impacting Al Mahattah, Khan Younis Camp, and Al Amal. Eight UNRWA installations were located in affected areas.

o o On 31 May, the Israeli Forces issued a displacement order impacting Rafah, Khan Younis City Centre, Abasan area, Al Qarara, Bani Suhaila and east Deir al-Balah. Seventy-four UNRWA installations were in the affected area.

o o On 29 May, the Israeli Forces issued a displacement order impacting north Gaza and Gaza City (At Tuffah, Shaja'iya, Az Zaitoun, Gaza Old City, and the eastern part of Ad Darraj). Seventy-five UNRWA installations were in the affected area.

• At least 182* UNRWA installations – or around half of all UNRWA installations in the Gaza Strip – are located within the Israeli-militarized zone, under displacement orders, or where these overlap.

• Despite the lack of aid and existing challenges, UNRWA continues providing services to communities overwhelmed by 20 months of bombardment, forced displacement, and lack of critical resources. However, the resumed bombardment and the 11-week-long siege, which completely banned entry of any basic supplies from UNRWA since 2 March, have further worsened an already dire situation, severely hindering humanitarian actors’ ability to respond to the population’s need for food, water, sanitation, shelter and more.

• According to the UN, at least 1.9 million people – or about 90 per cent of the population – across the Gaza Strip have been displaced during the war. Many have been displaced repeatedly, some 10 times or more. Since the recent displacement orders were issued, more people have been forced to flee in search of safety.

• Between 7 October 2023 and 4 June 2025, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, as stated by OCHA, at least 54,607 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Gaza and 125,341 have been injured.

• Over 310 UNRWA team members have been confirmed killed since 7 October 2023.

• OCHA reported that, of the 75 planned aid movements coordinated with Israeli authorities across Gaza from 28 May to 3 June 2025, 44 were denied, 11 were initially accepted but faced impediments, two withdrawn, and 18 facilitated. Overall, of the 276 planned aid movements coordinated with Israeli authorities across the Gaza Strip between 1 and 31 May, 156 were denied, 33 impeded, 14 withdrawn, and 73 facilitated.

*After further verification, the total number of UNRWA installations located within the Israeli-militarized zone, under displacement orders, or where these overlap is lower than the one reported in UNRWA Situation Report #172.

The occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem

• According to OCHA, between 7 October 2023 and 2 June 2025, 942 Palestinians – among them at least 200 children – were killed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Of those, 136 Palestinians, among them at least 27 children, were killed only since the beginning of this year alone.

o Following the demolition order issued on 1 May for 106 houses in Nur Shams and Tulkarm camps, demolitions in Nur Shams Camp resumed on 29 May after a short pause. In Tulkaram, demolitions have not started yet. However, during the week, families attempted to retrieve belongings from homes in Tulkarm Camp, ahead of anticipated demolitions due to the demolition order. On 31 May, images circulated widely on social media appeared to show Israeli flags installed across Nur Shams Camp, including on the dome of the Abu Bakr al-Sadiq mosque in the centre of the camp.

o On 29 May, it was publicly reported that the construction of 22 new Israeli settlements in the West Bank had been approved by the Israeli cabinet, including the legalization of nine existing outposts. Among the newly authorised settlements were two previously dismantled during the 2005 disengagement. Israeli settlements remain illegal under international law. The announcement of this approval also comes at a time of heightened Israeli settlers violence, including the forcible displacement of the Maghayer Al Deir community in Ramallah governorate in late May, and repeated violent attacks on Palestinians in Bruqin and Kafr ad Dik in Salfit governorate.

o On 2 June, a Palestinian child was shot and killed by Israeli Forces in Sinjil (northeast of Ramallah), allegedly after throwing stones at Israeli Forces personnel. His body was withheld by the Israeli Forces.

Overall situation

The Gaza Strip

Between 7 October 2023 and 4 June 2025, according to the MoH in Gaza as stated by OCHA, at least 54,607 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in the Gaza Strip while 125,341 have been reported injured.

Humanitarian access, protection of civilians

• UNRWA is working to verify the details of incidents that reportedly impacted UNRWA premises. Further information will be provided once it becomes available*.

• During the reporting period, several armed-conflict-related incidents have reportedly impacted UNRWA installations and/or personnel:

o On 2 June, several windows of the UNRWA Khan Younis Training Centre compound were reportedly shattered and damaged due to Israeli Forces airstrikes and activity in the Khan Younis area. No injuries were reported.

o On 29 May, an Israeli Forces airstrike reportedly struck an UNRWA installation in Gaza City. No damage to the installation and no casualties among UNRWA personnel were reported.

o On 28 May, an Israeli Forces quadcopter reportedly opened fire striking a wall of an UNRWA installation located in south Mawasi, Khan Younis. No damage to the installation and no casualties among UNRWA personnel were reported.

o On 28 May, an Israeli Forces quadcopter reportedly opened fire striking an UNRWA installation in Gaza City. No damage to the installation and no casualties among UNRWA personnel were reported.

As of 27 May 2025, 858* incidents impacting UNRWA premises and the people inside them have been reported since the beginning of the war. 311* UNRWA installations have been impacted by armed conflict-related incidents since the beginning of the war, with some installations impacted multiple times. UNRWA estimates that, in total, at least 767* persons sheltering in UNRWA installations have been killed and at least 2,419* injured since the start of the war. UNRWA continues to verify and update the number of casualties caused by these incidents.

*Since the start of the war in October 2023, the latest casualty figures are continuously under review as UNRWA gains access to locations that were previously inaccessible and as further verifications occur. The summary figures will be published/updated as information becomes available, noting that these numbers are subject to change once verifications are concluded.

UNRWA response

The Gaza Strip

Health

• According to the Health Cluster, UNRWA remains one of the largest health actors operating in the Gaza Strip, contributing to over half of the people reached with health services since 7 October 2023. Between 7 October 2023 and 25 May 2025, UNRWA provided over 8.7 million medical consultations across the Gaza Strip.

• In addition to medical consultations, UNRWA (in partnership with and supported by other UN agencies, including UNICEF and WHO) continued to vaccinate children. Over 283,000 routine vaccines have been given to children since January 2024.

• Since 18 March (when the ceasefire collapsed) and until 25 May, UNRWA health teams provided nearly 800,000 health consultations, over 53,500 maternal consultations including antenatal, post-natal and family planning care, over 29,000 dental and oral health consultations in fixed and mobile clinics, and around 18,500 physiotherapy rehabilitation services sessions.

• As of 1 June, only five out of 22 UNRWA health centres and two additional UNRWA-rented facilities used as temporary health centres were operational in Gaza. In addition, health services are provided through 117 mobile medical teams working in 35 medical points inside and outside shelters in the middle area, Khan Younis, Al Mawasi, Gaza City and north Gaza. UNRWA health facilities provide primary health care, including outpatient services, non-communicable disease care, medications, vaccination for children, antenatal and postnatal health care, laboratory and dental services, physiotherapy and dressings for the injured. The number of operational health facilities changes constantly based on demand, access and security.

• Between 26 May and 1 June, an average of around 1,122 UNRWA health personnel per day worked in UNRWA health centres, temporary clinics and medical points across the Gaza Strip, providing 93,609 health consultations during the reporting period (or around 15,600 per working day).

• UNRWA continued to provide mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services in Gaza City, the middle and Khan Younis areas, with teams of psychiatrists, psychosocial counsellors and supervisors to assist special cases referred from UNRWA health centres and shelters. Between 26 May and 1 June, UNRWA teams responded to 3,279 cases in health centres and at medical points through individual consultations, awareness sessions and to address cases of gender-based violence (GBV).  

• Between 26 May and 1 June, UNRWA medical teams provided 6,882 consultations for post-natal and pregnant women at high risk, 3,480 dental and oral health consultations in fixed and mobile clinics, and 2,309 physiotherapy rehabilitation services sessions in health centres and medical points.

• Medical services are critically under-resourced, with 47 per cent of essential supplies already out of stock, and over one fifth (22 per cent) projected to run out in under two months.

Psychosocial Support and Learning

• UNRWA remains one of the largest providers of emergency learning and psychosocial support services (PSS) across the Gaza Strip. Since the onset of the war, UNRWA has been providing PSS and learning services in Gaza in Temporary Learning Spaces (TLSs) and through its distance learning initiative.

• To date, more than 56,000 children — over 55 per cent of them girls— have benefitted from learning and recreational activities delivered in up to 450 TLSs established across 59 UNRWA schools-turned-shelters. Between 26 May and 1 June 2025, a total of 25,554 children (11,689 boys, 13,865 girls, including 309 children with disabilities) benefited from TLS-based learning activities in 260 active TLSs. UNRWA has also leveraged digital tools to provide basic literacy and numeracy education to 294,621 Palestine Refugee children (152,945 boys, 141,676 girls) in Gaza, facilitated by thousands of teachers.

• With the support of 236 school counsellors and over 300 assistant counsellors, since the start of the war UNRWA has conducted 303,075 critical PSS sessions for approximately 730,000 displaced persons, including more than 520,000 children. Between 26 May and 1 June 2025, a total of 9,235 people accessed these essential services.

• Between 7 October 2023 and 1 June 2025, UNRWA’s social work team provided services to 224,176* displaced people, including psychological first aid, PSS services, family and individual activities, as well as case management. During the same reporting period, protection services were provided to 2,562 survivors of GBV and 3,882 children, including 1,849 unaccompanied children. The team also supported 25,291 persons with disabilities with PSS; 8,500 of these individuals received assistive devices and rehabilitation services. Awareness sessions on GBV, child protection, disability and special needs, as well as managing social and psychological stressors, were conducted for 169,120* displaced people.

*Due to further verification, figures have decreased compared to those reported in the previous situation report (#173).

Food Security

• Since 7 October 2023 and until the start of the ceasefire (19 January 2025), over 388,000 families (nearly 1.9 million people) have been reached with two rounds of flour; at least 374,000 of those families have received three rounds.

• Up until the start of the ceasefire, UNRWA reached at least 1.7 million people with food parcels. Of those, at least 215,000 people received two rounds of food parcels since the war started. These include[3] rice, lentils, beans, oil, salt, sugar, milk powder, hummus, halawa, yeast, and canned fish, and are designed to meet the needs of a family of five for two weeks.

• In addition to the distribution of UNRWA food parcels, the Agency has distributed food parcels on behalf of other UN organisations, having reached over 1.4 million people before the start of the ceasefire.

• During the ceasefire, UNRWA reached over 2 million people with critical food assistance. However, due to the 11-week-long siege imposed by the Israeli authorities between 2 March and 18 May, UNRWA ran out of flour and food parcels several weeks ago and was therefore forced to halt food distributions.

• Between 1 March and 19 April 2025, UNRWA distributed nearly 270,000 bags of flour, reaching an estimated 88,000 families – or over 700,000 people. Since the ceasefire collapsed and until 8 April, only around 15,500 families (or an estimated 77,500 people) have received UNRWA food parcels. UNRWA ran out of food to distribute given the siege. The Agency has not been allowed to bring in any supplies including food since 2 March.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

• Since October 2023, UNRWA has carried out emergency WASH activities across the Gaza Strip. The main activities include operating and maintaining water wells and desalination systems and supplying water with water trucks and bottled water. In addition, UNRWA continues to distribute hygiene kits and maintain hygiene in UNRWA shelters and sites through cleaning supplies, community-based solid waste management and pest control.

• On a daily basis, UNRWA teams provide an average of 3 million litres of water and collect over 200 tons of solid waste. In Gaza overall, UNRWA contributes to 29 per cent of the water sector, 75 per cent of the sanitation sector, 57 per cent of the hygiene sector, and 39 per cent of the solid waste management sector.

• UNRWA water provision and solid waste collection translates into assistance for up to around 420,000 people monthly.

• Between 15 and 28 May, UNRWA teams provided over 28,000 cubic metres of domestic and potable water to displaced people across the Gaza Strip.

• During the same reporting period, a water well in north Gaza is under rehabilitation. However, UNRWA teams have evacuated the north due to displacement orders and no further services are being provided in the area.

• UNRWA continues to provide solid waste collection and transfer services wherever possible. Between 15 and 28 May, around 2,600 tons of solid waste have been collected by UNRWA sanitation teams and transferred to designated temporary dumping sites. UNRWA teams cleaned around 100 manholes, serving over 40,000 displaced people in different locations across the Gaza Strip, despite the shortage of personal protection equipment and maintenance tools.

• During the same reporting period, the team conducted 300 hygiene awareness sessions, 120 cleaning campaigns in different locations reaching around 40,000 people, and 30 pest and rodent control campaigns in southern Gaza, benefiting over 32,000 people. Due to the lack of aid, the stock of pesticides in southern Gaza is expected to run out soon, while it has already run out in the middle areas and north Gaza. - UNRWA