UNRWA Report on the Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza & West Bank

Forcibly displaced children in an UNRWA school in Deir al-Balah, middle areas, the Gaza Strip, June 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 85 per cent of the Gaza Strip now within the Israeli-militarized zone, under displacement orders, or where these overlap. The UN estimates that over 714,000  people have been displaced yet again since the breakdown of the ceasefire.

• The fuel crisis in the Gaza Strip is deepening. Humanitarian organisations warn that a total collapse of humanitarian operations is imminently expected if no fuel enters the Gaza Strip. Lifesaving services including health, water and sanitation, telecommunications and protection services are at imminent risk of shutting down. No fuel has been allowed into Gaza for more than four months now: since 2 March 2025.  

• The health response in the Gaza Strip continues to face severe operational challenges, including extensive damage to health facilities, obstacles to safe movements and restrictions on the entry of medical supplies and fuel. UNRWA medical services are under-resourced, with over half of medical supplies already out of stock. UNRWA was not allowed to bring any humanitarian aid including medicines and medical supplies for over four months now (since 2 March 2025).  

• On 30 June, a new demolition order for 104 buildings in Tulkarm Camp (north West Bank) was issued by Israeli Forces, set to be executed after 72 hours. This is the fourth such mass demolition order for the northern West Bank camps issued during the course of the Israeli operation that started on 21 January in the area. A total of around 400 buildings have been impacted by these orders, but the destruction in the northern West Bank is far greater.

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. People are living in inhumane conditions, seeking shelter anywhere they can, including damaged or destroyed buildings, overcrowded displacement sites, and open areas. According to OCHA, fighting between the Israeli Forces and Palestinian armed groups has been reported.

• On 27 June, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) stated that the Israeli Forces continue “to target tents of displaced Palestinians in Al Mawasi in western Khan Younis, killing entire families, while at the same time ordering Palestinians from other parts of Gaza to move to “known shelters” (in Al Mawasi) even though the area remains unsafe and there is little or no infrastructure to house or support them.” According to OHCHR, the area of Al Mawasi unilaterally designated as a “humanitarian zone” by the Israeli Forces is less than nine square kilometers and lacks basic infrastructure for services. OHCHR affirmed that, despite Israel's obligation under international humanitarian law to provide safe shelter and access to basic necessities for internally displaced people, “in the 21 months since the first orders instructing civilians to relocate, Israel has not made any efforts to comply with its obligations as the occupying power to provide proper accommodation to those relocating or to ensure that these removals are done in satisfactory conditions of health, hygiene, safety and nutrition,” adding that “Despite instructing civilians to relocate to Al Mawasi, the Israeli military has continued to conduct intense military attacks on the area, notwithstanding the extremely high concentration of civilians per square kilometer.”

• OCHA reported that, at least 10 schools sheltering forcibly displaced people were reportedly hit between 26 June and 1 July, including two that received a warning before the hit. The attacks resulted in the reported killing of 29 people, injuries, and displacement of tens of families. According to the Education Cluster, 61 attacks on schools have been reported since 18 March. In addition to putting people’s lives at severe risk, this trend has contributed to the prolonged disruption of education with a direct impact on access to recreational and learning activities and severe short- and long-term effects on children.

• Since 19 May, after almost 80 days of siege on the entry of aid and 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 bring very little aid into Gaza. However, the entry of aid has remained challenging. UNRWA has not been able to bring in any humanitarian supplies for over four months (since 2 March). No fuel has been allowed at all into Gaza since 2 March.

• According OCHA, mass casualties continue to be  reported among people attempting to access food in the Gaza Strip, including as they approach or gather at militarized distribution points in Rafah and Deir al-Balah or wait for trucks carrying aid supplies. According to OCHA, as of 2 July, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported that 640 people were killed and at least 4,488 injured trying to access food supplies since 27 May 2025.

• On 27 June, during a briefing to the press, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated that in the Gaza Strip “bombs are falling – on tents, on families, on those with nowhere left to run”, while “People are being killed by simply trying to feed themselves and their families.” He affirmed that “Any operation that channels desperate civilians into militarized zones is inherently unsafe. It is killing people.”

• While access to basic food resources continues to be extremely dangerous and severely constrained, malnutrition keeps increasing, especially among children. OCHA reported that, since March,  rates of acute malnutrition have been multiplied by two to four times, depending on the governorate, with the most severe increases observed in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.

• The restrictions on the entry of fuel – for over four months now – continue placing life-sustaining services at a severe risk. Humanitarian actors including UNRWA are implementing strict rationing measures, but a total collapse of humanitarian operations is imminently expected if no fuel enters the Gaza Strip.

• A recent report by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), NRC’s NORCAP and the Shelter Cluster highlighted that the Gaza Strip has an urgent need for energy access. According to the report, the average household’s energy consumption went from 200-300 kilowatt-hour (kWh) per month before October 2023 to less than 50 kWh per month. More than 90 per cent of households report having access to electricity for less than four hours per day. This forces families to limit their energy use only to essentials, disrupts the provision of essential services – including health care – and has severe consequences on the overall humanitarian response.

• The health response in Gaza continues to face severe operational challenges, including extensive damage to health facilities, obstacles to safe movements within the Gaza Strip, and restrictions on the entry of medical supplies and critical fuel. This is forcing the few remaining hospitals to ration resources and/or suspend critical services.

• UNRWA medical services are critically under-resourced. Over half (or 51 per cent) of essential medical supplies are already out of stock and over one fifth (22 per cent) are projected to run out in under two months. The affected supplies include medicine for non-communicable diseases, antimicrobials and antiparasitic products, dermatological and eye preparations, analgesic and anti-inflammatory medications, gastrointestinal products, respiratory medications, and family planning methods.

• OCHA reported that, according to the Head of the Pediatrics Department at Al-Nasr Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital in Gaza,  a sharp increase in meningitis is being observed in the Gaza Strip. This is driven by the shortage of clean water and hygiene supplies, coupled with overcrowded shelters, summer heat, and the challenges faced by the health care system.

• 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[2] , that 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 the end of January 2025.

• With at least 50 displacement orders issued by the Israeli military since 18 March, about 282.4 square kilometres of the Gaza Strip are under displacement orders (the total area of the Gaza Strip is approximately 365 square kilometres). According to OCHA, over four-fifths (or 85 per cent) of the Gaza Strip are within the Israeli-militarized zone, under displacement orders, or where these overlap. The UN estimates that over 714,000 people have been displaced yet again since the breakdown of the ceasefire in mid-March.

• Between 25 June and 1 July, four displacement orders affecting a total of 29 UNRWA installations were issued by Israeli Forces.

o On 1 July, the Israeli Forces issued a displacement order impacting southeast Khan Younis. Three UNRWA installations are located in the affected area.

o On 30 June, the Israeli Forces issued a displacement order impacting areas of north Gaza and Gaza City. Eighteen UNRWA installations are located in the affected area.

o On 29 June, the Israeli Forces issued a displacement order impacting areas of north Gaza and Gaza City. Eighteen UNRWA installations are located in the affected area.

o On 28 June, the Israeli Forces issued a displacement order impacting Gaza middle areas (the municipalities of Nuseirat, Az-Zahra, Al-Mughraqa, in the North Coast neighbourhood, An-Nozha, Al-Bawadi, Al-Basma, Al-Basateen, Bader, Abu-Horayra, Ar-Rawda and As-Safa neighborhoods). Eight UNRWA installations are located in the affected area.

• At least 175 UNRWA installations – or over half of all UNRWA installations in the Gaza Strip – are located within the Israeli-militarized zone, under displacement orders, or where these overlap.

• 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. The many displacement orders issued by the Israeli Forces since the collapse of the ceasefire forced more people to flee in search of safety.

• Between 7 October 2023 and 2 July 2025, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, as stated by OCHA, at least 57,012 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Gaza and 134,592 have been injured. Gaza MoH reported that, of the 55,202 identified fatalities as of 15 June, 24,818 were men, 9,126 women, 17,121 children, and 4,137 elderly.

• Since the war began over 320 UNRWA team members have been confirmed killed.

• OCHA reported that, of the 85 planned aid movements coordinated with Israeli authorities across Gaza from 25 June to 1 July 2025, nearly 27 per cent were denied, 14 per cent were initially accepted but faced impediments, 12 per cent withdrawn, and 47 per cent facilitated. Overall, of the 393 planned aid movements coordinated with Israeli authorities across the Gaza Strip between 1 and 30 June, 174 were denied, 38 impeded, 50 withdrawn, and 131 facilitated.

The occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem

• According to OCHA, between 7 October 2023 and 1 July 2025, 957 Palestinians – among them at least 203 children – were killed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Of those, 151 Palestinians, including at least 30 children, were killed since the beginning of this year alone.

o On 30 June, a new demolition order for 104 buildings in Tulkarm Camp was issued by Israeli Forces, set to be executed after 72 hours. This is the fourth such mass demolition order for the northern West Bank camps issued during the course of the Israeli operation that started on 21 January in the northern West Bank, which has seen the destruction of hundreds of homes as part of a systematic effort to reshape the topography of Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams camps in the northern West Bank.

o On 25 June, three Palestinians were shot and killed in a violent attack by Israeli settlers on the village of Kafr Malik, near Ramallah. During the attack, settlers opened fire at Palestinians and set fire to property. Incidents of settler violence and harassment were reported across the West Bank, including the Palestine Refugee community of Umm al Kheir in the South Hebron Hills, where Israeli settlers attempted to extend the fence of the neighbouring settlement into community land on 29 June.

o On 25 June, a Palestinian child was shot and killed during an exchange of fire between the Israeli Forces and Palestinians while an Israeli Forces operation was underway in Al Yamun, west of Jenin.

Overall situation

The Gaza Strip

Between 7 October 2023 and 2 July 2025, according to the MoH in Gaza as stated by OCHA, at least 57,012 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in the Gaza Strip while 134,592 have been reported injured.

Humanitarian access, protection of civilians

• UNRWA is working to verify the details of incidents that reportedly impacted UNRWA premises and/or personnel. Additional 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 1 July, an UNRWA school in Meghazi was reportedly struck by an Israeli Forces drone. Minor damage to the facility and no casualties among UNRWA personnel were reported.

o On 30 June, an UNRWA school in Gaza City was reportedly directly struck by an Israeli Forces airstrike. Significant damage to the facility and no casualties among UNRWA personnel were reported. Minor damage was reported to two adjacent UNRWA facilities.

o On 29 June, an Israeli Forces quadcopter reportedly opened fire in the vicinity of an UNRWA facility in west Khan Younis. Two bullets struck a container located inside the UNRWA facility. Minor damage to the container and no casualties among UNRWA personnel were reported.

o On 27 June, an UNRWA facility in Daraj, Old Gaza City, was reportedly struck by an Israeli Forces airstrike. Minor damage to the facility and no casualties among UNRWA personnel were reported.

o On 25 June 2025, two solar panels of an UNRWA health centre in Khan Younis were reportedly found damaged due to shrapnel or bullets (the source of the bullets/shrapnel is unknown).

As of 1 July 2025, 871* 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 812* persons sheltering in UNRWA installations have been killed and at least 2,510* 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 around half of the people reached with health services since 7 October 2023.

• In addition to medical consultations, UNRWA (in partnership with and supported by other UN agencies, including UNICEF and WHO) continued to vaccinate children. Over 292,000 routine vaccines have been given to children since January 2024.

• Since 18 March (when the ceasefire collapsed) and until 29 June, UNRWA health teams provided just over 1.2 million health consultations (or nearly 15,000 per working day), including over 84,000 maternal consultations including antenatal, post-natal and family planning care, over 44,000 dental and oral health consultations in fixed and mobile clinics, and around 29,000 physiotherapy rehabilitation services sessions. Between 7 October 2023 and 22 June 2025, UNRWA provided over 9 million medical consultations across the Gaza Strip.

• As of 29 June, only four 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 121 mobile medical teams working in 25 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 23 and 29 June, an average of around 1,208 UNRWA health personnel per day worked in UNRWA health centres, temporary clinics and medical points across the Gaza Strip, providing 92,699 health consultations (or around 15,000 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 23 and 29 June, UNRWA teams responded to 2,961 cases in health centres and at medical points through individual consultations, awareness sessions and to address cases of gender-based violence (GBV).  

• Between 23 and 29 June, UNRWA medical teams provided 6,395 consultations for post-natal and pregnant women at high risk, 3,615 dental and oral health consultations in fixed and mobile clinics, and 2,232 physiotherapy rehabilitation services sessions in health centres and medical points.

• Nutritional assessments are being conducted in UNRWA health centres and medical points reaching children from six to 59 months of age. Between 1 and 15 June, 5,229 children were screened for malnutrition.

• Medical services are critically under-resourced, with over half of essential supplies already out of stock, and over one fifth (22 per cent) projected to run out in under two months. The affected supplies include medicine for non-communicable diseases, antimicrobials and antiparasitic products, dermatological and eye preparations, analgesic and anti-inflammatory medications, gastrointestinal products, respiratory medications, and family planning methods. UNRWA has thousands of trucks including with medicines and medical supplies ready to enter Gaza. The Israeli Authorities have not allowed UNRWA to bring in any aid into Gaza for nearly four months now (since 2 March 2025).

Psychosocial Support and Learning

• Since the onset of the war, UNRWA has been providing psychosocial support services (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 23 and 29 June 2025, a total of 16,584 children (6,880 boys, 9,704 girls, including 168 children with disabilities) benefited from TLS-based learning activities in 184 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. Ongoing and reoccurring telecommunications cuts makes digital learning a challenge.  

• UNRWA remains one of the largest providers of emergency learning and PSS across the Gaza Strip. With the support of 236 school counsellors and over 300 assistant counsellors, since the start of the war UNRWA has conducted 311,309 critical PSS sessions for approximately 730,000 displaced persons, including more than 520,000 children. Between 23 and 29 June 2025, a total of 13,340 people accessed these essential services.

• Between 7 October 2023 and 29 June 2025, UNRWA’s social work team provided services to 226,473 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 4,109 children, including 1,894 unaccompanied children. The team also supported 25,995 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 144,125 displaced people.

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 at the end of April and was 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.

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 maintain hygiene in UNRWA shelters and sites through cleaning supplies, community-based solid waste management and pest control.

• UNRWA water provision and solid waste collection reaches up to around 600,000 people monthly.

• Between 16 and 30 June, UNRWA teams provided around 45,000 cubic metres of domestic and potable water reaching around 200,000 people. The teams continue to clean and disinfect water tanks, with over 30 campaigns conducted in different areas of the Gaza Strip reaching over 70,000 people.

• Since 17 May, UNRWA has not been able to provide services in North Gaza for around 25,000 displaced people in designated emergency shelters due to displacement orders issued by Israeli Forces. Since 13 June, UNRWA has been forced to stop operating 18 emergency shelters in Khan Younis due to displacement orders. As a result, the water distribution system through smaller wells in Khan Younis has gone down from 11 emergency shelters to seven.

• UNRWA continues to provide solid waste collection and transfer services wherever possible. Between 16 and 30 June, UNRWA teams collected around 2,000 tons of solid waste and transferred to temporary dumping sites assisting around 300,000 people. UNRWA teams cleaned over 150 manholes, serving over 70,000 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 150 hygiene awareness sessions reaching around 150,000 people, and 220 cleaning campaigns in different locations reaching over 70,000 people. - UNRWA