Aid Worker Fatalities, Attacks on ‘Humanitarian Zones’ and Consecutive ‘Evacuation Orders’ Hamper Aid Delivery
Nearly ten months into the escalation of hostilities in Gaza, intensified Israeli airstrikes in areas of Gaza where aid organizations are providing services, including Israeli-designated “humanitarian zones,” have resulted in mass civilian deaths and further shrinking space to deliver life-saving supplies, warn 20 aid agencies, including Mercy Corps, in a new report on humanitarian access released today.
Israeli authorities continue to issue relocation orders to Palestinians sheltering in areas previously deemed safe. Civilians are given insufficient time to flee, and have nowhere safe to go. Recent intensified aerial bombardment in Gaza’s Middle Area, where civilians previously sheltering in Rafah were told to flee, has been particularly deadly: over 50 civilians, including many children, died in the bombing of a school on July 27 in Deir al-Balah.
Over 200,000 Palestinians were displaced between 22-27 July after Israel issued so-called “evacuation orders”. UNRWA has said that some 86% of Gaza has been placed under so-called “evacuation orders” by Israeli Military forces, meaning that Israel expects Gaza's 2.1 million Palestinians to seek shelter in only 14% of the strip.
Crossing closures and attacks on aid agencies continue to hamper humanitarian efforts. On 13 July, NGO staff were killed, and between 21 and 24 July, both UNICEF and UNRWA came under fire. On 21 July, Israeli forces shot at a clearly marked UN convoy attempting to access Gaza City, despite coordination and approval by the Israeli authorities. UNICEF said that on 23 July, two clearly marked UNICEF convoys were hit by live fire as they waited at a designated holding point in Wadi Gaza as they traveled to reunite five children, including an infant, with their father.
The decimation of the health system and continuous relocation orders are causing severe overcrowding and stretching already constrained resources, exponentially increasing the risk of water-borne and infectious disease. On 23 July, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a high risk of the polio virus spreading across Gaza, after traces were detected in six wastewater samples. WHO said that tens of thousands of children under age five are now at risk of contracting polio, and the possibility of international spread beyond Gaza cannot be ruled out. To address what the Gaza Health Ministry is now calling an epidemic, WHO is preparing to send one million polio vaccines to Gaza, but the lack of access across Gaza will be a major challenge to an inoculation campaign.
Mercy Corps Regional Policy and Advocacy Senior Advisor, Arwa Mhanna, says:
“Our colleagues are reporting that the conditions in Mawasi Khan Younis are dire, with severe overcrowding, extreme heat, and high humidity exacerbating the need for water and hygiene supplies. Lack of proper water infrastructure and sewage disposal, expensive food, and inadequate availability of aid add to the hardship. Displaced individuals are repeatedly facing costly transportation and a lack of resources for makeshift shelters, increasing violence among the frustrated population.”