Gaza Humanitarian Response Update | 3 - 16 August 2025

Response

• Between 3 and 16 August, more than 12,000 metric tons (MT) of wheat flour, food parcels and bulk food supplies for community kitchens were brought into Gaza through the UN-coordinated aid mechanism, but over 95 per cent of this aid was offloaded by hungry crowds or looted by armed gangs along aid convoy routes. No household-level distributions could thus be conducted by partners to reach the most vulnerable.
• As of 17 August, 86 kitchens supported by 19 partners were preparing and distributing 404,000 meals daily across the Strip - 132,000 in the north and 272,000 in southern and central Gaza. Compared with the second half of July, the number of daily meals distributed by partner-supported kitchens has more than doubled but remains far below the over one million meals produced in April 2025 thanks to stocks entered during the ceasefire.

Challenges

• While Food Security Sector (FSS) partners have enough food in or en route to the region to feed the entire Gaza population for at least three months, since 20 July, when regular food cargo uplifts from Gaza’s crossings could resume, only 47 per cent of the 2,000 MT of food supplies required daily to meet basic humanitarian food assistance needs could enter the Strip. What has entered is insufficient to meet even the minimum caloric intake needs.
• Limited commercial truck entries resumed on 4 August, mainly dry food items - canned food, pasta, flour, sugar. There are reports that very small amounts of fresh produce may have also entered. To improve diet diversity, scaled entry of fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy, and fortified food items with added micronutrients through the private sector are required, alongside the increased entry of food aid at large scale by humanitarian partners. Just 1.5 per cent (232 ha) of the total cropland in Gaza remains both accessible and not damaged.
• The risk of spoilage and infestation of food supplies stranded in the region for months has drastically increased due to the heat and impending expiration dates.
• Cooking gas has not entered Gaza for more than five months and is no longer available in markets; firewood has also become increasingly unaffordable. Many people are reduced to using waste and scrap wood as alternative cooking sources, exacerbating health and environmental risks.

Response

• During the reporting period, UNICEF collected and partially distributed the following to partners in Gaza:
  • 30,000 cartons of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for the treatment of 30,000 acutely malnourished children for one month;
  • nearly 150,000 bottles of Ready-to-Use Infant Formula (RUIF) to support for one month 1,250 children under six months of age, who cannot be breastfed; and
  • 3,671 cartons of High-Energy Biscuits (HEBs) in the south and 895 cartons in the north. Current plans are to distribute them at transit points during the potential imminent population displacement from northern Gaza.
• Cluster partners continue to carry out malnutrition screenings across the Gaza Strip. While data for the first two weeks of August is not yet available, in July, partners identified and admitted for treatment more than 13,000 acutely malnourished children, an over six-fold increase compared to the 2,000 admissions recorded in February.
• During the month of July, partners reached 46,184 caregivers with group counselling on Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices, as well as 6,129 mothers with one-to-one counselling and 2,927 women for one-to-one lactating support.

Challenges

• Malnutrition prevention stocks are almost completely depleted after months of total blockade and only limited entry since 19 May. Both WFP’s Blanket and Targeted Supplementary Feeding Programmes for children and pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBW) are now on hold due to the lack of Lipid-based Nutrient Supplements. While these supplies are available outside Gaza, acute levels of hunger and the complete breakdown of law and order in the Strip have thus far prevented WFP from collecting these items safely and ensuring the intended beneficiaries are reached. UNICEF has been able to collect some nutrition supplies, but part of the cargo was looted.
• Recurrent displacement orders continue to disrupt nutrition service delivery, with health facilities and nutrition sites often forced to suspend or shut down operations, and children and PBW left to walk long distances to reach nutrition services.

Response

• WHO collected 31 WHO and partner trucks with lifesaving health supplies, including medicines, blood units, trauma and surgical materials, into Gaza; of those, 17 were dispatched from Egypt and 14 from the West Bank.
• The 36-unit hemodialysis center at the Nasser Medical Hospital in Khan Younis was rehabilitated and will become operational next week. It is expected to support 205 kidney patients currently in Khan Younis, and 291 patients at risk of displacement from Gaza city.
• In northern Gaza, partners revised the trauma referral pathway and are upgrading the Trauma Stabilization Point at the Sheikh Hamad Hospital in Gaza city.
• In the south, WHO and UNICEF are providing tents and toilets to the Nasser Medical Complex to support capacity expansion. The International Medical Corps (IMC) is also provisionally starting a new field hospital, while MSF-France and MSF-Belgium are both expanding bed capacity at their field hospitals in Deir al Balah city and Zawayda to 100 and 120 beds, respectively.
• On 16 August, WHO, UNICEF, OCHA and UNMAS conducted a joint mission to the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis to assess conditions and gauge its potential re-activation. Initial findings suggest it may take up to three months to resume secondary care services.
• UNFPA distributed to partners reproductive health supplies and medications, including oxytocin, sufficient to support an estimated 5,400 pregnant women, newborns, and women and girls of reproductive age.
• The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) operationalized an Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at the Al-Mawasi Field Hospital in western Khan Younis, bringing to 13 the Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) facilities currently functional across the Strip.
• Jointly with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the local NGO Juzoor, UNFPA launched the first cycle of the 2025 Help Mothers Survive and Help Babies Breathe training, focused on emergency deliveries outside hospitals. Twelve midwives were trained and are being deployed to primary healthcare centres (PHCs) to scale up outpatient Sexual and Reproductive Health services.
• As of 16 August, 81 Health Cluster partners were active in Gaza, with 53 directly supporting 223 of the 231 still partially functioning health facilities across the Strip, including 18 hospitals, 10 field hospitals, 66 PHCs and 112 medical points.
• During the reporting period, 53 critical patients, including 47 children, were medically evacuated for treatment to Italy, Belgium, Jordan, and Türkiye, accompanied by 141 companions.

Challenges

• The Israeli plan to intensify military operations in Gaza city risks having catastrophic consequences for the already shuttered healthcare system in Gaza. Presently, 12 (43 per cent) of all 28 still partially functioning hospitals and field hospitals in the Strip are located within Gaza city, accounting for 623 (33 per cent) of the total 1,913 inpatient bed capacity and nearly 40 (48 per cent) of the 83 intensive care beds across the Strip.
• In southern Gaza, six of the 10 field hospitals are operated by INGOs that face the risk of imminent de-registration by 9 September for not complying with the new Israeli requirement obliging INGOs to share sensitive personal information about their Palestinian employees.
• Bed occupancy rates at hospitals far exceed capacity, reaching 240 per cent at Al-Shifa, 210 per cent at Al Rantisi, 180 per cent at Nasser and 300 per cent at Al-Ahli Arab, amid staff burnout, and critical gaps in medicines and supplies. As of early August, 52 per cent of essential drugs and 68 per cent of essential disposables were at zero stock.
• Laboratory supplies, including virus screening kits, transfusion sets, complete blood count reagents, electrolytes, and blood gases, are critically low.
• Over 4,500 new limb amputation cases were recorded since October 2023, a 225 per cent increase. Partners lack essential prosthetic supplies and stock for their fabrication. Poor nutrition is also slowing residuum (stump) healing and weight loss means prosthesis are not fitting.
• Eighty-five cases of suspected Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) have been diagnosed, with eight associated deaths reported. Plasmapheresis filters and intravenous fluid remain out of stock, severely hampering treatment.
• About 700,000 women and girls continue to lack menstrual health items.
• Partners report that healthcare providers are fainting during service due to lack of food, water, and extreme heat.
• More than 14,800 critical patients require life-saving medical treatment not available in Gaza. The Cluster continues to appeal for the 1) medical corridor to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to be urgently restored, as the most cost-effective medical evacuation route, 2) for more countries to accept patients as long as that corridor is not restored, and 3) for increased use of corridors for medical evacuation through Egypt and Jordan. More information available at this link.

Response

• As of 16 August, 30 WASH Cluster partners continued to deliver approximately 13,439 cubic metres of drinking water per day through 1,193 water collection points across the Gaza Strip. The UNICEF led Subsidized Water Scheme is facilitating partners to access drinking water through private sector desalination plants, especially in Gaza city. Although operational and security challenges persist, this coordinated response remains essential for maintaining access to safe drinking water.
• During the reporting period, 600 household-level hygiene kits were distributed in five neighbourhoods of Gaza city, Khan Younis and Deir al Balah and 31 communal latrines were installed in shelters, schools and other sites hosting displaced households in the same governorates.
• The Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) repaired the sewage network at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis after a sewage spill in the facility directly affected the emergency and inpatient wards and other key departments.
• Limited solid waste management operations continued across the Gaza, Deir al Balah and Khan Younis governorates, with primary waste collection ongoing in 35 neighbourhoods, and secondary collection taking place in seven municipalities. As access to official landfills remains restricted, partners are utilizing nine temporary dumping sites, seven of which are in Deir al Balah.
• In partnership with the UAE, CMWU continues the construction of a 6.7-kilometre water pipeline connecting the UAE-funded seawater desalination plant on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing to southern Gaza; completion is planned in 10 days.

Challenges

• Two out of three Mekorot water lines from Israel are currently not functional: the Bani Saeed line in Deir al Balah has been out of service since 22 January, while the Bani Suhaila line in Khan Younis was damaged during the reporting period. Seawater and brackish desalination plants, along with groundwater wells, remain operational but at significantly reduced capacity due to critical fuel shortages.
• Due to lack of fuel, infrastructural damage and restricted access, all wastewater treatment plants in Gaza have been out of service since October 2023, forcing partners to divert sewage into stormwater basins and the sea. Over 130,000 metres of pipelines are damaged, most pumping stations are non-functional, and untreated sewage continues to flow into streets, shelters, and residential areas, posing significant public health risks.
• Restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities on the entry of reverse osmosis membranes and spare parts – including generators, pipes, fittings, and other essential components – continue to severely hinder WASH partners’ ability to repair and maintain critical WASH services.

Response

• Mine Action: Mine Action partners participated in six inter-agency missions and conducted two explosive hazard assessments to enhance the safety of humanitarian operations and reduce explosive-ordnance (EO) related risks for communities. Partners also reached 33,885 people, including 2,920 children, through 1,221 Explosive Ordnance Risk Education & Conflict Preparedness and Protection (EORE-CPP) sessions, and conducted four targeted EORE sessions for 141 humanitarian workers. Since October 2023, 113 EO-related incidents have been documented, resulting in 17 fatalities and 132 injuries, of whom 73 children both injured and killed.
• Child Protection: Working across more than 35 locations in North Gaza, Gaza city, Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, Child Protection actors:
  • provided case management services for 687 highly vulnerable children, including unaccompanied and separated ones, children without parental care, child survivors of violence, children with acute conflict-related injuries, disabilities or mental health needs, or at heightened risk of harm or death.
  • delivered structured psychosocial support (PSS) to over 6,850 children and caregivers -- an average of 457 per day -- through individual counselling, group sessions and recreational activities.
• To strengthen inter-agency child protection programming amid growing access constraints, the Child Protection Area of Responsibility (AoR) trained 57 case workers from international and local NGOs on Remote Child Protection Case Management and oriented key focal points on the CP AoR-led child protection monitoring system, a programmatic tool aimed at tracking child protection risks, caseloads, service functionality, and access constraints and feed results into real-time response decisions. Partners are cascading skills to field teams with a focus on identification and referral.
• Gender-based violence (GBV): GBV partners continued to support women, girls, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups across Gaza, Deir al Balah, Khan Younis and the Mawasi area of Rafah through Women and Girls Safe Spaces (WGSS), mobile outreach, and the GBV helpline.
• A total of 142 women and girls, of whom ten with disabilities, received targeted psychosocial support. Of these, 31 cases were referred through the GBV helpline, while the remainder were walk-ins.
• Partners also delivered 283 individual counseling and consultation sessions on psychosocial, marital, family, mental health, and legal issues, and reached 909 people, including 668 women and girls, with mental health and psychosocial support awareness sessions to reduce stigma, promote mental well-being and encourage help-seeking behaviors within the communities.
• Jointly with the PSEA Network, Child Protection actors and WHO, the GBV AoR initiated a series of trainings for health service providers aimed at strengthening inter-agency GBV referral pathways and survivor-centered care at health facilities after a recent assessment of 60 health centres highlighted significant gaps.
• Legal Task Force: With the support of the task force, four human rights organizations and legal partners submitted a petition to the Israeli High Court of Justice calling for the opening of crossings to Gaza and for the Israeli government to take all measures to ensure full and effective humanitarian aid to the population in the Gaza Strip.

Challenges

• Active hostilities and displacement restricted movements; areas such as Az Zaytoun and Tal al-Hawa in Gaza city were inaccessible for days, interrupting monitoring and service delivery.
• Internet outages and logistic constraints hampered coordination, reporting and remote case management; transport limitations delayed outreach and referrals.
• Partners report that frontline staff face burnout and secondary trauma; shortages of trauma-informed counsellors and social workers limited the depth and coverage of PSS.
• Lack of assistive devices increased barriers for persons with disabilities.

Response

• Partners continued to refine targeting and prioritization frameworks to enable rapid response as soon as the entry of shelter materials into Gaza resumes. A joint information management operational cell is also being activated with the Site Management Cluster to better coordinate distribution as soon as long-awaited shelter and NFI stocks are allowed to enter the Strip.
• Distribution of clothing vouchers continued to reach 7,300 newly displaced households in Gaza city. This has enabled families to purchase adult and children's clothing from local markets.

Challenges

• As of 6 August, an estimated 1.4 million people required emergency shelter items and 1.45 million needed essential household items in Gaza. This represents an increase of about 7 and 10 per cent respectively, compared with June (see dashboard). Since 2 March, no shelter items have been allowed to enter Gaza through crossing points, leaving partners with no means to replenish depleted stocks and address even the most urgent needs amid growing displacement.

Response

• Between 3 and 16 August, partners distributed Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) to a total of 5,090 households - 470 in North Gaza, 980 in Gaza city, 2,265 in Deir al-Balah, and 1,375 in Khan Younis - including 780 female-headed ones. Priority was afforded to newly displaced families or those identified as being highly vulnerable through existing programme databases. Each household received 1,000 NIS (approximately US$295), delivered via payment codes or direct transfers to their digital wallets. This brings to 221,363 the number of households in Gaza that received at least one MPCA installment, and up to five installments, thus far in 2025, and to around 400,000 the households reached with MPCA since October 2023, representing approximately 95 per cent of Gaza’s population.

Challenges

• Persistent liquidity shortages, coupled with lack of transportation due to exorbitant fuel prices and movement restrictions, continued to hinder MPCA recipients’ access to the scant goods available within the Gaza Strip.
• Low acceptance of digital payments across the supply chain, with retailers often declining digital transfers because wholesalers require cash for restocking, which breaks the digital loop. The result is sustained demand for physical cash and limited effectiveness of digital assistance until upstream merchant acceptance and liquidity improve.

Response

• Site management partners continue to support 254 displacement sites across the Gaza Strip by providing technical advice on minimal site care and maintenance activities amidst scarcity of site improvement toolkits, assisting site focal points in updating the self-reporting platform through which household numbers in each facility are tracked, and ensuring that publicly available humanitarian messaging is widely disseminated to displaced communities.
• Since April, the Cluster is also overseeing a pilot community self-help project to improve living conditions at existing displacement sites. Thus far, communities sheltering in 12 displacement sites in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis received funding, with 80 per cent of necessary infrastructural repairs and maintenance activities they had identified in April already completed despite challenges in accessing materials. Work is now underway to expand the project to four additional sites.
• In the last three weeks, Cluster partners conducted a site-to-site monitoring exercise in south-central Gaza to assess displacement patterns and promptly scale up the humanitarian response where most urgently needed based on observed population flows. The exercise covered 74 displacement sites, including 63 makeshift shelters, 10 collective centers and one scattered site, located in Khan Younis (77 per cent), Deir al Balah (14 per cent), and Gaza city (9 per cent).

Challenges

• Without sufficient fuel, community mobilizers and site monitors cannot be deployed for site assessments, supervision of infrastructure repairs, or coordination with community leaders. This has led to delays in responding to urgent needs, reduced monitoring of site conditions, and weakened engagement with affected populations, ultimately compromising the quality and timeliness of site management response.
• Living conditions in all displacement sites have further deteriorated due to increased overcrowding, and limited systems in place to manage solid waste, which force many residents to resort to unsafe disposal practices, including open dumping. This creates environmental and health risks and contributes to blocked drainage systems and increased vector presence.

Response

• As of 16 August, 287 out of 626 Temporary Learning Spaces (TLSs) were operational, serving 107,508 school-aged children with the support of 3,421 teachers. Twenty-five TLSs have been set up within UNRWA school buildings repurposed as shelters, benefiting 24,832 children currently and running multiple shifts to maximize reach.
• Partners scaled up summer educational and recreational activities following the end of the academic year on 17 July; in Gaza city alone, at least 5,900 children benefited from these activities during the reporting period.
• Following the successful first phase of the Tawjihi exams in July, which were passed by 1,613 of the 1,719 enrolled students, the Ministry of Education opened registration for the 2023/24 cohort in early August. The Cluster has identified 77 TLSs as potential hubs for the upcoming exam phase; approximately 6,000 tablets intended for exam administration remain in the West Bank pending shipment to Gaza.

Challenges

• Continued displacement orders severely disrupted TLS operations and hampered the resumption of information learning in affected areas.
• Restrictions on the entry of educational supplies persisted, with the lack of tents, furniture, teaching and learning materials all undermining the establishment of new TLSs and the scale and quality of interventions. Supplies equivalent to 100 truckloads remain outside Gaza, pending the lifting of restrictions.
• At least five Israeli forces’ attacks affecting education facilities were recorded during the reporting period, three in Gaza city and two in Khan Younis, resulting in damage and loss of life. According to the latest satellite-based damage assessment, 97 per cent of education facilities have sustained some level of damage, with 91 per cent requiring major rehabilitation or reconstruction to be functional again.

Response

• The Logistics Cluster continues to coordinate daily truck manifests for submission to, and approval by the Israeli authorities. As of 17 August, the Israeli authorities will reportedly start authorizing the entry of shelter items, animal fodder, and limited fresh food on case-to-case basis to southern Gaza.
• In Gaza, the Cluster collected 5,105 pallets of aid from the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem and Erez West (Zikim) platforms on behalf of two partners, with other organizations collecting independently.
• During the reporting period, the Logistics Cluster facilitated access to four Government-to-Government (G2G) convoys from Jordan for 22 trucks of aid to Gaza; of the 22 trucks, 15 offloaded food items at the Erez West (Zikim) crossing.

Challenges

• Since the limited resumption of aid entry on 19 May, only nine organizations have been authorized by the Israeli authorities to manifest cargo, severely constraining the humanitarian response.
• The ongoing deterioration of security conditions inside Gaza continues to heavily impact humanitarian logistics operations. All WFP/Logistics Cluster convoys continued to face looting and security incidents.
• During the reporting period, a significant number of trucks dispatched from Egypt were returned, reportedly with no clear justification or rationale provided, and due to trucks congestion at the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem platform.
• The requirement by the Israeli authorities to physically inspect all aid cargo containers in Ashdod is significantly impacting the daily clearance process capacity.
• Since the beginning of August, the Israeli authorities have extended the requirement for Israeli security escorts also to trucks dispatched from Jordan via the Back-to-Back (B2B) convoy modality as well as from Ashdod to both the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem and Erez West (Zikim) crossings. Due to limited Israeli escort capacity, B2B convoys from Jordan have been suspended until further notice.
• Delays in the inspection and customs process at Allenby/King Hussein Bridge are preventing G2G convoys from crossing from Jordan in one batch on the allocated day. Currently, trucks more frequently stay at the crossing overnight before being able to cross, causing tracking limitations and a backlog that impacts planning.

Response

• The ETC’s US$1.2 million fuel support for the telecommunications sector in Gaza is estimated to last through July until mid-August. Resource mobilization efforts remain underway to sustain support beyond this timeframe.

Challenges

• Continued hostilities have caused significant damage to telecommunications infrastructure in Gaza, resulting in severe disruption of connectivity services. Access impediments and restrictions on importing vital ICT equipment further impede recovery efforts, limiting the ETC's capacity to implement its planned services in support of humanitarian operations.

Protection against sexual abuse and exploitation (PSEA) remains a cross-cutting priority for all clusters. Aid distribution must be delivered with dignity and respect. Any wrongdoing can be reported through SAWA’s toll-free number 164. SAWA will assist and provide services free of charge and with the utmost confidentiality.

To promote accountability to affected people, the online Humanitarian Service Directory provides information on aid services, helplines, and key messages, and is available via hyperlink and QR code.

* Asterisks indicate that a figure, sentence, or section has been rectified, added, or retracted after the initial publication of this update.