Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #167

The OCHA OPT Flash Update is published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with a comprehensive update on the West Bank included every Wednesday. The next update will be issued on 20 May.

Key Highlights

• The ongoing influx of displaced people into Khan Younis and Deir al Balah continues to strain dwindling resources to respond to humanitarian needs. 
• As of 11 May, WFP-supported distributions of special nutritional foods to pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under five have been suspended in Rafah but continued on a limited basis in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah. 
• Only five bakeries are operational in all of Gaza and 11 have ceased operations, the Food Security Cluster reports; limited amounts of supplies have entered Gaza since 6 May and remain largely insufficient to address the soaring needs. 
• The movement of Emergency Medical Teams in Gaza remains highly constrained, including due to growing insecurity, according to the Health Cluster.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported, especially in Jabalya and eastern Rafah. As of 17 May, Rafah Crossing remains closed. Kerem Shalom Crossing is operational, but the prevailing security and logistical conditions are hampering humanitarian aid deliveries at scale.  
• Between the afternoon of 15 and 10:30 on 17 May, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 70 Palestinians were killed and 120 were injured, including 31 killed and 56 injured in the last 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 17 May 2024, at least 35,303 Palestinians were killed and 79,261 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza.  
• The following are among the deadliest incidents reported between 14 and 16 May:  
  • On 14 May, at about 14:30, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house was hit in Beit Lahiya in North Gaza. 
  • On 15 May, at about 1:00, five Palestinians, including a girl, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Al Bureij Refugee Camp.  
  • On 15 May, at about 2:00, four Palestinians were reportedly killed when their house was hit on Old Gaza Street in Jabaliya, in North Gaza. 
  • On 15 May, at about 16:30, five Palestinians were reportedly killed and 15 injured when a group of Palestinians were hit in Al Jala Street, in Gaza city. 
  • On 16 May, at 00:25, four Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in central Rafah.   
  • On 16 May, at about 4:35, several Palestinians, including children and women, were reportedly killed when a residential building was hit in Abu Iskandar area in Ash Sheikh Radwan, in Gaza city.  
  • On 16 May, at about 11:50, five Palestinians, including two children and two women, were reportedly killed and others injured when a residential building was hit east of the European Gaza Hospital in eastern Khan Younis. 
• Between the afternoons of 15 and 17 May, six Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 17 May, 279 soldiers have been killed and 1,723 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 17 May, it is estimated that 132 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.  
• The ongoing influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs) into Khan Younis and Deir al Balah continues to strain dwindling resources to respond to humanitarian needs. Between 6 and 16 May, according to the UN, nearly 640,000 people were displaced from Rafah, including about 40,000 people displaced on 16 May. According to the Shelter Cluster, there are no remaining stocks of shelter materials inside Gaza. Moreover, on 14 May, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Adele Khodr, highlighted that the recent ground operations in Rafah and northern Gaza have heightened concerns about access to clean water and sanitation across Gaza: “In the north, vital wells have suffered great damage, while in Rafah at least eight facilities are down, impacting…  people, many of them children who will likely revert to contaminated water and become seriously ill. When water fails, children suffer the most.” In addition to inadequate infrastructure, “civilians – already exhausted, malnourished, and facing numerous traumatic events – are now facing increased death, injury, and displacement among the ruins of their communities. The very humanitarian operations that became the only lifeline for the whole population across the Strip are threatened,” Khodr warned.  

• On 17 May, in parallel to reports on first shipments arriving at the new floating dock off Gaza’s shore, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said that “any and all aid into Gaza is welcome by any route. However, getting aid to people in need, into and across Gaza, cannot and should not depend on a floating dock.” Humanitarian agencies have stressed that land routes are the most viable, effective and efficient aid delivery method, which is why all crossing points need to open. Partners are finalizing operational plans to ensure readiness to handle aid once the floating dock is properly functioning, while ensuring the safety of staff. 
• The food security situation in Gaza remains dire, with ongoing closures and inaccessibility exacerbating critical shortages of food, water, and fuel. The World Food Programme (WFP) reported on 15 May that its food and fuel stocks would run out in a matter of days. More than 3,000 metric tons of food in main warehouses have become inaccessible by food security partners due to ongoing hostilities. According to the Egyptian Red Crescent, as of 16 May, 1,574 out of about 2,050 trucks that remain stuck in Al Arish on the Egyptian side of Rafah Crossing carry critical food items. Limited amounts of supplies have entered Gaza since 6 May and remain largely insufficient to address the soaring needs; six trucks carrying food aid entered Gaza via Kerem Shalom Crossing on 11 May, 27 trucks carrying flour entered through the same crossing on 15 May, 121 trucks carrying food items entered through Erez Crossing on 6 and 8 May, and 156 trucks carrying flour were reported to have arrived in northern Gaza via West Erez (Zikim/As Siafa) entry point between 12 and 15 May, the Food Security Cluster reports. As of 16 May, 11 bakeries in southern Gaza have ceased operations due to fuel and supply shortages and ongoing hostilities and only five remain operational in the Gaza Strip, including four in Gaza city and one in Deir al Balah. These conditions have forced partners to conduct small-scale distributions with limited stocks, providing reduced rations and prioritizing Khan Younis and Deir al Balah governorates that have been receiving hundreds of thousands of IDPs from Rafah over the past ten days. As of 11 May, WFP-supported distributions of special nutritional foods to pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under five have also been suspended in Rafah but continued on a limited basis in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah.
• On 16 May, water engineers at Khan Younis municipalities reported that water and sanitation services in the governorate have collapsed due to ongoing hostilities and closure of the crossings. Vital infrastructure, such as wells, water tanks, distribution networks, desalination plants, sewage stations and drainage networks have sustained damages estimated at US$40 million in the water sector and $20 million in the sanitation sector, they added. Destroyed infrastructure includes 45 out of 60 water wells, nine out of ten main water tanks, 350 out of 700 kilometres of water pipes, and 70 kilometres of the main drainage networks, according to the same source. The engineers additionally noted that repair and restoration efforts have been rendered impossible by the closure of the crossings, and shortages in urgent maintenance supplies have been compounded by the destruction of all power generators and the governorate’s emergency and central warehouses. Ongoing displacement from Rafah to Khan Younis has further exacerbated the water and sanitation conditions, with sewage overflow and solid waste accumulation spread across roads, displacement camps and the rubble of destroyed homes and resulting in catastrophic health and environmental impacts. The engineers called for an urgent intervention to facilitate the entry of fuel and resources through the crossings and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe from unfolding, including death from thirst. 
• The healthcare system in Gaza continues to deteriorate, with the delivery of critical medical supplies to hospitals located within the evacuation zones severely disrupted, UNICEF reports. The provision of basic services at nine primary healthcare centres and 37 medical points in Rafah and North Gaza has been similarly hampered by high insecurity and recent evacuation orders, according to the Health Cluster. Moreover, health facilities that maintain some level of functionality are facing rising shortages of essential medical supplies and have been forced to ration fuel. On 14 May, the Palestine Red Crescent Society highlighted that the continuous interruption of the entry of fuel into Gaza “threatens the complete collapse of the healthcare system, and shutdown of the remaining hospitals if fuel is not provided for power generators, ambulances, water desalination stations, and sewage networks.” Restrictions on the entry of tents and building equipment into Gaza also limit the ability of health partners to establish new temporary health facilities. While 18 Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) continue to be deployed across the Strip, their movement remains highly constrained, including due to growing insecurity. On 14 May, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned that “relentless fighting and bombing has led to a massive influx of patients at the Al Aqsa Hospital,” where 46 of the 117 patients who were brought to the emergency room on 10 and 11 May alone succumbed to their wounds; these “mass casualty incidents are becoming more frequent,” MSF added. 

Funding 

• As of 17 May, Member States have disbursed about $783 million out of $3.4 billion (23 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. This includes about $623 million out of $600 million (104 per cent) requested for January-March 2024 and about $160 million out of $2.8 billion (6 per cent) requested for the Flash Appeal launched on 17 April to cover the period between April and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard. 
• The OPT HF has 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). In light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza. Since 7 October, the OPT HF has mobilized $90 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the OPT HF activities and challenges in April 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual Report of the OPT HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

For the Gaza Humanitarian Response Update for the period between 6 – 12 May, please visit: Gaza Humanitarian Response Update | 6–12 May 2024. It is updated throughout the week to reflect new content.

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