Humanitarian Access Snapshot - Gaza Strip | August 2024
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION: KEY FIGURES
General overview
In August 2024, UN and its NGO partners conducted 598 coordinated humanitarian movements across the Gaza Strip: 395 in the south and 203 in the north. Of these, only 250 were facilitated, 99 impeded and 176 denied. In total, 46 per cent of humanitarian movements have been either denied or impeded in August, making it the most challenging month for humanitarian access since January 2024.
Humanitarian access in the northern part of the Gaza strip is significantly constrained, in part due to challenges and insecurity crossing checkpoints. Of the 203 humanitarian movements north, 74 were denied and 38 were impeded resulting in only 45 per cent of humanitarian movements to areas in the north of Wadi Gaza being facilitated in August. For example, of the nine health sector movements planned to transport over 200,000 litres of fuel to vital facilities such as hospitals, only one movement was facilitated with four being impeded and four being denied. Of the 395 coordinated humanitarian movements in the south, 176 were facilitated, 61 were impeded and 102 were denied. This includes 105 movements to Kerem Shalom to pick up vital humanitarian cargo and conduct 10 rotations of international staff in and out of Gaza. Of movements to Kerem Shalom in August – 19 impeded (including 3 staff rotations), and 11 denied.
Checkpoint Opening Times
Since 16 August 2024, Israeli forces have imposed increasingly unpredictable and restrictive time windows for humanitarian movements through the two checkpoints between the south and north of the Gaza strip. These are only announced in the morning when convoys are ready to depart, resulting in significant delays in movements and limiting the time that humanitarian teams have to complete their activities in Gaza city or northern Gaza. In addition to the limited operating hours, technical failures at the checkpoints have further delayed movements and compromise the safety of aid workers. For instance, on 24 August, a reportedly broken boom gate at the checkpoint caused one mission to be stuck for four hours. The delay in fixing the gate in a timely manner resulted in the failure to deliver 10,000 vaccines, 58 pallets of medicine, including cold chain items and life-saving medical supplies for pregnant women, as well as 24,000 litres of fuel. In response to concerns raised by humanitarian organizations, Israeli authorities indicated that the checkpoint would be open each day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. However, access through the checkpoint still faces extensive delays with convoys often not allowed to approach the checkpoint until well past 10 a.m. On 28 August, a convoy delivering urgently needed fuel to hospitals was delayed for five hours before being allowed to cross the checkpoint to the north and faced an additional four hours delay on the return journey.