Humanitarian Situation Update #313 | Gaza Strip

The Humanitarian Situation Updates on the Gaza Strip and on the West Bank are both Issued every Wednesday/Thursday. The Gaza Humanitarian Response Update is issued every other Tuesday. The next Humanitarian Situation Update on the Gaza Strip will be published on 20 or 21 August.

Key Highlights

• The UN Secretary-General called for an independent and impartial investigation into the killing of six Palestinian journalists in an Israeli strike in Gaza city on 10 August, which highlights the extreme risks that journalists and media workers covering the war continue to face.
• Hunger-related deaths are rising, and the Gaza Strip continues to face starvation. Eight people have reportedly died in the past 24 hours.
• Child malnutrition can lead to lifelong harm and generational poverty, says Save the Children.
• To push back escalating starvation, the Food Security Sector calls for the immediate resumption of large-scale humanitarian assistance with guaranteed safe, unimpeded and sustained access, and for scaling up the entry of nutritious food through the commercial sector.
• Primary health-care response in Gaza is undermined by the lack of adequate medical supplies, leaving thousands of chronic disease patients and those suffering from communicable illnesses without life-saving support, and heightening the risk of a large-scale public health crisis, UNRWA warns.

Humanitarian Developments

• Over the past week, Israeli forces have continued to carry out heavy bombardment from the air, land and sea across the Gaza Strip, alongside continued ground operations. Rocket fire by Palestinian armed groups into Israel and fighting with Israeli forces have taken place. There are continued reports of casualties due to strikes on schools, tents and residential buildings and among people trying to access food supplies at militarized distribution points or waiting for humanitarian aid convoys, detonation and demolition of residential buildings, destruction of civilian infrastructure, and large-scale displacement. According to the Site Management Cluster (SMC), more than 780,000 Palestinians in Gaza were displaced between 18 March and 12 August, including over 12,500 displacement movements reported between 29 July and 12 August, 68 per cent of which originated from Gaza governorate, mostly between 10 and 11 August.
• In a briefing to the UN Security Council on Gaza, OCHA’s Director of the Coordination Division, Mr. Ramesh Rajasingham, expressed concern over the prolonged conflict and reports of atrocities and signalled worry of further human toll following the Government of Israel’s decision to expand military operations: “Gaza lies in ruins. Almost everyone in Gaza has been forcibly displaced at some point over the past two years and at least once. Palestinians in Gaza have been forced into an area that amounts to less than 14 per cent of the territory, in areas that are not safe and are lacking basic services or shelter. Further expansion of military operations will make these conditions even worse.” He highlighted that hunger-related deaths are rising, noting that this is “no longer a looming hunger crisis – this is starvation, pure and simple,” and that humanitarian conditions remain largely unchanged despite some improvements in operations enabled by the Israeli military’s “tactical pauses” and the Israeli authorities’ recent approval of a mechanism for the gradual resumption of controlled commercial goods into Gaza.
• According to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, between 6 and 13 August, 564 Palestinians were killed, and 3,083 were injured. This brings the casualty toll among Palestinians since 7 October 2023, as reported by MoH, to 61,722 fatalities and 154,525 injuries. MoH further noted that the number of casualties among people trying to access food supplies has increased to 1,859 fatalities and more than 13,594 injuries since 27 May 2025.
• According to the Israeli military, between 6 and 13 August, no Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza. The casualty toll among Israeli soldiers since the beginning of the ground operation in October 2023 stands at 454 fatalities and 2,872 injuries, according to the Israeli military. According to Israeli forces and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,654 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed, the majority on 7 October 2023 and its immediate aftermath. As of 13 August, it is estimated that 50 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including hostages who have been declared dead and whose bodies are being withheld.
• On 10 August, the Israeli military hit a tent used by journalists outside the main gate of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city, killing six journalists and media workers, including four staff (two correspondents and two cameramen) of Al Jazeera Media Network in Gaza city. The UN Secretary-General called for an independent and impartial investigation into these latest killings, which highlight the extreme risks that journalists in Gaza continue to face when covering the ongoing war. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) strongly condemned the incident and stated that with the killing of the six journalists, the total number of journalists and media workers killed since the start of the escalation has risen to 238. In July 2025, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had called for the protection of one of the journalists killed, citing concerns that he was being targeted by an Israeli military smear campaign. CPJ Regional Director, Sara Qudah, said that “Israel has killed more journalists in the 22 months since the start of the war than were killed worldwide in the preceding three years.”
• Other key incidents resulting in casualties over the past week include the following:
  • On 7 August at about 10:00, at least five Palestinians, including at least one woman, were reportedly killed and more than 30 others injured when fire was opened towards Palestinians seeking food near the militarized distribution point in Ash Shakoush, in northern Rafah.
  • On 7 August, at about 16:15, six Palestinians, including a couple and three of their children, were reportedly killed and others injured when a tent for internally displaced people (IDP) was hit in Ash Sheikh Radwan, northwest of Gaza city.
  • On 7 August, at about 21:00, five Palestinians were reportedly injured when a school sheltering IDPs was hit in Ad Daraj, in eastern Gaza city.
  • On 8 August, at about 16:00, nine Palestinians, including a couple and their five children and another female, were reportedly killed when a residential building sheltering IDPs was hit in Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis.
  • On 8 August, in the afternoon, nine Palestinians, including three children, were reportedly injured by air-dropped aid on Al Jalal Street, in northern Gaza city.
  • On 9 August, at about 12:30, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy was reportedly killed when hit by a crater of air-dropped aid in An Nuseirat Camp, in Deir al Balah.
  • On 11 August, at about 10:00, at least three Palestinians were reportedly injured when a school was hit in Az Zaytoun, in Gaza city.
  • On 11 August, in the early morning, nine Palestinians, including six children (siblings), were reportedly killed when a residential building was shelled in Az Zaytoun, in Gaza city.
  • On 11 August, at about 14:45, seven Palestinians, including a couple and at least of two of their daughters, were reportedly killed when a house was hit in Az Zaytoun, in Gaza city.
  • On 11 August, at about 19:15, eight Palestinian who were seeking aid were reportedly killed and others injured while waiting for aid convoys in As Sudaniya area, in western Beit Lahiya, in North Gaza.
  • On 11 August, at about 18:16, six Palestinians, including two boys and an elderly woman, were reportedly killed when a mobile charging point was hit in southern Deir al Balah.
  • On 12 August, at about 1:30, at least five Palestinians, including a man, his seven-month-old son, a couple and their son, who is a fire fighter with the Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD), were reportedly killed when an IDP tent was hit in Al Mawasi, in western Khan Younis. PCD stated that the killing of the fire fighter increased the number of PCD personnel killed since October 2023 to 137.
• Between 27 May and 8 August, the Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah treated more than 4,500 weapon-wounded patients, most of whom reported that they were attempting to reach food distribution sites when they were injured. Since the opening of these distribution sites, there have been more than 30 mass casualty incidents received at the field hospital. Also in southern Gaza, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that 1,380 casualties, including 28 fatalities, were received at its Al-Mawasi and Al-Attar clinics, located near the militarized distribution points, between 7 June and 24 July 2025. During those seven weeks, MSF teams treated 71 children for gunshot wounds, 25 of whom were under the age of 15. “Children shot in the chest while reaching for food. People crushed or suffocated in stampedes,” said the General Director of MSF Spain, adding: “In MSF’s nearly 54 years of operations, rarely have we seen such levels of systematic violence against unarmed civilians.” MSF also received tens of patients that were injured either in the crush of the crowd or by being beaten and robbed of their supplies immediately after receiving them. MSF teams treated 196 patients with injuries following chaotic scrambles at the distribution sites, including a five-year-old boy with severe head injuries and a woman who died of asphyxiation, likely caused by the suffocating crush of a crowd.
• On 13 August, the World Health Organization (WHO) supported the medical evacuation of 38 Palestinian patients from Gaza, including 32 children and six adults, alongside 99 companions. Patients were evacuated to Italy, Belgium and Türkiye. According to WHO, more than 14,800 patients still need lifesaving medical care that is not available in Gaza.
• Delays and impediments of humanitarian movements continue to be reported. Recently, while fewer humanitarian movements have been denied outright, missions that are approved still take hours to complete and teams have been compelled to wait on roads that are often dangerous, congested or impassable. Between 6 and 12 August, out of 81 attempts to coordinate planned aid movements with Israeli authorities across the Gaza Strip, 35 were facilitated (43 per cent), 29 were initially approved but then impeded on the ground (36 per cent), 12 (15 per cent) were denied and five (six per cent) had to be withdrawn by the organizers. Facilitated movements included missions to transfer fuel, staff movements and rotations. Denied movements included missions for essential road repairs along Salah ad Din Road. Among the 29 impeded missions, 14 were fully accomplished despite the impediments, including missions to collect fuel and supplies from Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings and staff movements between southern and northern Gaza. Six of the impeded missions were not accomplished, including two road repair missions and two missions to collect supplies from Kerem Shalom crossing. The remaining nine missions were partially accomplished. Overall, 33 out of 81 movements were planned to collect fuel and other supplies from Gaza’s crossings, 21 were staff movements and rotations, and 27 aimed to support other ongoing humanitarian operations.
• On 10 August, PCD stated that most of the coordination requests it submitted through humanitarian agencies since 18 March 2025 have been denied, with only 10 per cent of 300 submitted requests facilitated by Israeli authorities. PCD said that over 2,500 people who were initially injured and to whom PCD was denied access lost their lives. PCD called on the international community to put pressure on Israeli authorities to positively respond to coordination requests related to PCD’s lifesaving work.

The Hunger and Malnutrition Crisis

• Starvation in Gaza is at the worst level since October 2023 and the amount of aid entering the Strip is insufficient to meet the scale of needs. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), one of only eight organizations able to dispatch humanitarian aid to Gaza through the UN-coordinated manifest, aid convoys are limited each day and routes inside Gaza remain risky. Additionally, desperate crowds often offload food supplies from trucks to feed their families – while looting also prevents aid from reaching its intended destinations. In July 2025, WFP collected 1,012 trucks carrying nearly 13,000 metric tons (MT) of food supplies from Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings, but only 10 trucks reached warehouses and the rest were offloaded en route. As of 4 August, WFP has about 167,000 MT of food destined for Gaza currently stored, under procurement, or in transit in the region. Overall, the Food Security Sector (FSS) reports that WFP and other partners have enough food in or en route to the region to feed the entire population of 2.1 million people for at least three months, but the risk of spoilage and infestation of the stranded food supplies has significantly increased, and some of them are nearing their expiry dates. To push back escalating starvation, FSS calls for the immediate resumption of large-scale humanitarian assistance with guaranteed safe, unimpeded and sustained access, complemented by scaling up the entry of nutritious food through the commercial sector.
• According to FSS, while more food is entering Gaza, the quantity and quality remains insufficient to reach the minimum daily caloric and nutritional needs of the population. As of 10 August, 324,000 individual meals are being prepared daily at 81 community kitchens supported by 16 FSS partners. This includes about 99,000 meals delivered in the north and around 225,000 meals delivered in the south and central Gaza. This reflects a noticeable increase compared with the 259,000 daily meals prepared two weeks ago but remains far below the over one million daily meals that partners were able to distribute in April. People continue to suffer from extremely imbalanced diets that lack essential nutrients, increasing the risk of acute malnutrition, with an especially severe impact on pregnant and breastfeeding women and newborns who are more likely to be born with health complications.
• Prior to October 2023, Gaza was largely self-sufficient in nutritious food, including eggs, fresh milk, fish, poultry, olive oil and red meat – a context that has drastically changed in the past 22 months. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), about 96 per cent (approximately 15,000) of Gaza's cattle, 61 per cent of goats, 64 per cent of sheep, and 98 per cent of layers and broilers have died and nearly all calves were slaughtered. Likewise, agricultural land sustained severe damage, with 86 per cent of permanent crop fields damaged and only 1.5 per cent of Gaza’s cropland currently accessible and not damaged as of July 2025. According to the World Bank’s Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA), issued in February 2025, economic losses in the agricultural sector are estimated at US$1.3 billion, and US$1.06 billion is required to address agricultural and food systems needs in the immediate and short terms (up to three years), with a focus on stabilizing infrastructure and basic needs to achieve 70 per cent functionality of critical assets in the first year and increase local food production by 40 per cent.
• Within this context of collapsed food systems, the large-scale entry of commercial food into Gaza is critical to improve dietary diversity and ensure the population has access to a wide range of nutritious food, such as fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, and dairy products, FSS emphasizes. Following the Israeli authorities’ approval on 5 August of a mechanism for the gradual and controlled entry of commercial goods into Gaza, different types of food have started to trickle into the markets. While humanitarian partners have observed some level of price decrease in some items, the prices keep fluctuating based on speculations rather than actual availability. For example, the price of sugar, which reached NIS 600 ($177) per kilogram at one point during the past three weeks, has dropped to NIS 30-40 ($9-12) per kilogram on 10 August. On the other hand, energy prices have skyrocketed, with cooking gas disappearing from the market already five months ago and firewood becoming further unaffordable. More people have been forced to use waste and scrap wood as alternative cooking sources, which hinders proper food preparation and intake, exacerbates health and protection risks, and causes environmental hazards.
• The nutritional status of children in Gaza continues to deteriorate. According to the Nutrition Cluster, almost 13,000 new admissions of children for acute malnutrition treatment were recorded in July. Moreover, the severity of cases continues to grow; in July, over 2,800 cases were found to be suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) out of approximately 13,000 acute malnutrition cases (22 per cent). There are currently 106 outpatient sites providing treatment of malnutrition in the Gaza Strip. The most severe cases of children suffering from SAM with complications, who need to be hospitalized and treated in stabilization centres, have also increased, with 129 cases in July alone compared with 215 cases between January and June. Despite the growing caseload, there are only five SAM stabilization centres across the Gaza Strip, including two in Gaza city, one in Deir al Balah, and two in Khan Younis, with a combined bed capacity of 43 that is insufficient to cope with the high number of cases.
• According to MoH in Gaza, as of 13 August, 235 malnutrition-related deaths, including 106 children, were documented since October 2023. This includes 170 deaths since 1 July 2025, of whom 45 were children, and eight people who died in the past 24 hours.
• On 10 August, Save the Children stated that the reported death of 100 children due to starvation in Gaza since October 2023 is a “devastating milestone that shames the world and demands long overdue urgent action,” and highlighted the devastating, long-term health repercussions of acute malnutrition on children. Save the Children’s Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, Ahmad Alhendawi, said that “these figures are just the tip of the iceberg,” adding that malnutrition among children “can lead to lifelong health issues like stunting, weakened immune systems and organ failure. The effects of malnutrition can span generations, with its impacts on children making learning and development harder, creating a cycle of poverty for the entire population.” He emphasized that “nearly two years of war and a chokehold on lifesaving aid have condemned children to mass deaths, suffering, and shattered futures – all of which are entirely preventable.”

Challenges Facing the Health System

• Since 25 June 2025, when medical supplies were allowed into Gaza following over three and a half months of suspension, WHO has brought into Gaza 80 trucks with medical supplies. Yet, entry processes remain difficult and ever changing, reported Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the OPT, who called for the opening of multiple crossings to allow the delivery of humanitarian supplies and for access to deliver all the essential medicines needed in Gaza. He explained: “Staff members’ inspection activities at [crossing] points had been delayed by restrictions. Many items, such as assistive devices, intensive care unit beds, freezers, cold chain medicines, anaesthesia machines, had been denied entry. Some 282 pallets of supplies had entered via Ben Gurion Airport, but the clearance process was far too slow.” Among the supplies that were brought into Gaza, WHO delivered 6,000 blood units to Al Shifa and Nasser hospitals. These amounts, however, are only a fraction of what is needed to meet the scale of needs, underlined WHO’s Director General. Health facilities continue to struggle to provide the required treatment to patients while facing ongoing mass casualty incidents and growing numbers of patients suffering from infectious diseases. Shortages of fuel needed to operate generators are also one of the key challenges facing about 230 health points that remain partially functional across the Gaza Strip – including 18 hospitals, 10 field hospitals, 66 primary health-care clinics, 112 medical points or mobile clinics and 25 ambulance centres – in addition to the lack of spare parts and engine oils needed to repair and maintain the generators. WHO said it is seeking to stock up hospitals and build its own reserves in the context of a potential military operation in Gaza city but has not been able to do so sufficiently.
• UNRWA plays a critical role in providing primary health-care services in Gaza, serving over 100,000 registered patients suffering from non-communicable diseases (NCD), providing antenatal, post-natal and family planning care, physiotherapy rehabilitation services, and administering routine vaccinations. However, for over five months since 2 March, these services have been severely disrupted due to UNRWA’s inability to bring in lifesaving medicines and medical supplies, critical shortages of fuel, and obstacles to safe movements. This has left health facilities currently managed by UNRWA across the Gaza Strip – including four primary health-care centres, two temporary clinics and many medical points (21 as of 10 August) – with dwindling stocks to provide the needed care and treatment for tens of thousands of patients. At present, 59 per cent of essential medicines (56 out of 95 items) are out of stock at these health facilities, including antihypertensive drugs, oral antibiotics for adults, antiparasitic products, and iron supplements for children, while 12 per cent (11 items) are only available to cover one month of needs. Moreover, over the past week, limited fuel supplies have forced some UNRWA health centres to operate one shift instead of two.
• Shortages of medicines, fuel and basic infection control materials are having devastating consequences for patient care; according to UNRWA, NCD patients, including those with diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, are increasingly unable to access their prescribed treatment due to depleted stocks, which will have serious repercussions on their health. At the same time, the lack of antibiotics, antiparasitic and antifungal medications is hampering treatment of infectious diseases, which are on the rise due to overcrowding, poor sanitation conditions, and limited access to clean water. UNRWA reports that on average, 10,300 cases of patients suffering from infectious diseases are received at its health centres and medical points per week, with acute respiratory infections and watery diarrhoea being the most reported diseases across all areas and a growing number of cases of acute bloody diarrhoea being observed, particularly in Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis. UNRWA warns that without adequate medical supplies, primary health-care response is undermined, leaving thousands of chronic disease patients and those suffering from communicable illnesses without life-saving support and heightening the risk of a large-scale public health crisis.
• Widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease are having particularly catastrophic consequences for pregnant and breastfeeding women and newborns, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). New mothers are often too malnourished to breastfeed, and both safe water and milk formula are scarce. Over 100 frontline midwives are working to reach women in health facilities in overcrowded shelters that lack electricity and water, often travelling long distances on foot. Amid insecurity and movement restrictions, since 1 July, midwives deployed by MoH and 10 national and international partners, with support from UNFPA, have assisted in the delivery of approximately 3,500 babies across 13 comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care facilities that are still partially functioning in Gaza. Emergency deliveries outside hospitals have also been reported, taking place at home, in unequipped health centres, or during transport to hospitals. These situations highlight severe access barriers caused by insecurity and fuel shortages.
• The ability of partners to provide essential maternal and neonatal care is further constrained by shortages of supplies, services, food and water, affecting both patients and sexual and reproductive health providers, UNFPA reports. Exhaustion among health workers has forced maternity service providers to shorten shifts, reducing the availability of lifesaving care. Since July 2025, UNFPA has only been able to deliver six types of Reproductive Health Kits prepositioned during the ceasefire to partners across Gaza, serving about 5,400 people. Since 2 March, UNFPA has not been able to deliver any other supplies to the Gaza Strip, while more than 170 truckloads of lifesaving items remain in Al Arish, in Egypt, and the West Bank. These include reproductive health kits, midwifery kits, postpartum kits, maternal health medicines and consumables, medical equipment, family planning commodities, hygiene kits, and shelter materials sufficient to serve an estimated 470,000 women and girls over the next three months.

Funding

• As of 13 August 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately $914 million out of the $4 billion (22 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025, under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the OPT. Nearly 88 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 12 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during July 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund managed 111 ongoing projects, totalling $65.2 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (87 per cent) and the West Bank (13 per cent). Of these projects, 54 are being implemented by INGOs, 43 by national NGOs and 14 by UN agencies. Notably, 39 out of the 68 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt HF webpage.

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