More than ten months into the Gaza war, civilians are crammed into an ever-shrinking space without adequate access to water, food, sanitation or health care. They are repeatedly uprooted by evacuation orders, which also disrupt the aid centers that are supposed to assist them. More than 88 percent of Gaza has been placed under evacuation orders or declared a "no-go zone" by Israeli security forces, confining up to 1.9 million internally displaced people (IDPs) to about 11 percent of the tiny territory.
According to the UN, some 1.9 million people - or 90 percent of the population - are internally displaced throughout the Gaza Strip, including people who have been repeatedly displaced - some as many as 10 or 20 times in recent months.
In its latest situation report, released on Monday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that as of Sunday, up to 88.5 percent of the Gaza Strip had been placed under evacuation orders or declared a "no-go zone" by Israeli forces.
OCHA reports that Gaza's population is increasingly being forced to concentrate in an area in Al Mawasi that covers only about 41 square kilometers, or about 11 percent of Gaza's total territory. Most of Gaza's population is now crammed into this small, overcrowded, polluted area, which is unsafe, just like the rest of Gaza.
The area lacks critical infrastructure and basic services, while the delivery of relief is limited due to security concerns and restricted humanitarian access. Approximately 30,000 to 34,000 people per square kilometer are squeezed into the area, exacerbating severe shortages of basic services such as water, sanitation and hygiene, health care, protection and shelter, OCHA reports.
New Israeli evacuation orders are announced almost daily, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis affecting hundreds of thousands of people. According to OCHA, the Israeli military has issued a total of 16 evacuation orders so far in August, affecting about 12 percent of Gaza's population, or more than 250,000 people.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement Monday that Israeli evacuation orders are also disrupting food distributions and community kitchens supported by the humanitarian agency. WFP said its operations are severely hampered by the intensifying conflict, the limited number of border crossings and damaged roads.
Over the past two months, amid continuing catastrophic hunger, WFP has had to reduce the contents of food parcels in Gaza as aid inflows have decreased and supplies have dwindled. With two, and sometimes three, border crossings open, only about half of the food aid needed entered Gaza in July.
"August is set to end with a similar result," WFP said.
The entire population of the Gaza Strip is experiencing acute hunger and is at risk of famine. The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report for Gaza shows that 96 percent of the population faces acute food insecurity at crisis level or worse, with nearly half a million people in catastrophic conditions.
The World Food Programme also warns of the condition of the war-ravaged roads it uses to deliver food aid in Gaza. The shell craters and debris make driving slow and difficult for truck drivers, even in dry weather. In two months, when rain and flooding are expected, most roads will be unusable.
"Alongside the desperate needs of today, we must think about what’s coming. We won’t be able to bring food to the people of Gaza unless urgent repairs are done on these roads. We must be able to bring in the heavy machinery that is needed and work with communities so we have the labor to fix the roads before the rain comes," said Antoine Renard, WFP Country Director for Palestine.
Most Gazans now live in tents or makeshift shelters, often in flood-prone areas. Under evacuation orders, they are also trying to find safety in increasingly cramped spaces where basic services have collapsed and conditions make disease outbreaks likely.
“Transporting food, water, medicine and hygiene equipment is critical for the survival of communities in Gaza today and will be needed for months to come. Roads are part of this lifeline. We must have the necessary security guarantees so that our staff and service providers are safe when carrying out these road repairs,” Renard said.
In addition to the damaged roads, aid workers face slow Israeli permits and frequent denials of their requests to move on a daily basis. Looting and public order problems are also common, especially when convoys have to wait for hours at holding points.
Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment from the air, land and sea continues to be reported throughout much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian deaths, injuries, maiming, displacement and destruction of civilian infrastructure.
According to Gaza officials, more than 40,400 people have been killed and more than 93,500 wounded in Israeli attacks on the enclave since the war broke out in October 2023. Among the confirmed dead are at least 289 aid workers, 211 UN staff, 885 health workers and 170 journalists.
But with thousands of bodies still unaccounted for, the actual death toll is likely to be much higher. More than 10,000 others are feared buried under the rubble in Gaza and are presumed dead.
While Israel's war in Gaza has claimed an estimated 50,000 lives, there is mounting evidence that Israeli government and military officials are responsible for widespread war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the enclave.
For more than ten months, an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe has been unfolding in Gaza, with people dying from widespread violence, disease and starvation. Leading UN officials have called the situation in Gaza "apocalyptic," "hell on earth," "beyond catastrophic," and said that the humanitarian community is "running out of words to describe what is happening in Gaza".
Gaza's first case of polio in 25 years was confirmed last week. The 10-month-old unvaccinated child who contracted the virus has reportedly developed paralysis of the lower left leg. Polio is highly contagious and spreads through contaminated water or sewage.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), for every 200 children infected, one suffers irreversible paralysis. Of those paralyzed, 5 to 10 percent die when their respiratory muscles are immobilized.
Aid agencies warn that at least 50,000 children born in the past ten months of war are unlikely to have received any vaccinations, including polio, because the health system has collapsed.