Families across the Gaza Strip began concluding the holy month of Ramadan on Friday amid deepening humanitarian needs, heightened exposure to violence and displacement, and dire conditions for survival. UN human rights officials have warned of ongoing unlawful killings, amid ongoing reports of Israeli strikes and shelling in residential areas. Casualties continue to be reported, including among women and children.
An estimated 2.1 million people, including 1.1 million children, remain in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, yet access to Gaza remains heavily restricted. Currently, Kerem Shalom is the only operational crossing point for humanitarian and commercial supplies, creating a major bottleneck. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities announced the resumption of limited medical evacuations and returns through the Rafah crossing on Thursday.
For more than 29 months, Gaza has been ravaged by an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. Humanitarian organizations and human rights groups underscore that Israel is failing to provide the relief required by international law and is still preventing essential supplies from reaching Gaza’s civilian population on the scale necessary.
As of Friday, Kerem Shalom remains the only operational entry point into Gaza, while the Zikim crossing in the north continues to be closed. The United Nations is calling for additional crossings to open urgently to allow the flow of humanitarian aid and commercial goods into Gaza.
After being suspended for 20 days, the Rafah crossing reopened on Thursday, allowing limited movement of people in both directions. This allows for the resumption of medical evacuations and the return of displaced individuals, both of which had been paused following the recent regional escalation that began with Israeli and US attacks on Iran on February 28.
The medical situation remains critical. More than 18,500 patients, including 4,000 children, are waiting for urgent treatment and require evacuation abroad. Since February 28, no patients have been able to leave Gaza for medical care.
Though severely constrained, humanitarian operations continue across Gaza. Aid agencies are delivering critical assistance, albeit with dwindling supplies due to heightened restrictions stemming from the recent escalation in the Middle East.
Since Kerem Shalom reopened on March 3, humanitarian organizations have been able to bring in limited supplies, including the fuel necessary to sustain life-saving operations. While this has enabled aid agencies to continue operating, warehouse stocks are steadily declining due to the imbalance between incoming aid and ongoing distribution.
An estimated 900,000 people need emergency shelter items, but humanitarian organizations report that stocks of tents, bedding, and other essential supplies are depleting rapidly.
As displacement remains widespread, most of Gaza’s population continues to live in precarious conditions with limited protection and inadequate access to basic necessities. At the same time, civilians face daily threats of airstrikes, shelling, and gunfire in residential areas.
According to health officials, dozens of Palestinians have been killed in the past ten days, with at least 95 casualties reported during that period. Since the ceasefire began in October 2025, more than 670 Palestinians have reportedly been killed, and over 1,600 have been wounded.
Since October 2023, the human toll has been staggering. More than 240,000 Palestinians, primarily civilians, have been killed, injured, or maimed in Israeli military operations. The recorded death toll exceeds 72,250, including over 21,280 children, and the total number of injuries surpasses 171,900.
The true number of casualties is believed to be considerably higher. Among those killed are at least 589 aid workers, 397 UN staff members, 1,700 health care workers, and 259 journalists. Additionally, an estimated 58,000 children in Gaza have lost one or both parents.
According to UN commissions, international and Israeli human rights organizations, human rights experts, and leading genocide scholars, Israel's actions in Gaza—including obstructing humanitarian aid—not only meet the legal definitions of war crimes and crimes against humanity but also amount to genocide against Gaza's population.
Although the limited ceasefire has reduced active Israeli attacks, impunity for the crimes committed by military personnel and government officials persists, and the ongoing humanitarian and legal consequences are profound. Governments around the world, particularly those providing military aid and political support to the Israeli government, have been implicated in these crimes.
Some of the most egregious crimes include using starvation as a method of warfare, denying humanitarian aid, and collectively punishing civilians. They also include indiscriminate attacks targeting civilians, aid workers, and journalists; deliberate attacks on civilian objects and undefended buildings; forced displacement; torture; and enforced disappearances.