More than 1.9 million people displaced throughout the Gaza Strip - 90 percent of the population - continue to face harrowing conditions, according to the United Nations, as Israeli evacuation orders continue and Israeli air, land and naval bombardment is reported throughout much of the Gaza Strip, causing further civilian deaths, displacement and destruction of homes and other civilian infrastructure.
For more than nine months, an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe has been unfolding in Gaza, with people dying from widespread violence and starvation, and the threat of famine looming. 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."
According to the latest data from Gaza's health authorities, more than 38,300 people have been killed in the enclave and more than 88,200 wounded in Israeli attacks since the war erupted on October 7. Among the dead are at least 278 aid workers, 201 UN staff, 500 health workers and 158 journalists.
“Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse in Gaza - somehow, appallingly, civilians are being pushed into ever deeper circles of hell. Recent days have brought yet more evacuation orders by Israeli authorities, yet more civilian suffering, and yet more bloodshed,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, speaking at UN Headquarters in New York on Friday.
On Monday, Israeli Security Forces (ISF) issued new evacuation orders for four neighborhoods in Gaza City. On Wednesday, the ISF issued a new evacuation order for "all citizens in Gaza City," urging residents to move to Al-Mawasi in Deir al-Balah.
But the people there are by no means safe. On Saturday morning, more than 70 Palestinians were reportedly killed and 289 injured in Israeli military airstrikes in the designated "safe zone" of Al-Mawasi.
“Palestinians in Gaza keep being forced to move like human pinballs across a landscape of destruction and death,” the UN Secretary-General said Friday.
Guterres said the extreme level of fighting and devastation was incomprehensible and inexcusable – and the level of chaos was affecting every Palestinian in Gaza and all those desperately trying to get aid to them.
“Nowhere is safe. Everywhere is a potential killing zone.”
According to UN estimates, 1.9 million people are now internally displaced in the war-ravaged enclave, including people who have been forced to flee up to 9 or 10 times.
The United Nations estimates the current population of the Gaza Strip at about 2.1 million, down from a projection of 2.3 million in 2024. While more than 38,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, some 110,000 Palestinians have reportedly crossed into Egypt to leave Gaza.
The entire population of the Gaza Strip is affected by acute hunger and is at risk of famine. The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report for Gaza, released on June 25, shows that 96 percent of the population faces acute food insecurity at crisis levels or worse, with nearly half a million people in catastrophic conditions.
According to the analysis, 2.15 million experience high levels of acute food insecurity with 745,000 people (33 percent) classified in emergency levels (IPC Phase 4) and over 495,000 people (22 percent) facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 5).
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has appealed for US$1.21 billion to address the unprecedented humanitarian emergency in the Gaza Strip and to respond to the growing needs in the West Bank as violence there intensifies.
On Friday, UN Secretary-General Guterres spoke at the UNRWA pledging conference. He stressed that there is no alternative to UNRWA, which is the backbone of humanitarian operations in Gaza.
Guterres noted that 195 UNRWA staff members have been killed, and that this is the highest staff death toll in UN history.
“Many of them were killed together with their families and loved ones,” he said.
However, the total number of UNRWA staff killed has since risen to 197.
Guterres noted that UNRWA is also being targeted in other ways.
“Staff have been the subject of increasingly violent protests and virulent misinformation and disinformation campaigns. Some have been detained by Israeli security forces, and subsequently reported mistreatment and even torture,” he said.
“Yet, despite these and other obstacles, in impossible conditions, and in the midst of their own grief, the women and men of UNRWA have bravely continued their work in whatever way they can. They are the backbone of humanitarian operations in Gaza,” the UN chief said.
"And now is the time to bring an end to this terrible war, starting with an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and an immediate and unconditional release of all hostages," he emphasized.
“Ultimately, only a political solution can bring an end to this conflict – one that realizes a vision of two States – Israel and Palestine – living side by side in peace and security, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states.”
For his part, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warned that the Agency's ability to operate beyond August depends on the disbursement of planned funds and new contributions to the core budget by UN Member States.
For the Occupied Palestinian Territory Emergency Appeal - driven primarily by the war in Gaza - UNRWA is seeking US$1.2 billion to meet critical humanitarian needs through the end of the year.
This appeal and the emergency appeals for Syria, Lebanon and Jordan are less than 20 percent funded. The UNRWA appeal is part of an overall United Nations appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
As of Friday, Member States have disbursed approximately US$1.19 billion of the US$3.42 billion (35 percent) required for the overall UN appeal to address the most urgent needs of 2.1 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024.
On Friday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it had participated in a mission to three sites in Gaza City to assess the needs of people displaced by Israel's latest evacuation orders.
The mission team said those displaced were in urgent need of food, water, health care and protection. They also witnessed how the lack of fuel is undermining the efforts of aid agencies to provide essential services to displaced families.
Gaza has been without electricity since October, leaving hospitals, bakeries, and water and sanitation facilities running on generators that require fuel to be shipped in.
OCHA reports that active hostilities, damaged roads, access restrictions and a lack of public order and security continue to prevent aid agencies from receiving adequate fuel supplies. Movement along the main route for humanitarian goods between the Kerem Shalom crossing and central Gaza remains extremely difficult.
As a result, only 25 percent of the daily fuel needed to sustain humanitarian operations has entered Gaza so far in July, leading to a nearly 40 percent drop in public water supplies.
According to OCHA, intensified hostilities, access restrictions, fuel shortages and the breakdown of law and order continue to create a highly volatile and risky operating environment for aid workers, further disrupting the delivery of life-saving assistance throughout the Gaza Strip and on some occasions forcing aid agencies to cancel planned activities.