UN Warns of Rising Deaths, Hunger and Crisis in Gaza

A young man sits on the rubble of a home in Gaza.

The continued onslaught and mass deprivation of people in the Gaza Strip are becoming normalised, the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) warned on Friday.

“Every day brings more preventable deaths, displacement, and desperation,” the agency said in a humanitarian update.

On Friday, Israeli authorities issued another displacement order, this time for parts of North Gaza.

OCHA said it continues to receive deeply troubling reports of malnourished children and adults being admitted to hospitals, with insufficient resources available to treat them.

The energy crisis in Gaza is also worsening, despite the resumption of limited fuel imports, as the quantities entering—while critical for continuity—“remain at lower levels than what we were previously able to extract from dwindling internal reserves, which have now been fully depleted.”

The situation has forced solid waste collection to be paused in recent days, and additional wells have had to shut down, particularly in Deir Al-Balah.

“While specific health services, including dialysis, have reduced or shut down, others could continue for a few more days before they too will have to go dark,” OCHA warned.

“With every day that passes, people have less clean water and healthcare, and more sewage flooding ground floors.”

Since the limited entry of fuel supplies resumed on 9 July, the UN has managed to send just over 600,000 litres of diesel to Kerem Shalom. On Thursday, it was able to send 35,000 litres of much-needed benzene for the first time.

OCHA said these volumes are limited because Israel has allowed only 14 trucks over the past week.

The agency stressed that, to maintain lifesaving operations, hundreds of thousands of litres of fuel are needed every day. The limited fuel currently entering is primarily allocated to health, water, and communications services, as well as to power vehicles.

Humanitarian movements inside Gaza also continue to be restricted.

On Thursday, seven out of 13 attempts to coordinate the movement of aid workers and supplies with Israeli authorities were facilitated.

Teams were able to retrieve some fuel, collect some water, relocate generators, provide hygiene and sanitation supplies, and deliver much-needed medical supplies.

The six remaining attempts were either outright denied or initially approved but then faced obstacles on the ground.

Meanwhile, the head of the UN Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA) on Friday called for the ban on international media entering Gaza to be lifted.

“650 days of atrocities against civilians with no international media allowed in,” Philippe Lazzarini wrote in a social media post, adding that over 200 Palestinian journalists have been killed during this time.

“The media ban fuels disinformation campaigns questioning first-hand data and accounts from eyewitnesses and international humanitarian organisations,” he said.