UN: 85% of humanitarian aid requests to Northern Gaza blocked or delayed by Israel

Strikes by the Israeli Forces continue, with aerial, land and maritime bombardments across the Gaza Strip, resulting in civilian casualties and the destruction of residential buildings and public infrastructure.

In Northern Gaza, since 6 October 2024, the Israeli Forces have been carrying out a ground offensive and continue to impose a tight siege. Intense military operations are ongoing amid a near total lack of humanitarian aid entering the area in addition to severe communications and internet disruptions. As of 18 November, the UN and its partners estimated that between 100,000 and 131,000 people had been displaced since 6 October 2024 from North Gaza governorate to Gaza City. The influx has raised the population in the Gaza City governorate from around 250,000 estimated to have been present as of the end of September 2024 to approximately 375,000 people. Between 65,000 and 75,000 people are estimated to remain in North Gaza governorate, accounting for less than 20 per cent of the population there before the intensification of military operations and the siege.

On 13 November, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini addressed the United Nations General Assembly Fourth Committee, highlighting that “unique among United Nations agencies, UNRWA is mandated to directly provide public-like services, including education for more than half a million children and primary healthcare. The Agency provides human development services for Palestine Refugees in the absence of a Palestinian state.”

UNICEF reported that 64 attacks against schools have been recorded last October (2024). Between 6 October 2024 and 17 November 2024, Israeli military operations have impacted six UNRWA installations in Gaza City and 17 in North Gaza.

On 16 November, a joint 109-truck UN convoy carrying food supplies to people in Gaza was subjected to organised crime. The vast majority of the trucks, 97 in total, were stolen and drivers were forced at gunpoint to unload the humanitarian aid on the convoy. The UN Secretary-General Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric stated that, as this incident underscores, the UN continues to face severe access challenges in bringing aid into southern and central Gaza: “whether it’s Kissufim, Kerem Shalom, and surrounding routes have proved unworkable due to continuing security issues. They are entirely insufficient to ensure the sustained flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”

OCHA reported that many community kitchens have already closed, none are operational in North Gaza governorate, only 18 in the Gaza governorate, and approximately 120 remain open throughout the central and southern areas of the Gaza Strip. Of these, 100 are producing about 330,000 meals per day but face the constant threat of shutdown amid persistent and increasing shortages of supplies.

Food security conditions are alarmingly deteriorating also in the central and southern governorates of the Gaza Strip. As of mid-November, only some 270,000 people - 16 per cent of the estimated 1.7 million people in Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah - had received their reduced monthly food rations. Dire shortages of wheat flour have forced the closure of four bakeries in Deir al-Balah in the space of one week, with only three bakeries in the governorate and one in Khan Younis remaining operational as of 18 November. Many community-led baking initiatives have also been forced to suspend their activities since early October. The four still functional bakeries are operating at full capacity, but risk shutting down if no additional flour is received soon.

According to the WASH Cluster, since the intensification of the Israeli Forces operations in North Gaza on 6 October 2024, all requests submitted by aid partners for the delivery of supplies and fuel to operate WASH facilities have been denied, heightening the risks of dehydration and disease outbreaks while about half of Gaza City wells have not operated.

According to OCHA, as of 19 November, around 79 per cent of the Gaza Strip is under active Israeli-issued evacuation orders.

According to the UN, at least 1.9 million people – or about 90 per cent of the population – across the Gaza Strip are internally displaced. Many have been displaced repeatedly, some 10 times or more.

As of 17 November 2024, over 100 UNRWA school buildings in the Gaza Strip are being used to shelter over 415,000 displaced people*.

Between 7 October 2023 and 19 November 2024, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza as reported by OCHA, at least 43,972 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Gaza and 104,008 have been reported injured.

OCHA reports that, on 20 October, the MoH published the breakdown of 40,717 out of 42,010 fatalities as of 7 October 2024. These reportedly include 13,319 children, 7,216 women, 3,447 elderly, and 16,735 men. Among the child fatalities, 786 children are under one year of age, representing about six per cent of killed children whose full identification details have been documented, MoH further reported. Additionally, as of 7 October 2024, MoH noted that 35,055 children had lost one or both parents over the past year.

As of 18 November, the total number of UNRWA team members killed since 7 October 2023 is 247.

Several challenges continue to stand in the way of collecting much needed humanitarian supplies from the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing point in southern Gaza. These include deteriorating law and order, war and insecurity, damaged infrastructure, fuel shortages and access restrictions.

According to OCHA, between 1 and 16 November, 1,140 humanitarian trucks were permitted to enter the Gaza Strip. This represents a daily average of only 71 humanitarian trucks, well below the pre-crisis average of 500 trucks per working day. OCHA reported that, of the 319 humanitarian movements coordinated with Israeli Authorities across Gaza from 1 to 18 November 2024, 105 were denied access, 51 impeded, 31 cancelled due to logistical and security challenges and only 132 facilitated.

This includes 120 coordinated aid movements intended to provide humanitarian assistance in governorates north of Wadi Gaza, of which 65 needed to pass through the Israeli military-controlled Al Rashid or Salah Ad Din checkpoints. Out of the 65 movements to northern Gaza requiring the use of checkpoints, 22 were denied, 21 were impeded, six had to be cancelled, and 16 were facilitated.

Between 1 and 18 November, 85 per cent of 41 coordination requests for humanitarian missions in North Gaza governorate were either denied (17) or impeded (18), while seven per cent (3) were facilitated. Thirty-one of these 41 requests were made for the besieged areas of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahya, with all but four attempts being denied during this period. These four attempts were severely impeded and could only accomplish limited objectives.

Coordinated aid missions to areas in the southern, western, and central Rafah governorate, which has been under an ongoing Israeli military operation since early May, have faced similar challenges, with 26 of the 63 coordinated missions (41 per cent) either denied or impeded between 1 and 18 November.

The latest information on supplies entering Gaza can be accessed through the link below: