Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza Only Getting Worse as Israel's War Goes On

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Ekaterina Blinova

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October 7, 2024 marked a year since Hamas’ attack that claimed the lives of over 1,200 people in Israel and left nearly 5,500 injured. The Gaza war unleashed by Israel on the strip has seen over 41,600 Palestinians killed, including elderly, women, and children, and more than 96,600 wounded, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

How is the war in Gaza affecting civilians?

As of October 7, 2024, over 50,000 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, have been displaced within northern Gaza following the intensification of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strikes in the region, including in Beit Lahia and Jabalia, where a refugee camp is located. Earlier, on October 6, Israel announced re-positioning troops from Rafah to North Gaza.

«Southern Gaza is completely overwhelmed and cannot accommodate more people,» UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. «Many others in the north, especially in the Jabalia camp, are trapped in their homes, unable to leave safely.»

Over 70,000 housing units in Gaza have been destroyed by Israeli strikes, Palestine’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing stated.

1.9 million Gazans – nearly the entire population of the region – have been displaced with no safe place to go, according to UN.

The population of the strip has limited or no access to health care, food, electricity, or humanitarian aid, local authorities stated, while noting that Palestinian children in Gaza have been deprived of education for a year.

Gaza schools, hospitals, and other residential facilities have been systematically attacked, while aid convoys have repeatedly been blocked and even attacked.

Over 300 aid workers, mostly from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), have been killed in Gaza, which is more than in any other single crisis, according to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.