Palestine Situation Report | August 2024

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Across Palestine, 3.3 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance (including 1,554,700 children).

Since early August, the Israeli military has issued 12 evacuation orders displacing an estimated 250,000 people in Khan Younis, Deir Al Balah, and northern Gaza. Following the escalation of Israeli operations, 314 square kilometers of the Gaza Strip (86%) have been placed under forced displacement orders. The population is increasingly concentrated in the shrinking Israeli-designated coastal zone in Mawasi that now constitutes just 11% of Gaza. Of the 1.9 million displaced people, 1.7 million are concentrated in a 48 square kilometers area, at a population density of 35,416 people per square kilometer.

The closure of the Rafah crossing, security issues around Kerem Shalom crossing, and law and order disruptions have caused a 56% decrease in humanitarian aid cargo compared to April 2024.

As of August 19, the hostilities in Gaza have resulted in the officially-recorded deaths of 40,139 Palestinians, leaving 92,743 others injured. The Ministry of Health reported that 663 children under the age of one have died, accounting for approximately 6% of the documented child fatalities.

WHO is now warning of a high risk of poliovirus type 2 spreading across Gaza and potentially beyond due to dire water, hygiene, and sanitation conditions and limited functionality of health facilities. Only 45% of primary healthcare centers are currently operational, impacting the ability to provide essential immunization and maternal and child health services that were critical before the war.

As most of the world’s children prepare to return to school, education remains suspended by the war in Gaza. Fully 524 schools (93% of all schools) in Gaza have sustained damage.

In the West Bank, since October 7 Israeli forces have killed 594 and injured more than 5,600 individuals. The number of Palestinian children killed by live ammunition fired by Israeli forces in the West Bank (115) has nearly tripled. And the number of Palestinian children injured by live ammunition has more than doubled during the same period, rising to 1,411.