The preliminary assessment of the social and economic impacts of the conflict examines Gross Domestic Product (GDP) loss, recovery timelines and the enduring effects on poverty and household expenditure. It is estimated the annual GDP of Gaza declined by $655 million last year, equivalent to 24 per cent. “If Gaza is to remerge with a…
Despite the “horrifying” allegations that 12 UNWRA staff were involved in the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel on 7 October, “we must not prevent an entire organization from delivering on its mandate to serve people in desperate need”, said the UN-led group of aid agencies, known collectively as the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC). Regional collapse “Withdrawing…
Apart from a political decision, which would have to be made by the General Assembly, “there is no way any organization can replace or substitute the tremendous capacity and the fabric of UNRWA and its ability and knowledge,” Sigrid Kaag, Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, told correspondents at a stakeout outside the Security…
“While we’re addressing these concerns very actively, the humanitarian work needs to go on,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters at the Noon Briefing at Headquarters in New York on Tuesday. “Civilians in Gaza who are suffering, need the continued support of everyone,” he said. “The critical humanitarian work the UN does not only in Gaza,…
“There is simply not enough food,” UNRWA tweeted on social platform X, formerly Twitter, with photographs from another city slightly further north, Deir-al-Balah, showing people queuing “in the rain and cold” for relief supplies. In its latest situation update, UN aid coordination office OCHA reported heavy fighting in Khan Younis close to two hospitals: Nasser –…
Tents for displaced people in southern Gaza When war began on 7 October, life changed dramatically overnight for mother-of-four Hala, as it did for the more than two million Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip. She kept a diary of her experiences and shared it with the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA). It recounts her…
The OHCHR warning came nearly four months into the war which has seen widespread Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, in response to Hamas-led attacks on Israeli communities beginning 7 October in which some 1,200 people were massacred and more than 250 taken hostage. “Attacks on hospitals, schools, and other places of refuge have repeatedly…
Reading out the order at the Peace Palace in The Hague – in response to allegations of genocide against Israel by South Africa, which Israel denies – ICJ President Joan Donoghue also called for the release of all remaining hostages taken from Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on Israeli communities in which some 1,200 people…
The death toll from intensified fighting “in the area” of the training centre in the southern city of Khan Younis in recent days has risen to 12 confirmed fatalities and 75 injured – 15 critically – said Thomas White, Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory. “Persistent attacks on civilian sites in Khan Younis…
Teams from the agency and the World Health Organization (WHO) were trying to reach the Khan Younis Training Centre, said Tom White, Director of UNRWA Affairs in the Gaza Strip, in post on the social media platform X. Some 30,000 people are sheltering at the site and the death toll could be higher, said Philippe…
