Humanitarian Situation Update #315 | Gaza Strip

The Humanitarian Situation Updates on the Gaza Strip and on the West Bank are both Issued every Wednesday/Thursday. The Gaza Humanitarian Response Update is issued every other Tuesday. The next Humanitarian Situation Update on the Gaza Strip will be published on 27 or 28 August.

Key Highlights

• Hunger-related deaths, casualties among people seeking food, and casualties in strikes on schools, tents and residential buildings continue to be reported.
• The UN and NGOs will maintain presence in Gaza city, warning that the Israeli authorities’ plan to intensify military operations there will have a horrific humanitarian impact.
• Major international NGOs face imminent de-registration by the Israeli authorities, and most have been unable to deliver any supplies to Gaza since 2 March.
• People with disability are gravely affected by the dearth of adequate rehabilitation services, which suffer restrictions on the entry of equipment and personnel.
• Sewage continues to be diverted into stormwater basins and the sea, causing severe environmental pollution.

Humanitarian Developments

• Over the past week, Israeli forces have continued to carry out heavy bombardment from the air, land and sea across the Gaza Strip, alongside continued ground operations. Rocket fire by Palestinian armed groups into Israel and fighting with Israeli forces have taken place. There are continued reports of casualties due to strikes on schools, tents and residential buildings and among people trying to access food supplies at militarized distribution points or waiting for humanitarian aid convoys, detonation and demolition of residential buildings, destruction of civilian infrastructure, and large-scale displacement. The Israeli authorities announced that, as of 17 August, and as part of preparations by the Israeli military to “move the population from combat zones to southern Gaza for their protection, the supply of tents and shelter equipment to Gaza will resume.” On 20 July, the Israeli military reported that in recent days, Israeli forces have resumed extensive military activity in Jabalya area and the outskirts of Gaza city. As of late July, it is estimated that about one million people are in northern Gaza. According to the Site Management Cluster (SMC), between 12 and 20 August, intensified military operations in Gaza city prompted over 16,000 displacement movements by people from the eastern parts of Gaza city, such as Az Zaytoun, to the south and the west. In total, over 796,000 displacement movements have been recorded since 18 March 2025.
• On 18 August, the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), comprising UN agencies and over 200 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), welcomed the Israeli authorities’ announcement that tents and other shelter equipment will again be allowed entry into Gaza but found it “deeply troubling … that it comes in connection with a looming offensive.” The HCT said that the lifting of the shelter ban would allow humanitarian partners to deliver much needed supplies across the Gaza Strip, including in Gaza city, noting that this scale-up will take effect to the extent “that systematic restrictions – such as Israeli customs clearance, access to crossings and insecurity – are addressed.” The HCT further warned that the Israeli authorities’ plan to intensify military operations in Gaza city “will have a horrific humanitarian impact on people already exhausted, malnourished, bereaved, displaced, and deprived of basics needed for survival” and that “[f]orcing hundreds of thousands to move south is a recipe for further disaster and could amount to forcible transfer.” The HCT affirmed that the UN and NGOs will maintain presence in Gaza city to provide lifesaving support.
• According to the Shelter Cluster, more than one million tarpaulins and sealing-off kits, 86,000 tents and about five million non-food items have been procured or in-process for delivery to Gaza. However, ongoing restrictions on INGOs and UNRWA continue to block shelter deliveries, with critical materials denied entry even after approval. Following the announcement by the Israeli authorities that the ban on the entry of shelter supplies would be lifted, partners continue to face major challenges, including in relation to registration. Meanwhile, amid ongoing hostilities and displacement, shelter needs continue to grow, with more families living in severely overcrowded, unsafe, and undignified conditions and some living without any form of shelter. At present, the Shelter Cluster estimates that 1.4 million people require emergency shelter items and 1.45 million need essential household items.
• According to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, between 13 and 20 August, 400 Palestinians were killed, and 2,683 were injured. This brings the casualty toll among Palestinians since 7 October 2023, as reported by MoH, to 62,122 fatalities and 156,758 injuries. MoH further noted that the number of casualties among people trying to access food supplies has increased to 2,018 fatalities and more than 14,947 injuries since 27 May 2025.
• According to the Israeli military, between 13 and 20 August, as of noon, no Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza. The casualty toll among Israeli soldiers since the beginning of the ground operation in October 2023 stands at 454 fatalities and 2,874 injuries, according to the Israeli military. According to Israeli forces and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,654 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed, the majority on 7 October 2023 and its immediate aftermath. As of 13 August, it is estimated that 50 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including hostages who have been declared dead and whose bodies are being withheld.
• Key incidents resulting in fatalities over the past week mainly occurred in Gaza city and included the following:
  • On 13 August, at about 10:00, at least 14 Palestinian males were reportedly killed when fire was opened towards Palestinians seeking food near the militarized distribution point in Khan Younis.
  • On 13 August, around dawn, seven Palestinians, including five children, were reportedly killed when a tent for internally displaced people (IDPs) was hit in Tel Al Hawa, in southwestern Gaza city.
  • On 13 August, around dawn, 12 Palestinians were reportedly killed when a residential building was hit in Az Zaytoun, in southeastern Gaza city.
  • On 14 August, at about 9:15, at least 12 Palestinian males were reportedly killed and many others injured when fire was opened towards people waiting for aid convoys in the Morag area, south of Khan Younis.
  • On 14 August, around dawn, eight Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a residential building was hit in Az Zaytoun, in southeastern Gaza city.
  • On 14 August, at about 18:15, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed and 15 others injured while waiting for aid convoys near Zikim crossing, in North Gaza.
  • On 15 August, at about 16:00, seven Palestinians, including two boys, were reportedly killed when a school sheltering IDPs was hit in Ad Daraj, in central Gaza city.
  • On 15 August, at about 20:00, seven Palestinians, including women and children, were reportedly killed and others injured when an IDP tent was hit near a school, west of Gaza city.
  • On 16 August, during the morning, a Palestinian fisher was reportedly killed and others injured when fire was opened at a fishing boat off the coast of Gaza city.
  • On 17 August, at about 1:30, seven Palestinian males were reportedly killed and others injured in the yard of Al Ahli Hospital, in central Gaza city.
  • On 17 August, between the morning and evening hours, at least 31 Palestinians were reportedly killed when fire was opened towards Palestinians waiting for supply trucks in the Morag area, south of Khan Younis.
  • On 18 August, at about 9:00, a Palestinian fisher was reportedly killed and his brother injured on a fishing boat, west of Gaza city.
  • On 18 August, at about 2:00, three Palestinians including a girl were reportedly killed when a governmental building sheltering IDPs was hit in Ad Daraj, in central Gaza city.
• According to records of the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), since the establishment of a militarized distribution system in the Gaza Strip on 27 May and as of 18 August, at least 1,889 people – mostly young men and boys – were killed while seeking food in Gaza – 1,025 near militarized distribution sites and 864 along convoy supply routes – most of whom appear to have been killed by the Israeli military, and with no information to suggest that these people “were directly participating in hostilities or posed any threat” to Israeli forces or other people.
• Since the beginning of August 2025, OHCHR has recorded 11 incidents involving attacks on Palestinians guarding convoys in North Gaza and Deir al Balah, resulting in the killing of at least 46 Palestinians, mainly those providing security to humanitarian and other supply convoys, along with some seeking aid, and the injury of many others. OHCHR stressed that these attacks have contributed to the breakdown of law enforcement and worsened the starvation of Palestinians. This is in addition to the dozens of incidents recorded by OHCHR since October 2023 where “the Israeli military unlawfully targeted civilian police officers not taking part in hostilities, contributing to the collapse of law enforcement, leading directly to disorder around supply convoys, as the population becomes increasingly desperate to access food in the face of deepening starvation.”
• Delays and impediments of humanitarian movements continue to be reported. Recently, while fewer humanitarian movements have been denied outright, missions that are approved still take hours to complete and teams have been compelled to wait on roads that are often dangerous, congested or impassable. Between 13 and 19 August, out of 79 attempts to coordinate planned movements with Israeli authorities across the Gaza Strip, 45 were facilitated (57 per cent), 21 were initially approved but then impeded on the ground (27 per cent), five (six per cent) were denied and eight (ten per cent) had to be withdrawn by the organizers. Facilitated movements included missions to transfer fuel, collection of medical, nutrition and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) supplies, staff movements and rotations. Denied movements included water pipe connection repairs, movements of WASH chemical supplies and road repairs. Among the 21 impeded missions, five were fully accomplished despite the impediments, including missions to collect supplies from Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings and medical evacuation of patients through Kerem Shalom crossing. The remaining 16 missions were partially accomplished. Overall, five out of the 79 movements involved fuel collection, 24 involved the collection of other supplies from Gaza’s crossings, 18 were staff movements and rotations, and 32 aimed to support other ongoing humanitarian operations.
• On 13 August, over 100 international NGOs raised the alarm over increasing obstructions by Israeli authorities on the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. “Despite claims by Israeli authorities that there is no limit on humanitarian aid entering Gaza, most major international NGOs have been unable to deliver a single truck of lifesaving supplies since 2 March,” which “has left millions of dollars’ worth of food, medicine, water, and shelter items stranded in warehouses across Jordan and Egypt, while Palestinians are being starved,” they stated. This obstruction is tied to a new registration process introduced by Israeli authorities for international NGOs, where, according to the statement, “registration can be denied based on vague and politicized criteria, such as alleged “delegitimization” of the state of Israel” and where registration requirements include the submission of sensitive donor and staff data. Failing to comply could force organizations to halt operations in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and remove all international staff within 60 days. Some organizations have already been issued a seven-day ultimatum to provide Palestinian staff lists. International NGOs made clear that sharing the requested data violates data protection laws and undermines humanitarian principles. On 6 August, UN agencies and NGOs called on Israeli authorities to rescind the requirement introduced on 9 March obliging international NGOs to share sensitive personal information about their Palestinian employees or face termination of their humanitarian operations.