This is situation report from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (NURWA) for Palestine Refugees in Near East, as released on Sunday 8 October, 2023.
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| UNRWA is sheltering 73,538 internally displaced people (IDPs) in 64 of its schools in all areas in the Gaza Strip. Photo: @UNRWA |
UNRWA Situation Report on the situation in the Gaza Strip:
Area General Updates
- UNRWA is sheltering 73,538 internally displaced people (IDPs) in 64 of its schools in all areas in the Gaza Strip. Of those, 45 are Designated Emergency Shelters (DES) and 19 are not.
- An UNRWA school sheltering displaced families in the Gaza Strip was directly hit. The school sheltering more than 225 people was severely damaged. No casualties were recorded among the displaced but the school sustained significant structural damage.
Protection Of Civilians
- The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported 370 killed, including at least 20 children, and 2,200 injured since 7 October. Three UNRWA students at UNRWA schools in Khan Younis and Beit Hanoun, all boys, are confirmed killed.
- According to Israeli open sources, at least 650 people were killed in Israel.
Education
- All UNRWA schools across the Gaza Strip, including the Rehabilitation Centre for Visually Impaired and the two vocational centres in Gaza and Khan Younis, are closed. More than 300,000 students are impacted.
Health Services Provision
- Fifteen (15) (out of 22) UNRWA Health Centres across the Gaza Strip have resumed providing primary healthcare services from 9:00 to 12:00 to patients with urgent referred appointments received through the free-toll hotline (1-800-444-666).[NB1]
- Health Centres provide treatment for non-communicable diseases and for critical outpatient cases.
- Up to 13 per cent of the total UNRWA Health staff is present.
- Provision of emergency healthcare services through the toll-free hotline (1-800-444-666) continues across all areas. Nearly 1,500 calls were received on the toll-free hotline and were provided with relevant services.
Sanitation Services provision
- All solid waste collection and transfer to landfills activities remain on hold.
- The operation of water wells in Jabalia, Khan Younis and Rafah is ongoing.
- UNRWA maintenance team carried out maintenance works for the water pump to provide availability of water at Rafah prep boys B school, which is a Designated Emergency Shelter.
Relief and Social Services
- Food operations remain on hold until further notice disrupting the third food distribution cycle. 14 Distribution Centres are closed. Some 112,759 families (541,640 individuals) are yet to receive food assistance
- Relief and social services helplines are operational and have received 27 phone calls as of 14:00 hrs today. These were mostly requests for information related to food assistance, telemedicine and shelter support.
- Psychosocial Support and Psychological First Aid were provided remotely to nearly 80 people.
- Two thirds of Social Services staff are providing services remotely, including social intervention support, legal counselling and helpline services.
- Registration services are available.
General UNRWA operations
- Staff movements remained restricted except for staff providing services.
- Fuel was distributed to UNRWA health centres.
- UNRWA is sharing content on social media for affected communities about available healthcare services in the 15 health centres.
UNRWA Installations
- At least 14 UNRWA installations sustained damage over the past few days.
unrwa.org
