UN: 249 Palestinians Killed; 510 Injured Since Yesterday

A new report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories found that:

• Heavy Israeli bombardments from air, land, and sea intensified across much of the Gaza Strip on 8 January. The firing of rockets by Palestinian armed groups into Israel also continued. Ground operations and fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups were reported across much of the Gaza Strip, particularly in the Middle Area and Khan Younis, resulting in additional casualties.
• Between the afternoons of 7 and 8 January, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 249 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and another 510 people were reportedly injured. Overall, between 7 October and 12:00 on 7 January, at least 23,084 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the MoH in Gaza. During the same period, 58,926 Palestinians were reportedly injured.
• Since 7 January and as of 8 January, no additional Israeli soldiers have been reportedly killed in Gaza. Overall, since the start of the ground operation, 174 soldiers have been killed, and 1,042 soldiers have been injured in Gaza, according to the Israeli military.
• Partners report that denials of coordinated movement requests are critically inhibiting time-sensitive response. For instance, on 8 January, a planned mission by OCHA and WHO to deliver urgent medical supplies to the Central Drug Store in Gaza city and Al Awda Hospital in Jabalya, as well as planned missions to deliver vital fuel to water and sanitation facilities in Gaza City and the north, have been denied by the Israeli authorities. This marked the fifth denial of a mission to Al Awda Hospital in Jabalya and Central Drug Store in Gaza city since 26 December, leaving five hospitals in northern Gaza without access to life-saving medical supplies and equipment. At the same time, the continued denial of fuel delivery to water and sanitation facilities is leaving tens of thousands of people without access to clean water and increasing the risk of sewage overflows, significantly heightening the risk of the spread of communicable diseases.
• The intensifying offensive in Gaza’s Middle Area and Khan Younis is causing rapidly rising casualties and having devastating consequences for tens of thousands of civilians, many of whom had already fled for safety from Gaza city and the north to the Middle Area. An UNRWA warehouse was struck on 4 January resulting in one fatality of a UN staff and subsequent detention of five UNRWA staff, three of whom were subsequently released while two remain detained. Humanitarian operations in Deir al Balah have also been severely curtailed with multiple critical installations – including warehouses, distribution centres, health centres and shelters – issued with new evacuation orders. Several bakeries supported by the UN and humanitarian partners have been forced to shut down operations in Deir al Balah, as a result of the fighting. As casualties rise, the ability to treat them continues to be in jeopardy, with three hospitals in the Middle Area and Khan Younis– Al Aqsa, Nasser, and Gaza European – at risk of closure due to the issuance of evacuation orders in nearby areas and the ongoing conduct of hostilities nearby.
• On the morning of 8 January, MSF reported a shell broke through the wall of an MSF shelter housing over 100 staff and their families in Khan Yunis. Consequently, five people were injured, including a 5-year-old child of one of its staff members who is in critical condition. MSF further noted that the shelter did not receive evacuation orders beforehand. MSF stated that they “condemn this latest attack which shows, yet again, that no one and nowhere is safe in Gaza.”

Hostilities and casualties (Gaza Strip)

• The following are among the deadliest incidents reported between 7 January and 8 January:
  • On 7 January at about 13:30, six people, including two girls, were reportedly killed when a group of people, near the customs police office, east of the Khan Yunis, were struck.
  • On 7 January, during the night, 10 people were reportedly killed and tens injured when multiple residential houses in Deir al Balah were struck.
  • On 8 January, at about 03:00, eight people were reportedly killed and tens were injured, including women and children, when a residential building in Al Basa, west Deir al Balah, Middle Gaza was struck. People are reportedly remaining under the rubble.
  • On 8 January, at about 09:00, UNRWA Preparatory School of Al Maghazi, Middle Gaza, which serves as a shelter for internally displaced people (IDPs) was struck. An unconfirmed number of fatalities and injuries were reported.
  • On 8 January, at about 12:30, five people were reportedly killed when a group of people in Al Zawayda, Middle Gaza were struck.
  • On 8 January, at about 09:10, four people, including children, were reportedly killed and tens injured when a residential unit near the Canada Hall, south Khan Yunis, was struck.
  • On 8 January, in the morning, eight people, including children, were reportedly killed in Al Manara neighbourhood, southeast of Khan Yunis. The ambulance crews were reportedly having difficulty entering the area.
• On 7 January, at about 23:20, the College of Science and Technology in Qizan Al Najjar, Khan Yunis, was struck. On 8 January, the vicinity of Abu Bakr Al Siddiq School, also in Qizan Al Najjar, was surrounded and besieged by Israeli forces with unconfirmed number of casualties reportedly trapped inside and around the school.

Displacement (Gaza Strip)

• By the end of 2023, according to UNRWA, 1.9 million people, or nearly 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza, were estimated to be internally displaced, including many who have been displaced multiple times, as families are forced to move repeatedly in search of safety. Nearly 1.4 million IDPs are sheltering in 155 UNRWA facilities across all five governorates; facilities are far exceeding their intended capacity. Rafah governorate is now the main refuge for those displaced, with over one million people squeezed into an extremely overcrowded space, following the intensification of hostilities in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah and the Israeli military’s evacuation orders. Obtaining an accurate figure of the total number of IDPs remains challenging.
• Some 220 incidents affecting UNRWA premises and people inside them have been reported since 7 October (some with multiple incidents affecting the same location), including at least 23 incidents of military use and/or interference at UNRWA premises. This includes 63 direct hits on UNRWA installations and 69 different UNRWA installations sustaining damage when a nearby object was hit. In total, at least 319 IDPs sheltering in UNRWA shelters have been killed and at least another 1,135 were injured since 7 October.

Electricity

• Since 11 October, the Gaza Strip has been under an electricity blackout, after the Israeli authorities cut off the electricity supply and fuel reserves for Gaza’s sole power plant were depleted. The communications and fuel shutdown continues to significantly hinder the aid community’s efforts to assess the full extent of needs in Gaza and to adequately respond to the deepening humanitarian crisis. For more information on electricity supply to the Gaza Strip, please see this dashboard.

Health care, including attacks (Gaza Strip)

• On 8 January at about 01:40, the European Hospital in Khan Younis was struck by drones with no clear reports on casualties. This follows a number of direct hits to the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, central Gaza on 7 January, forcing medical staff and patients to evacuate.
• On 7 January, staff from the World Health Organization (WHO) and OCHA visited the Al Aqsa Hospital, the only functioning hospital in the governorate of Deir al Balah in central Gaza. According to the hospital director, because of increasing hostilities and ongoing evacuation orders, most of the local health workers and about 600 patients have been forced to leave the facility to unknown locations. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) stated that their emergency medical team had been forced to cease life-saving and other critical activities at the hospital and leave the facility, as a result of increasing Israeli military activity.
• According to a post from the WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, his staff witnessed “sickening scenes of people of all ages being treated on blood-streaked floors and in chaotic corridors.” The hospital reported immense needs, notably health workers, medical supplies, beds and the need to be protected from strikes and hostilities. The WHO team delivered medical supplies to support 4,500 patients needing dialysis for three months and 500 patients requiring trauma care. “Al Aqsa is the most important hospital remaining in Gaza’s Middle Area and must remain functional, and protected, to deliver its lifesaving services,” Dr. Ghebreyesus stated. “Further erosion of its functionality cannot be permitted – doing so in the face of such trauma, injury and humanitarian suffering would be a moral and medical outrage.”
• According to WHO, as of 3 January, 13 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functional; nine in the south and four in the north. Those in the north have been offering maternity, trauma, and emergency care services. However, they face challenges such as a shortage of medical staff, including specialized surgeons, neurosurgeons, and intensive care staff, as well as a lack of medical supplies such as anesthesia, antibiotics, pain relief medicines, and external fixators. Additionally, they have an urgent need for fuel, food, and drinking water. The situation of hospitals and the level of functionality depend on fluctuating capacity and minimum level of supplies that can reach the facilities. The nine partially functional hospitals in the south are operating at three times their capacity, while facing critical shortages of basic supplies and fuel. MoH in Gaza, occupancy rates are reaching 206 per cent in inpatient departments and 250 per cent in intensive care units.

Food security

• The Famine Review Committee (FRC), activated due to evidence surpassing the acute food insecurity Phase 5 (Catastrophic threshold) in the Gaza Strip, warns that the risk of famine is increasing daily amid intense conflict and restricted humanitarian access. The FRC stated that, to eliminate the risk of famine it is imperative to halt the deterioration of the health, nutrition, food security, and mortality situation through the restoration of health, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services. In addition, the FRC has called for the cessation of hostilities and the restoration of humanitarian space for delivering multisectoral assistance as vital first steps to eliminate any risk of famine.

Hostilities and casualties (Israel)

• Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, including 36 children, according to the Israeli authorities, the vast majority on 7 October.
• The Israeli authorities estimate that about 136 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza. During the humanitarian pause (24-30 November), 86 Israeli and 24 foreign national hostages were released.