UN: Nine Out of 10 in Gaza Displaced

At lease nine out of 10 people in the Gaza Strip are now displaced and have no homes and forced to move around the enclave multiple times.

“We are again at the crossroads where the UN and its partners has to reset their operations,” Andrea De Domenico, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian Territory, said at a virtual news conference as reported in Anadolu.

De Domenico noted Israel’s recent evacuation order in Khan Younis has affected a third of the enclave, further exacerbating the displacement crisis.

“…We estimated that nine of every 10 people in the Gaza Strip have been internally displaced at least once, if not up to 10 times, unfortunately, since October,” he reported.

“People in the last nine months have been moved around like pawns in a board game, forced from one location to the next location.”

De Domenico said residents have to rebuild extremely difficult living conditions each time, leading to more suffering and a greater need for humanitarian aid.

Stressing that the UN will continue to stay in the region, he highlighted that aid distribution is challenging every day.

Citing the Palestinian Authority’s Bureau of Statistics, De Domenico said Gaza’s population is 2.3 million and he estimated that 110,000 have left Gaza, and 37,000 have been killed.

Meanwhile the UN lowered its population estimates of Gaza from roughly 2.3 million people to about 2.1 million, following thousands of deaths and exodus of Palestinians.

He said that 110,000 people have fled Gaza and crossed into Egypt since October, according to the border authority, and close to 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war.

Over 87,000 Palestinians are wounded, while another 10,000 are estimated to be buried under the debris of bombed homes according to TRT.

CrossFireArabia

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

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Israel Kills 200 Lebanese Children – UNICEF

More than four children have been killed or injured every day on average in Lebanon in the first 25 days of a temporary ceasefire with families still unable to return to their homes, said Save the Children.

New data from Lebanon’s Ministry of Health on Tuesday showed that 22 children have been killed and 89 injured since the temporary ceasefire started on 17 April. This brings the number of children killed in Israeli strikes since renewed escalation in hostilities in Lebanon on 2 March to almost 200 with about 2,900 people killed.

The violence and renewed displacement orders have forced more than one million people – or one in six of the population – from their homes with many now living with relatives, in host communities or in collective shelters.

The number of families living in collective shelters has increased 5% since the conditional ceasefire due to renewed displacement orders by Israeli forces and as families return home to find destroyed houses and damaged farmland so move back the collective shelters. There are now 44,800 children among about 125,000 people in collective shelters.

Thousands of children have been living in collective shelters for over two months in overcrowded conditions with inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene facilities leading to reports of scabies and growing health concerns.

Parents are reporting widespread behavioural changes among children living in collective shelters due to a lack of routine and reduced school engagement including loss of appetite and trouble sleeping. Many children are struggling to continue learning with some schools used as collective shelters and also difficulties accessing online learning due to limited electricity, and poor connectivity.

Tala*, 10, has been living in a collective shelter after being displaced from southern Lebanon, said:

“I just want the war to end so I can go home to my village and sleep in my own bed. I really miss school, I want to see my teachers and be with my friends, and study and play again.”

Nora Ingdal, Save the Children’s Lebanon Country Director, said:

“This ‘so called’ ceasefire that still sees more than four children killed or injured every day is not a ceasefire for children. Attacks on civilians have not stopped – it has simply continued under another name. Colleagues have told me that the airstrikes feel more intense in some areas than they ever did before. Children are not safe until there is a permanent and definitive ceasefire with no violations.”

With further peace talks set to take place on Thursday to determine next steps between Lebanon and Israel, Save the Children is calling on the international community to urgently work toward a permanent and definitive ceasefire and ensure flexible and sustained funding to protect children and allow families to return home to resume their lives.

Save the Children has worked in Lebanon since 1953. In collaboration with partners and local authorities, we are distributing essential items in hard-to-reach areas in the south, provide psychosocial support for children, educate families and children about the risks of unexploded ordnance, ensure access to safe water and sanitation facilities, and distribute essential items for those displaced.

ENDS:

Sources:

Lebanon Ministry of Health

Israeli strikes have killed 380 in Lebanon since truce: Health ministry

Lebanon Ministry of Health

Lebanon-Emergency-Sitrep-23-2026.pdf

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