In the past 24 hours, three schools serving as IDP shelters to the north of Wadi Gaza (hereafter: the north) have been reportedly hit, resulting in many fatalities. In the Tal Az Za’atar school, in Beit Lahia, more than 50 people were killed on 18 November, according to media reports. The same day, scores, including children, were killed in UNRWA’s Al Fakhouri school in Jabalia, which shelters over 4,000 IDPs. On 17 November, another UNRWA school in Az Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza city was also hit. Between 7 October and 16 November, at least 71 IDPs were killed and 573 injured, while sheltering in UNRWA facilities across the Gaza Strip.
On 18 November, Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, deplored the news on children, women and men killed while sheltering at Al Fakhouri school, reminding that, “Shelters are a place of safety. Schools are a place for learning,” and adding that “Civilians cannot and should not have to bear this any longer.”
According to the Palestine Journalists Syndicate in Gaza, 45 Palestinian journalists have been killed since 7 October. According to MoH, more than 198 Palestinian medical staff have been killed. According to the Palestinian Civil Defense, at least 12 of its members have been killed. And according to UNRWA, 103 of their staff have been killed since 7 October.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has reported an increase in cases of dehydration and malnutrition and warned about the threat of starvation due to the collapsed food supply chain and insufficient aid delivery. Only 10 per cent of necessary food supplies have entered Gaza since the beginning of the hostilities.
Read the full report: Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #43
A joint UN humanitarian assessment team visits Shifa Hospital in Gaza city on 18 November 2023. The team comprised public health experts, logistics officers, and security staff from OCHA, UNDSS, UNMAS/UNOPS, UNRWA and the World Health Organization, which led the team. Photo by WHO
