Gaza Strip Updates
Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, particularly in Al Rimal area in the vicinity of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city. This has resulted in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
Between the afternoon of 20 March and 10:30 on 21 March, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 65 Palestinians were killed, and 92 Palestinians were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 10:30 on 21 March 2024, at least 31,988 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 74,188 Palestinians have been injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
The following are among the deadly incidents reported on 19 and 20 March:
On 19 March, at about 21:00, at least 27 Palestinians were reportedly killed when a three-floor building housing internally displaced persons (IDPs) on Al Ishreen street in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit.
On 19 March, at about 17:30, at least four Palestinians, including the head police of An Nuseirat, and two young girls, were reportedly killed and others injured when a car in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit.
On 19 March, at about 20:45, near Al Kuwaiti roundabout at the southeastern entrance to Gaza city, at least 30 Palestinians, were shot at and killed. Among the victims was the Director of the Emergency Committee in western Gaza city. The group reportedly comprised Palestinians who were part of a committee tasked with overseeing the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid.
On 20 March, at about 4:00, 20 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a residential building in Ard Ash Shanti area, in northwestern Gaza city, was hit.
On 20 March, at 5:25, at least seven Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house in Al Bureij Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit.
On 20 March, at about 11:00, four Palestinians, including two children and a woman, were reportedly killed when a house near Hamdan Hall in eastern Rafah was hit.
Between the afternoons of 20 and 21 March, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 21 March, 250 soldiers have been killed and 1,489 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 21 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
The Israeli military operation inside and around Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city has continued for the fourth consecutive day. According to the Israeli military, it has killed over 50 armed Palestinians in the past 24 hours, bringing to 140 the number of Palestinians the Israeli army said they have killed since the start of this military operation. According to the spokesperson of the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza, the Israeli army reportedly refused to allow civil defense crews to reach and rescue hundreds of injured people who had issued calls for help in the vicinity of Al Shifa Hospital. The Israeli military also reported that about 3,700 people passed through a checkpoint it established near Al Shifa hospital and moved southwards, over 300 of whom have been detained.
In a recent report, Oxfam International outlines seven key humanitarian access constraints that impede aid delivery into and across Gaza. Among other constraints, the report draws attention to the denial of entry of civilian goods into Gaza by the Israeli authorities, on the grounds that they could potentially be used for military purposes. It highlights that the range of prohibited items goes beyond international best practice for regulating trade in dual-use items established by the Wassenaar Arrangement. The report adds: “Israel is arbitrarily rejecting aid items as ‘dual-use’; civilian goods with a potential military use. Such items, including flashlights, batteries, water pipes, fittings and medical supplies, are often necessary for people’s survival and for meeting other basic needs,” with the same item sometimes being rejected or allowed to pass on different days. According to the report, the prohibition on the entry of back-up generators has severely impacted the functionality of Gaza’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and health sectors, and Oxfam has been unable to bring in a shipment of vital water quality testing equipment since December 2023. Action Aid had also reported that oxygen cylinders and anaesthetics for hospitals were among the items not permitted to enter Gaza during inspections. Other items that humanitarian partners are currently identifying as difficult to bring into Gaza include psycho-social support kits, mine-action supplies for Explosive Ordnance contamination assessments, and telecommunications equipment.
On 20 March, following a petition filed by Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI), the Israeli Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction against the return to Gaza of some 25 patients, along with their companions, who have been at hospitals in East Jerusalem and Israel since before 7 October. The patients were scheduled to be bused back to Gaza by the Israeli authorities, reportedly because they no longer require in-patient medical treatment, and include cancer patients and five newborn babies and their mothers. According to PHRI’s spokesperson, as cited in the media: “Returning residents to Gaza during a military conflict and a humanitarian crisis is against international law and poses a deliberate risk to innocent lives.” In late October 2023, WHO estimated that at least 400 patients from Gaza had been stranded in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, after the movement between Gaza and the West Bank came to a halt. Separately, on 18 March, PHRI and five other human rights organizations petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to “compel Israel to allow the entry of all humanitarian aid and assistance shipments into Gaza and ensure the civilian population receives everything it needs to survive the war – in accordance with Israel’s obligations as an occupying power.”
Read the full report: Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel Flash Update #14
Humanitarian workers preparing hot Ramadan Iftar meals for displaced families in southern Gaza. Implemented by ANERA and World Central Kitchen, this is one of 122 relief projects currently supported by the occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund. Photo by ANERA
