{#Iran} #Conflict deepens #health #crisis across Middle East, #WHO says (March 11 '26)

 

More than ten days into the latest escalation of conflict in the Middle East, health systems across the Region are coming under strain as injuries and displacement rise, attacks on health care continue, and public health risks increase.

National health authorities in Iran report more than 1300 deaths and 9000 injuries, and in Lebanon report at least 570 deaths and more than 1400 injuries. In Israel, authorities report 15 deaths and 2142 injuries.

At the same time, the conflict is affecting the very services meant to save lives. 

In Iran, WHO has verified 18 attacks on health care since 28 February, resulting in 8 deaths among health workers. 

Over the same period in Lebanon, 25 attacks on health care have resulted in 16 deaths and 29 injuries. These attacks not only cost lives but deprive communities of care when they need it most. 

Health workers, patients and health facilities must always be protected under international humanitarian law.

Beyond the immediate impact, the conflict is creating wider public health risks. 

Current estimates indicate more than 100 000 people in Iran have relocated to other areas of the country due to insecurity, and up to 700 000 people have been internally displaced in Lebanon, with many in crowded collective shelters under deteriorating public health conditions, with limited access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene. These conditions increase the risk of respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, and other communicable illnesses, especially for the most vulnerable populations, such as women and children.

Environmental hazards are also a raising concern. In Iran, petroleum fires and smoke from damaged infrastructure exposed nearby communities to toxic pollutants that potentially cause breathing problems, eye and skin irritation, and contaminated water and food sources.

Access to health services is becoming increasingly constrained across several countries. 

In Lebanon, 49 primary health-care centres and five hospitals have shut following evacuation orders issued by Israel’s military, reducing the availability of essential services as medical needs rise.

In the occupied Palestinian territory, increased movement restrictions and checkpoint closures are delaying ambulance and mobile clinics’ access across several governorates in the West Bank. 

In Gaza, medical evacuations remain suspended since 28 February, while hospitals continue to operate under strain amid ongoing shortages of medicines, medical supplies and fuel, which is being rationed to prioritize essential health services such as emergency and trauma care, maternal and neonatal services, and management of communicable diseases.

Temporary airspace restrictions have disrupted the movement of medical supplies from WHO’s global logistics hub in Dubai. 

More than 50 emergency supply requests, intended to benefit over 1.5 million people across 25 countries, are affected, resulting in significant backlogs. 

Current priority shipments include supplies planned for Al Arish, Egypt, to support the Gaza response, as well as Lebanon and Afghanistan. The first shipment, containing cholera response supplies for Mozambique, is expected to depart from the hub in the coming week.

The escalation comes at a time when humanitarian needs in the Eastern Mediterranean Region were already among the highest in the world. 

Across the Region, 115 million people require humanitarian assistance – almost half of all people in need globally – while humanitarian health emergency appeals remain 70% underfunded.

Without protection for health care, sustained humanitarian access and stronger financial and operational support for the humanitarian health response, the strain on vulnerable populations and already fragile health systems will continue to grow.

WHO calls on all parties to protect civilians and health care, ensure unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access, and pursue de-escalation of the conflict so communities can begin to recover and move towards peace.

Source: 

Link: https://www.who.int/news/item/11-03-2026-conflict-deepens-health-crisis-across-middle-east--who-says

____

#Hostilities in the occupied #Palestinian territory (oPt) - 11 November 2025 - Public Health #Situation #Analysis (PHSA) (#WHO, summary)

 

SUMMARY OF CRISIS AND KEY FINDINGS 

The fragile Gaza ceasefire announced on 9 October 2025 marked a momentous but precarious juncture in the ongoing conflict.{3} 

The ceasefire remains in place but is fragile, and violations from both sides continue.{4} 

When the ceasefire was agreed in mid-October, the UN Relief Chief Tom Fletcher outlined a 60-day plan to deliver vital aid to people in Gaza, stressing that full implementation requires more crossings, rapid and unimpeded access, sustained fuel entry, restored infrastructure, protection of aid workers, and adequate funding.{5}  

While humanitarian aid has begun to flow into Gaza offering a measure of relief, uncertainty persists. Meanwhile, the Rafah Crossing as well as other crossings in the north remain closed, limiting efforts to alleviate Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.{6} 

According to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, the casualty toll among Palestinians since 7 October 2023, as reported by MoH, is 67 938 fatalities and 170 169 injuries.{7} 

Following the announcement of the ceasefire, large-scale population movements have been observed across Gaza as families attempt to return home after months of displacement. Over 533 000 people have moved from south to north since 10 October.{8} 

Most people in Gaza reside in inadequate shelters that fail to meet basic emergency standards, leaving them exposed to harsh winter conditions.{9} 

The UN Satellite Centre reported that as of 23 September, the extent of damage in Gaza City encompassed approximately 83% of all structures.{10}  

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) report diseases directly linked to poor living condition (such as skin infections, eye infections, aches and pains) account for 70% of all outpatient consultations in health care centres in southern Gaza.{11} 

According to Early Warning, Alert and Response System (EWARS) reporting, acute watery diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections are 17.5% of all consultations in Gaza as of October 2025.{12} 

Ongoing attacks and resource shortages have severely weakened the health system. Every hospital is overrun.{13} 

A total of 50% (18 out of 36) of hospitals are functional, all partially.{14} 

Many health facilities have been shut down in Gaza City and in the North, leaving hundreds of thousands of people with limited access to lifesaving medical services. As of 15 August 2025, Famine (IPC Phase 5)—with reasonable evidence—was confirmed in Gaza Governorate. Access constraints severely limit the quantity of aid that agencies can bring in to stabilize the markets and address people’s needs. 

Anticipation of food inflows upon the ceasefire drove food prices down. However, liquidity constraints persist, with cash withdrawal fees still between 20-24%.{15} 

While attention has been fixed on Gaza, violence and restrictions in the West Bank have intensified. Military operations in Jenin, Nur Shams, and Tulkarm refugee camps have displaced over 30 000 people, yet humanitarian groups remain barred from assessing the full scale of destruction.{16} 

More broadly, oPt has endured a protracted cycle of conflict, hunger and despair for over five decades. In 2023, this cycle reached unprecedented new peaks as tensions escalated in the occupied Gaza Strip and the West Bank on 7 October, resulting in civilian fatalities, widespread destruction, massive displacement, rising food prices and a declining currency.{17} 

The unprecedented impact of the current war on Gaza demands a transformative shift in addressing mounting immediate needs, revaluating long-term systemic challenges to relief efforts, and confronting the root causes of the conflict by ending the occupation and upholding international law.{18} 

(...)

{1} UNDSS (2024), Security Travel Advisory, available at: https://dss.un.org/Welcome-to-UNDSS?returnurl=%2f 

{2} Inform Risk Index 2025 (2024), available at: https://drmkc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/inform-index 

{3} United Nations (2025), Fragile Gaza ceasefire marks ‘a momentous but precarious juncture,’ UN envoy tells Security Council 

{4} WFP (2025), WFP Palestine’s Emergency Response External Situation Report #71 (7 November 2025) 

{5} OCHA (2025), Humanitarian Situation Update #331 | Gaza Strip [EN/AR/HE] 

{6} WFP (2025), WFP Palestine’s Emergency Response External Situation Report #71 (7 November 2025) 

{7} OCHA (2025), Humanitarian Situation Update #331 | Gaza Strip [EN/AR/HE] 

{8} WFP (2025), WFP Palestine’s Emergency Response External Situation Report #71 (7 November 2025) 

{9} UNRWA (2025), UNRWA Situation Report #192 on the Humanitarian Crisis in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem [EN/AR] 

{10} UNRWA (2025), UNRWA Situation Report #192 on the Humanitarian Crisis in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem [EN/AR] 

{11} MSF (2025), Post-ceasefire, Palestinians in Gaza are still living in dire conditions 

{12} WHO (2025) EWARS Unified Disease Surveillance Dashboard - The Gaza Strip · Dashboard · Metabase 

{13} MSF (2025), “Medicine is being strangled”: MSF doctor on the collapse of Gaza's health system 

{14} WHO (2025), HeRAMS occupied Palestinian territory: Gaza infographics September 2025 https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiZjI3ODU4N2YtZmE4Yi00NzcwLTgwMmQtN2JhOTU2YjZkNTQ1IiwidCI6ImY2MTBjMGI3LWJkMjQtN GIzOS04MTBiLTNkYzI4MGFmYjU5MCIsImMiOjh9 

{15} WFP (2025), WFP reaches families most at risk with food assistance as post-ceasefire scale-up gathers pace  

{16} NRC (2025), West Bank: Impunity deepens the occupation amid increasing restrictions on aid 

{17} WFP (29 March 2024),  State of Palestine Annual Country Report 2023 - Country Strategic Plan 2018 - 2028 

{18} ESCWA (2 January 2024), October 2023 in Gaza: the deadliest month in a twenty-first century war? [EN/AR] 

(...)

Source: World Health Organization, https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/emergencies-trauma-care/who-phsa-opt-111125-final.pdf?sfvrsn=efa97590_1&download=true

____

#Assessment of #malnutrition in preschool-aged #children by mid-upper arm circumference in the #Gaza Strip (January, 2024–August, 2025): a longitudinal, cross-sectional, surveillance study

 

Summary

Background

Since October, 2023, Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip have suffered war-induced displacement, food insecurity, malnutrition, and elevated risks of famine and mortality. In this study, we aimed to document the extent of, and patterns in, wasting malnutrition in children aged 6–59 months across the Gaza Strip between January, 2024, and August, 2025.

Methods

This longitudinal, cross-sectional, surveillance study was conducted across a total of 16 UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East health centres and 78 medical points established within school shelters and tent encampments across the five governorates of Gaza. Children aged 6–59 months were screened for wasting malnutrition by mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurement. Children with a MUAC of less than 125 mm were enrolled into therapeutic feeding regimens. MUAC Z scores were derived from published WHO age-specific and sex-specific arm circumferential growth curves. Monthly prevalence of acute wasting (MUAC Z scores less than –2) and severe wasting (MUAC Z scores less than –3) were described by age, sex, type of screening facility, and governorate.

Findings

Between Jan 1, 2024, and Aug 15, 2025, 265 974 measurements were obtained from 219 783 uniquely identified children, with two-thirds of children screened in Khan Younis and Middle Governorates. The monthly prevalence of acute wasting ranged from 5% (34 of 722 children) to 7% (794 of 10 907) between January and June, 2024. After approximately 4 months of severe aid restrictions between September, 2024, and mid-January, 2025, the prevalence of wasting increased from 8·8% (1601 of 18 225 children) to 14·3% (1661 of 11 619), with the highest prevalence observed in Rafah (32·2%; 95 of 295) and among children aged 24–59 months (21·0%; 1366 of 6518). After a 6-week ceasefire, marked by a substantial increase in the number of aid trucks entering through territory borders, by March, 2025, the prevalence of wasting had declined to 5·5% (831 of 15 165). However, after an 11-week blockade from March to May, 2025, and continued severely restricted entry of food, water, medicines, fuel, and other essentials thereafter, by early August, 2025, 15·8% (1213 of 7668) of screened children were acutely wasted, including 3·7% (280 of 7668) severely wasted, equating to more than 54 600 children in need of therapeutic care.

Interpretation

After nearly 2 years of war and severe restrictions in humanitarian aid, tens of thousands of preschool-aged children in the Gaza Strip are suffering from preventable acute malnutrition and facing an increased risk of mortality.

Funding

UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Source: The Lancet, https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01820-3/abstract?rss=yes

____

#WHO occupied #Palestinian Territory 60 Day #Ceasefire #Plan for #Gaza, October 2025 (edited)

 

PURPOSE AND SCOPE 

-- With the initiation of the first phase of the ceasefire, humanitarian needs remain dire. 

-- In the current situation, it is crucial to scale up humanitarian aid in a coordinated manner while ensuring the start of early recovery and reconstruction. 

-- This document summarizes WHO’s key planning assumptions, strategic priorities and selected activities. 

-- The activities fall within the scope of the overall 2025 WHO operational response and early recovery plan for the occupied Palestinian territory and the One-UN multi-sectoral Gaza Ceasefire Humanitarian Response Plan Summary 60 days (13 October 2025).

ASSUMPTIONS 

-- This plan is developed under the following assumptions:  

- Continuation of ceasefire and improvement of the law-and-order situation.

- Improved access for UN with access/registration issues for INGOs remaining.

- Gradual emergence of a clear and functional governance structure. 

- Improved flexibility of entry of medical supplies and equipment, including dual use items. 

- Free movement in Gaza Strip Zone 1.

- Sustained opening of the Rafah Crossing and other corridors for persons, including medical evacuation and adequate numbers of medical evacuation offers from receiving countries.

- Public health risks largely in line with WHO’s 10th Public Health Situation Analysis for Gaza (Sept 2025 – ceasefire update ongoing). 

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES AND KEY ACTIVITIES 

-- WHO will scale up the provision of humanitarian aid and initiation of early recovery efforts, in collaboration with partners and stakeholders. 

A. Maintain and expand life-saving essential health services

- Provide essential medicines, medical supplies and equipment for primary and secondary health services (including Reproductive Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health; Nutrition; Noncommunicable Disease; Trauma) ensuring appropriate standards in line with the WHO Priority Medicines List for Gaza. 

- Scale up the processing, clearance and entry of medical supplies and equipment to the Gaza Strip safely for WHO and partner organizations who require support.

- Scale-up of medical evacuations up to 50 patients per day plus companions, in line with the previous ceasef ire (currently over 15 000 patients are on the priority list).

- Re-establish and support utilities and support services at hospital level, e.g. oxygen plants, electricity/fuel and generators, mobile storage units. 

- Support the medical referral system, including spare parts for ambulances, ICU units for special transfers,  and coordination between facilities. 

- Scale up of rehabilitation services at all levels of health care, including limb reconstruction services and provision of assistive devices.

- Scale up of mental health and psychosocial support services at all levels of health care, up to specialized clinical care.

- Continue and expand WHO’s existing full support to 3 field hospitals.

- Intensify technical support to health service delivery across the health sector through assessments, monitoring, and capacity building.

- Ensure preparedness and health facility readiness for the possibility of a new escalation. 

B. Public health intelligence, early warning, and prevention and control of communicable disease

- Expansion and strengthening of surveillance for communicable diseases through the provision of surveillance equipment, expansion of Early Warning Alert and Response System, introducing linkages with laboratory and WASH data, and capacity building for Rapid Response Teams.

- Re-establish the Gaza Central Public Health Building, including rehabilitation of laboratory infrastructure, provision of essential equipment, and staffing capacity.

- Provide hospital laboratories with essential diagnostic and antimicrobial resistance equipment and testing supplies.

- Support the availability of safe blood, including entry of blood into the Gaza Strip, restarting local donations, and safety testing.

- Implement the catch-up campaign for immunization to target 40 000 children under the age of 3 that are missing doses or zero-dose for immunizations.

- Provide infection prevention and control support including establishment of isolation capacity, supplies, and capacity building. 

- Continue water quality testing and support to WASH in health facilities.

- Undertake modelling exercises to estimate excess mortality, in collaboration with academic and local partners. 

C. Health emergency coordination

- Health Cluster coordination and support to over 88 health partners to scale up humanitarian support to essential health services for the population of Gaza.

- Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) scale up from approximately 30 deployed teams to approximately 40 deployed teams to support Gaza’s health system.

- Strengthen the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus through the establishment and leadership of a dedicated technical working group under the Health Cluster to enable coordination between humanitarian and recovery efforts in health.

- Ensure Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) technical advice and support to partners.

- Coordinate the European Gaza Hospital (EGH) committee under the Health Cluster to operationalize the resumption of services (phase one to restore minimum functionality – two weeks, phase two towards partial functionality – two months). 

D. Early recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction 

-- WHO will focus its early recovery planning around the priorities and activities outlined below. 

-- It is important to note that implementation of these activities will extend beyond the initial 60-day period. However, WHO will require initial resources to prepare, plan and launch the early recovery efforts. 

• Primary health care (PHC) services

- Rehabilitation of 10 primary health care centres (Level III and IV).

- Rehabilitation and restoration/expansion of 3 primary health care services with pre-fabricated structures, equipment and medical supplies, and operational costs. 

• Secondary/tertiary health services

- Two field-hospitals - expand bed capacities for the hospitals (e.g. Al Wafaa Rehabilitation Hospital, Al Shifa Hospital).

- Two pre-fabricated modular clinics - ensure continuity of services during the reconstruction of hospitals.

- Early rehabilitation/expansion of 3 selected general hospitals (e.g. Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City; Al Aqsa Hospital in Middle Area; EGH Hospital in Khan Younis or Indonesian Hospital in North Gaza). 

• Support the coordination of health sector recovery and recovery planning

- Engage with emerging governance structure, Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRNDA)  up-date and plan/prepare for the implementation of early recovery priorities. 

- Health system design: Support the development of a strategic framework for rebuilding a resilient, equitable, and integrated health facility network across the Gaza Strip (rationalized, health needs-based, and cost-effective reconstruction). 

• Facilitating early recovery

- Strengthen and increase the number of health workforce: with salary/incentive payments and deployment of specialized EMTs with surge and training capacities (physical rehabilitation and noncommunicable diseases advanced services).

- Supply chain management, forecasting, warehousing facilities (2 warehouses for medical supplies, decentralized North/South).

REQUIREMENT 

-- Pillar

{A}. Maintain and expand life-saving essential health services: USD 19,500,000

{B}. Public health intelligence, early warning, and prevention and control of communicable disease:  5,500,000

{C}. Health emergency coordination (including Health Cluster and EMT coordination): 1,000,000

{D}. Early recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction: 19,000,000

{Total} 45,000,000 

Note: Operations costs are integrated in pillars A-D. 

___

Source: World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/60-day-ceasefire-plan-for-gaza

____

#Assessment of #malnutrition in preschool-aged #children by mid-upper arm circumference in the #Gaza Strip (January, 2024–August, 2025): a longitudinal, cross-sectional, surveillance study

 

Summary

Background

Since October, 2023, Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip have suffered war-induced displacement, food insecurity, malnutrition, and elevated risks of famine and mortality. In this study, we aimed to document the extent of, and patterns in, wasting malnutrition in children aged 6–59 months across the Gaza Strip between January, 2024, and August, 2025.

Methods

This longitudinal, cross-sectional, surveillance study was conducted across a total of 16 UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East health centres and 78 medical points established within school shelters and tent encampments across the five governorates of Gaza. Children aged 6–59 months were screened for wasting malnutrition by mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurement. Children with a MUAC of less than 125 mm were enrolled into therapeutic feeding regimens. MUAC Z scores were derived from published WHO age-specific and sex-specific arm circumferential growth curves. Monthly prevalence of acute wasting (MUAC Z scores less than –2) and severe wasting (MUAC Z scores less than –3) were described by age, sex, type of screening facility, and governorate.

Findings

Between Jan 1, 2024, and Aug 15, 2025, 265 974 measurements were obtained from 219 783 uniquely identified children, with two-thirds of children screened in Khan Younis and Middle Governorates. The monthly prevalence of acute wasting ranged from 5% (34 of 722 children) to 7% (794 of 10 907) between January and June, 2024. After approximately 4 months of severe aid restrictions between September, 2024, and mid-January, 2025, the prevalence of wasting increased from 8·8% (1601 of 18 225 children) to 14·3% (1661 of 11 619), with the highest prevalence observed in Rafah (32·2%; 95 of 295) and among children aged 24–59 months (21·0%; 1366 of 6518). After a 6-week ceasefire, marked by a substantial increase in the number of aid trucks entering through territory borders, by March, 2025, the prevalence of wasting had declined to 5·5% (831 of 15 165). However, after an 11-week blockade from March to May, 2025, and continued severely restricted entry of food, water, medicines, fuel, and other essentials thereafter, by early August, 2025, 15·8% (1213 of 7668) of screened children were acutely wasted, including 3·7% (280 of 7668) severely wasted, equating to more than 54 600 children in need of therapeutic care.

Interpretation

After nearly 2 years of war and severe restrictions in humanitarian aid, tens of thousands of preschool-aged children in the Gaza Strip are suffering from preventable acute malnutrition and facing an increased risk of mortality.

Funding

UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Source: The Lancet, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0140673625018203?dgcid=rss_sd_all

____

#Gaza: Top independent #rights #probe alleges #Israel committed #genocide

 

16 September 2025 

Senior independent rights investigators appointed by the Human Rights Council alleged on Tuesday that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide, a charge flatly rejected by Tel Aviv.

In a new report published against the backdrop of intensifying Israeli military operations in Gaza City, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, urged Israel and all countries to fulfil their obligations under international law “to end the genocide” and punish those responsible.

“The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza,” insisted Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission. “It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention.”

At a press conference in Geneva, the panel’s members - who are not UN staff but instead appointed by the Human Rights Council’s 47 Member States - explained that their investigations into the war in Gaza beginning with Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023 had led to the conclusion that Israeli authorities and security forces “committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”.

These acts are:

-- killing,

-- causing serious bodily or mental harm,

-- deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians, and

-- imposing measures intended to prevent births.

Ms. Pillay maintained that responsibility for the atrocity crimes “lies with Israeli authorities at the highest echelons”, amid “explicit statements” denigrating Palestinians by Israeli civilian and military authorities.

The Commission also analysed conduct of Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces in Gaza, “including imposing starvation and inhumane conditions of life for Palestinians in Gaza…genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference that could be concluded from the nature of their operations”, the panel said.

Methodical examination

The Commission’s assertion follows its review of Israeli military operations in Gaza, “including killing and seriously harming unprecedented numbers of Palestinians” and the imposition of a “total siege, including blocking humanitarian aid leading to starvation”, it said.

According to the UN aid coordination wing, OCHA, nearly one million people remain in Gaza City, famine has been confirmed there, and residents face daily bombardment and “compromised access to means of survival after the Israeli military placed the entire city under a displacement order”.

For its latest report, the panel also examined what it called the “systematic destruction” of healthcare and education in Gaza and “systematic” acts of sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians. 

Justice call

In addition, the Commission of Inquiry reviewed the alleged “direct targeting” of children and Israel’s “disregarding [of] the orders of the International Court of Justice, which issued an order in March 2024 that Israel should take ‘all necessary and effective measures to ensure…the unhindered provision at scale by all concerned of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians throughout Gaza’”.

“The international community cannot stay silent on the genocidal campaign launched by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” said Ms. Pillay.

“When clear signs and evidence of genocide emerge, the absence of action to stop it amounts to complicity,” she added.

“All States are under a legal obligation to use all means that are reasonably available to them to stop the genocide in Gaza.”

Qatari dimension

In a related development on Tuesday, the Human Rights Council shuffled its schedule to make way for an urgent debate on last week’s Israeli strike on Hamas’s political leadership in Qatar.

The strike targeted a neighbourhood of the Qatari capital, Doha, reportedly killing six people including five members of Hamas and prompting widespread condemnation including from the Security Council and Secretary-General.

In a statement, António Guterres spoke out against what he called a “flagrant violation” of Qatari sovereignty and territorial integrity.

And at a Security Council meeting called in response to the strike, the UN’s political affairs chief told ambassadors the attack in violation of Qatar’s sovereignty was a serious threat to regional peace and security. It also undermined international mediation efforts to end the war in Gaza and return the hostages, said Rosemary DiCarlo.

Source: United Nations, https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/09/1165856

____

Public #Health #Situation #Analysis - occupied #Palestinian territory-September (#WHO, Sept. 10 '25)

 

Overview

Starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at the highest levels ever since the conflict began almost two years ago. 

Deliberate blocking and delay of large-scale food, health, and humanitarian aid has cost many lives.

Malnutrition is on a dangerous trajectory in the Gaza Strip, marked by a spike in deaths in July. 

As of 5 September 2025, 361 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition, including 130 children. 

As of 15 August 2025, Famine (IPC Phase 5)—with reasonable evidence—is confirmed in Gaza Governorate. 

After 22 months of relentless conflict, over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death. 

Another 1.07 million people (54%) are in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), and 396 000 people (20%) are in Crisis (IPC Phase 3).

More broadly, since 7 October 2023, as reported by Ministry of Health (MoH), the number of casualties include 63 746 fatalities and 161 245 injuries.7 

As of 5 September 2025, there have been 2 339 reported fatalities among aid seekers near militarized distribution sites and along convoy routes since 27 May.

Ongoing attacks and resource shortages have severely weakened the health system – damaging or destroying 94% of hospitals, overwhelming remaining partially functional ones, and disrupting essential health service delivery. 

The Health Cluster reports that hospitals are overwhelmed by mass casualty incidents, with an average of eight incidents per day. 

Al-Shifa and Al-Ahli hospitals, in Gaza city, are operating at nearly 300% over capacity, with a constant influx of complex trauma injuries. 

Every hospital is overrun. If the Israeli-announced offensive on Gaza city goes ahead, the Gaza Strip could lose half of its hospital bed capacity. 

On 20 July, the WHO’s main warehouse in Deir Al-Balah was destroyed due to attacks, amid MoH reports that 52% of essential drugs and 68% of medical disposables are at zero stock.

In the West Bank, escalating settler violence, with the acquiescence, support, and in some cases participation, of Israeli security forces, has worsened the coercive environment in the occupied West Bank, resulting in several Palestinian casualties and the forcible displacement of Palestinian communities in the last month.

Source: World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/public-health-situation-analysis---occupied-palestinian-territory-September

____

#Famine confirmed for first time in #Gaza (#WHO, August 22 '25)

 

More than half a million people in Gaza are trapped in famine, marked by widespread starvation, destitution and preventable deaths, according to a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released today. 

Famine conditions are projected to spread from Gaza Governorate to Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis Governorates in the coming weeks.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), UNICEF, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have collectively and consistently highlighted the extreme urgency for an immediate and full-scale humanitarian response given the escalating hunger-related deaths, rapidly worsening levels of acute malnutrition and plummeting levels of food consumption, with hundreds of thousands of people going days without anything to eat.

The agencies reinforced that famine must be stopped at all costs. An immediate ceasefire and end to the conflict is critical to allow unimpeded, large-scale humanitarian response that can save lives. 

The agencies are also gravely concerned about the threat of an intensified military offensive in Gaza City and any escalation in the conflict, as it would have further devastating consequences for civilians where famine conditions already exist. 

Many people – especially sick and malnourished children, older people and people with disabilities – may be unable to evacuate.

By the end of September, more than 640 000 people will face Catastrophic levels of food insecurity – classified as IPC Phase 5 – across the Gaza Strip. 

An additional 1.14 million people in the territory will be in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and a further 396 000 people in Crisis (IPC Phase 3) conditions. 

Conditions in North Gaza are estimated to be as severe – or worse – than in Gaza City. However, limited data prevented an IPC classification, highlighting the urgent need for access to assess and assist. Rafah was not analyzed given indications that it is largely depopulated.

Classifying famine means that the most extreme category is triggered when three critical thresholds – extreme food deprivation, acute malnutrition and starvation-related deaths – have been breached. The latest analysis now affirms on the basis of reasonable evidence that these criteria have been met.

Almost two years of conflict, repeated displacement, and severe restrictions on humanitarian access, compounded by repeated interruptions and impediments to access to food, water, medical aid, support to agriculture, livestock and fisheries and the collapse of health, sanitation, and market systems, have pushed people into starvation.

Access to food in Gaza remains severely constrained. In July, the number of households reporting very severe hunger doubled across the territory compared to May and more than tripled in Gaza City. More than one in three people (39 percent) indicated they were going days at a time without eating, and adults regularly skip meals to feed their children.

Malnutrition among children in Gaza is accelerating at a catastrophic pace. In July alone, more than 12 000 children were identified as acutely malnourished – the highest monthly figure ever recorded and a six-fold increase since the start of the year. Nearly one in four of these children were suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), the deadliest form with both short and long-term impacts.

Since the last IPC Analysis in May, the number of children expected to be at severe risk of death from malnutrition by the end of June 2026 has tripled from 14 100 to 43 400. Similarly, for pregnant and breastfeeding women, the number of estimated cases has tripled from 17 000 in May to 55 000 women expected to be suffering from perilous levels of malnutrition by mid-2026. The impact is visible: one in five babies are born prematurely or underweight.

The new assessment reports the most severe deterioration since the IPC began analyzing acute food insecurity and acute malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, and it marks the first time a famine has been officially confirmed in the Middle East region.

Since July, food and aid supplies entering Gaza increased slightly but remained vastly insufficient, inconsistent and inaccessible compared to the need.

Meanwhile, approximately 98 percent of cropland in the territory is damaged or inaccessible – decimating the agriculture sector and local food production – and nine of ten people have been serially displaced from homes. Cash is critically scarce, aid operations remain severely disrupted, with most UN trucks looted amid growing desperation. Food prices are extremely high and there are not enough fuel and water to cook and medicines and medical supplies.

Gaza’s health system has severely deteriorated, access to safe drinking water and sanitation services has been drastically reduced, while multi-drug resistant infections are surging and levels of morbidity – including diarrhoea, fever, acute respiratory and skin infections – are alarmingly high among children.

To enable lifesaving humanitarian operations, the U.N. agencies emphasized the importance of an immediate and sustained ceasefire to stop the killing, allow for the safe release of hostages and permit unimpeded access for a mass influx of assistance to reach people across Gaza. 

They stressed the urgent need for greater amounts of food aid, along with dramatically improved delivery, distribution and accessibility, as well as shelter, fuel, cooking gas and food production inputs. 

They emphasized that it is critical to support the rehabilitation of the health system, maintain and revive essential health services, including primary health care, and ensure sustained delivery of health supplies into and across Gaza. The restoration of commercial flows at scale, market systems, essential services, and local food production is also vital if the worst outcomes of the famine are to be avoided.

“People in Gaza have exhausted every possible means of survival. Hunger and malnutrition are claiming lives every day, and the destruction of cropland, livestock, greenhouses, fishery and food production systems has made the situation even more dire,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. “Our priority must now be safe and sustained access for large-scale food assistance. Access to food is not a privilege – it is a basic human right.”

“Famine warnings have been clear for months,” said Cindy McCain, WFP Executive Director. “What’s urgently needed now is a surge of aid, safer conditions, and proven distribution systems to reach those most in need – wherever they are. Full humanitarian access and a ceasefire now are critical to save lives.”

“Famine is now a grim reality for children in Gaza Governorate, and a looming threat in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “As we have repeatedly warned, the signs were unmistakable: children with wasted bodies, too weak to cry or eat; babies dying from hunger and preventable disease; parents arriving at clinics with nothing left to feed their children. There is no time to lose. Without an immediate ceasefire and full humanitarian access, famine will spread, and more children will die. Children on the brink of starvation need the special therapeutic feeding that UNICEF provides.”

“A ceasefire is an absolute and moral imperative now,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “The world has waited too long, watching tragic and unnecessary deaths mount from this man-made famine. Widespread malnutrition means that even common and usually mild diseases like diarrhoea are becoming fatal, especially for children. The health system, run by hungry and exhausted health workers, cannot cope. Gaza must be urgently supplied with food and medicines to save lives and begin the process of reversing malnutrition. Hospitals must be protected so that they can continue treating patients. Aid blockages must end, and peace must be restored, so that healing can begin.”

 

Notes for editors

Access the IPC alert https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Famine_Review_Committee_Report_Gaza_Aug2025.pdf.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is an innovative 21-partner initiative – made up of UN agencies and international NGOs – for improving food security and nutrition analysis and decision-making. By using the IPC classification and analytical approach, governments, UN Agencies, NGOs, civil society and other relevant actors, work together to determine the severity and magnitude of acute and chronic food insecurity, and acute malnutrition situations in a country, according to internationally-recognized scientific standards. Find out more https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/ipc-overview-and-classification-system/en/.

Source: World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/news/item/22-08-2025-famine-confirmed-for-first-time-in-gaza

____

#WHO #operations compromised following #attacks on warehouse and #facility sheltering #staff and #families in Deir al Balah, #Gaza

 

WHO condemns in the strongest terms the attacks on a building housing WHO staff in Deir al Balah in Gaza, the mistreatment of those sheltering there, and the destruction of its main warehouse.

Following intensified hostilities in Deir al Balah after the latest evacuation order issued by Israeli military, the WHO staff residence was attacked three times today. 

Staff and their families, including children, were exposed to grave danger and traumatized after airstrikes caused a fire and significant damage. 

Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward Al-Mawasi amid active conflict. 

Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot, and screened at gunpoint. 

Two WHO staff and two family members were detained. 

Three were later released, while one staff member remains in detention. 

Thirty-two people, including women and children, were collected and evacuated to the WHO office in a high-risk mission, once access became possible. 

The office itself is close to the evacuation zone and active conflict.

WHO demands continuous protection of its staff and the immediate release of the remaining detained staff member.

The latest evacuation order has affected several WHO premises. As the United Nations’s (UN) lead health agency, WHO’s operational presence in Gaza is now compromised, crippling efforts to sustain a collapsing health system and pushing survival further out of reach for more than two million people. 

Most of WHO’s staff housing is now inaccessible. Last night, due to intensified hostilities, 43 staff and their families were already relocated from several staff residences to the WHO office, under darkness and at significant risk.

WHO’s main warehouse located in Deir al Balah is within the evacuation zone, and was damaged yesterday after an attack caused explosions and fire inside - part of a pattern of systematic destruction of health facilities. It was later looted by desperate crowds.

With the main warehouse nonfunctional and the majority of medical supplies in Gaza depleted, WHO is severely constrained in adequately supporting hospitals, emergency medical teams and health partners, already critically short on medicines, fuel, and equipment. WHO urgently calls on Member States to help ensure a sustained and regular flow of medical supplies into Gaza.

The geographical coordinates of all WHO premises, including offices, warehouses, and staff housing, are shared with the relevant parties. These facilities are the backbone of WHO’s operations in Gaza and must always be protected, regardless of evacuation or displacement orders. Any threat to these premises is a threat to the entire humanitarian health response in Gaza.  

In line with the UN’s decision, WHO will remain in Deir al Balah, deliver and expand its operations.

With 88% of Gaza now under evacuation orders or within Israeli-militarized zones, there is no safe place to go.

WHO is appalled by the dangerous conditions under which humanitarians and health workers are forced to operate. As the security situation and access continue to deteriorate, red lines are repeatedly crossed, and humanitarian operations pushed into an ever-shrinking space to respond. 

WHO calls for the immediate release of the WHO staff member detained today, and the protection of all our staff and its premises. We reiterate our call for the active protection of civilians, health care and its premises and for rapid and unimpeded flow of aid, including food, fuel and health supplies, at scale into and across Gaza. WHO also calls for the unconditional release of hostages. 

Life in Gaza is being relentlessly squeezed, and the chance to prevent loss of lives and reverse immense damage to the health system slips further out of reach each day. A ceasefire is not just necessary, it is overdue. 

Source: World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/news/item/21-07-2025-who-operations-compromised-following-attacks-on-warehouse-and-facility-sheltering-staff-and-families-in-deir-al-balah

____