Famine looms in Gaza, and nowhere is safe for civilians

Ten months on, and civilians continue to pay the highest price in Gaza. People desperately need food, clean water, healthcare and shelter

DONATE to the Gaza Crisis Appeal

Last updated 3 September 2024

What is happening in Gaza: the latest news

We are witnessing an unbearable human tragedy in Gaza. Famine is looming and the healthcare system has all but collapsed. For people to have any chance of survival, humanitarian agencies must be allowed to bring in aid much faster, and an unimpeded flow guaranteed.

Polio vaccination campaign in Gaza

3 September 2024: The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), which has now reached over 1.8 million people, has launched a polio vaccination campaign at various medical points in Deir al-Balah Governorate. The campaign is expected to vaccinate 10,000 children daily at PRCS medical facilities in the central governorate.

The campaign is being conducted in cooperation with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNRWA, and the Ministry of Health. It will continue for four days in each governorate, and approximately 640,000 children, aged from one day to 10 years are expected to benefit from the vaccination campaign.

Summary of events in Gaza

• Conflict shows no signs of slowing and the humanitarian situation deteriorates by the hour
• 39,363 people have died in Gaza, and a further 569 in the West Bank
• 90,923 people have been injured in Gaza and a further 5,500 in the West Bank

The impact of this violence has been affecting communities on both sides of the conflict, since it escalated on Saturday 7 October.

In Israel, more than 1,200 people have died following the attack on 7 October. A further 5,430 have been injured.

Please help people in Gaza

The Palestine Red Crescent Society is on the ground. But with conditions worsening by the hour, much more is needed. Through a sustained effort over a long period of time, we can avert an even greater catastrophe in Gaza.

Your donation will go towards food parcels, blankets, mattresses, tents, hygiene kits and other essentials. 

• If you can, please donate to the Gaza Crisis Appeal

How your donations are helping

Is aid getting into Gaza?

It has now been three months since the Rafah border, a critical lifeline for humanitarian aid into Gaza, was closed.

The Rafah border crossing was one of the largest and most important aid crossings and though some aid has continued to enter Gaza, the closure is exacerbating an already dire situation. Only a trickle of aid is reaching the area, leaving the Palestine Red Crescent Society teams in Gaza delivering lifesaving aid with much reduced resources.

We need safe, unimpeded, and sustained humanitarian access into and throughout Gaza. Land-based delivery through the south of Gaza remains the most effective way to deliver aid. These roads are the main arteries for aid delivery and so have the greatest capacity.

• Explainer: how is aid getting into Gaza?

Is there a famine in Gaza?

The lack of aid access has had devastating effects for the people of Gaza, who have endured critical food insecurity and face the prospect of famine.

The independent and internationally recognised Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warned in March that famine was imminent in the north of Gaza, and also possible later in the south in the worst-case scenario.

• Explainer: what is food insecurity and why it is a threat?

What's going on in Rafah, Gaza?

We are desperately concerned about the ongoing situation in Rafah as Gaza’s population has been pushed into even deeper levels of pain and suffering.

Around one million people have been displaced from Rafah. These people have already been displaced several times and there are no safe places for them to flee to. Hundreds of thousands of people fear what will happen next. All three hospitals in Rafah are non-functional, with only two out of six field hospitals functioning.

What's happening in the West Bank?

The rapidly deteriorating security situation and rising violence in the West Bank is deeply concerning - 2023 was the deadliest year in the West Bank in over a decade. 

According to UNOCHA, it has so far led to the deaths of more than 569 people, more than 5,500 injuries and the displacement of over 3,000 people due to the demolition or confiscation of homes and structures.

The violence in the West Bank could have irreversible consequences for communities. It has led to the loss of people’s land and livelihoods as some communities have been entirely displaced.

Movement restrictions, and thousands of square kilometres of unharvested olive groves have caused the complete closure of some cities and villages, and damaged the economy.

The violence has also re-displaced internally displaced people, with damage and destruction taking place in and around refugee camps.

Are any hospitals open in Gaza?

The healthcare system in Gaza has all but collapsed. Most hospitals have closed due to damage, insecurity or lack of fuel and supplies.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) continue to provide health services despite immense challenges.

Health workers have faced unimaginable challenges over the last ten months.

Since hostilities escalated, hundreds of medical and humanitarian workers have lost their lives while trying to deliver essential medical care and aid. This is unacceptable – medical facilities, health workers and patients, must be protected.

To meet the vast medical needs in Gaza, the Red Cross had recently opened a field hospital, with facilities for emergency care and a mother and child unit.

• More about the Red Cross field hospital in Rafah

Are people homeless in Gaza?

A million people have been forced to evacuate Rafah since the start of May, and people have been displaced up to six times. There is nowhere safe in Gaza for people to go, and nowhere that can adequately meet people’s basic needs.

Many have sought shelter in Rafah, having already been displaced multiple times along the way. Men, women and children have walked for days past horrific scenes of death and destruction, sometimes losing family members throughout the journey.

People are struggling to live with dignity in makeshift tents next to waste or sewerage areas; many are sleeping in the open, or trying to cover themselves with cardboard and scraps of wood.

Those able to find a space in a displacement camp have just one square metre per person. Many shelters lack sufficient ventilation and over half are soaked by water and rain - infectious diseases are spreading rapidly, and vulnerable people are dying.

Is there any clean water in Gaza?

There are acute shortages of water as 67% of critical water infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed by the ongoing hostilities. Dehydration is making people extremely ill, with children the most vulnerable.

With no means of removing waste water, the overpowering stench of sewage, rubbish and mould is another reality of conflict in Gaza, along with hunger and dehydration.

Infectious diseases, such as vomiting, diarrhoea and hepatitis are spreading rapidly in Gaza, especially in the overcrowded areas where people shelter. Many of the elderly and sick are at greater risk of dying from these diseases.

How is the Palestine Red Crescent supporting people in Gaza?

The Palestine Red Crescent Society is working day and night, risking, and losing, their lives to deliver assistance. They are mandated to receive and distribute this aid to where it is needed most in Gaza.

In the Gaza Strip PRCS teams have:

• received over 21,500 trucks of humanitarian aid for distribution in Gaza
• reached over 1.8m people with food parcels, blankets, mattresses, tents, hygiene kits and other essentials
• supported over 345,000 people with health services
• provided psychosocial support to over 94,000 people
• reached more than 50,000 people with emergency medical services
• set up 14 camps for displaced people.

The ICRC has opened a 60-bed field hospital in Rafah, and medical teams have performed over 14,500 consultations and 600 surgical procedures. Teams have also performed 3,500 surgical procedures at the European Gaza Hospital.

In the West Bank PRCS teams have:

• responded to 4,052 injuries
• delivered food parcels to 42,840 people

"We must always have hope": what it's like for Red Cross Red Crescent colleagues responding to the crisis in Gaza

How to help people in Gaza

The best way to help people in Gaza is by donating to our emergency appeal.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society is rooted in the community and have been working to support everyone affected by the conflict since the violence escalated in October 2023, and for many years before that.

• Donate to the Gaza Crisis Appeal

Map of Israel and the Gaza Strip

What is the British Red Cross doing for Gaza?

The British Red Cross is directly supporting our partners in the Movement – including the Palestine Red Crescent Society – to respond to these urgent needs, providing funding as well as expert staff.

We have also deployed logistics and managerial staff to the region to support with the delivery and distribution of aid and humanitarian assistance. 

We will do all we can to support people on both sides of the conflict for as long as we’re needed.

What is the Occupied Palestinian Territory?

The Occupied Palestinian Territory or OPT is an internationally accepted description, used by the United Nations. It refers to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (including East Jerusalem). 

What is the Gaza Strip?

The Gaza Strip is part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It is an enclave 25 miles long and six miles wide, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea, Israel, and Egypt.

More on the crisis in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank

• Teaching resources on the Israel, Gaza and the West Bank conflict

• Teaching resources on International Humanitarian Law