UNRWA Situation Report #217 on the Humanitarian Crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem)

UNRWA

16 Apr 2026

All information updated for 8 – 14 April 2026 [1]

Days 913 – 919 since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip

Highlights

The Gaza Strip

• Airstrikes, shelling, and gunfire continued across the Gaza Strip, resulting in civilian casualties. Escalations were reported notably in Beit Lahia, Jabalia, Bureij, Maghazi, Deir al Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah.
• There are continued reports of ectoparasitic infestations, including scabies and fleas, and rodent infestations in displacement sites, driven by overcrowding, disrupted WASH services, and poor environmental conditions. OCHA reported findings from the latest rapid assessment conducted by the Site Management Cluster in March, spanning more than 1,600 active displacement sites. The assessment showed that 80 per cent of such sites have frequent and visible rodent and pest presence, while skin diseases are widespread in 48 per cent.
• The third round of an immunization catch-up campaign, led by UNRWA, WHO, UNICEF, and partners in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, took place between 5 and 9 April, aiming to vaccinate 6,000 children under 3 years of age. UNRWA teams vaccinated almost 2,100 children as part of the campaign. Out of the 147 teams involved, 27 were from UNRWA. Furthermore, a total of 83 students received routine immunizations through UNRWA’s school health services.

Key points

The Gaza Strip

Fatalities and injuries

• Between 7 October 2023 and 8 April 2026, according to the Ministry of Health, as reported by OCHA, 72,315 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip and another 172,137 injured.
• UNRWA has recorded 391 colleagues killed in Gaza since the start of the war (310 UNRWA personnel, and 81 persons who were supporting UNRWA[2]), up to 31 March.

Health crisis

• UNRWA teams have observed an increase in cases of ectoparasitic infection and chickenpox, with challenges in securing medication and pesticides affecting the ability to control the problem. UNRWA continues to closely monitor the trend in infectious diseases across multiple collective emergency shelters, with heightened risks related to overcrowding, deteriorating wastewater systems, shortages of hygiene supplies on the local market, and restrictions on the entry of chemical products.

Displacement, Site management

• UNRWA continues to monitor the movement of displaced persons and displacement sites. An estimated 67,000 displaced people are living in 83 collective emergency shelters managed by the Agency.
• Currently, 127 UNRWA facilities are located within the Israeli-militarised zone behind the so-called “Yellow Line” and in areas where access is subject to Israeli approval or coordination.

Operational implications and humanitarian response

• Around 11,000 Palestinian UNRWA personnel continue to provide services and assistance to people in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, UNRWA continues to play a central role with over 4,000 UNRWA Palestinian personnel providing education, health, and other services to Palestine Refugees.
• All UNRWA international staff are prevented from entering the Occupied Palestinian Territory – the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This follows the implementation of laws passed by the Israeli parliament on 28 October 2024[3] that purport to prohibit UNRWA’s operations in areas that Israel considers its sovereign territory, including occupied East Jerusalem, and seek to bar any contact by Israeli officials with UNRWA. The Israeli authorities have not granted the Agency’s international staff visas or permits to enter the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Gaza, since the end of January 2025.
• Since March 2025, the Israeli authorities have been blocking UNRWA from directly bringing humanitarian personnel and aid into the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, pre-positioned outside Gaza, UNRWA has enough food parcels, flour, and shelter supplies for hundreds of thousands of people.

The occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem

• According to OCHA, between 7 October 2023 and 30 March 2026, 1,079 Palestinians – at least 235 of them children – were killed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Thirty-three of them have been killed since the beginning of 2026.
• A Palestinian child was shot and critically injured in Jalazone Camp during armed clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians during a search operation late on 9 April.
• A Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli settlers in Deir Jarir, near Ramallah, on 11 April. Settler violence has spiked, with 10 Palestinians killed in this context since the end of February 2026,. March was one of the deadliest months of settler violence ever recorded in the occupied West Bank. The latest death came just days after it was publicly reported that the Israeli security cabinet had approved the establishment of 34 new Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which remain illegal under international law.
• Movement and access restrictions across the occupied West Bank were somewhat eased following the 7 April announcement of a two-week ceasefire in the wider regional conflict that began on 28 February. This included a loosening of limits on gatherings at religious sites, with worshippers marking Orthodox Easter in Jerusalem Old City.