UN Agencies Express Concern Over Civilian Safety in Palestine
United Nations humanitarian agencies expressed deep concern on Wednesday (2/9) regarding the safety and well-being of civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories, after three children were reported killed within a 24-hour period.
UNICEF stated on Wednesday via its Facebook page that two girls and one boy, aged between 3 and 13, were reported dead in Gaza over the last 24 hours, with at least five other children injured. UNICEF emphasised that to protect children, the use of explosive weapons and indiscriminate fire must be avoided.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that three guards working for humanitarian partners sustained minor injuries on Tuesday (1/9) during armed clashes in Gaza City.
OCHA noted that in Deir al-Balah, the outer walls of two UN guesthouses were hit by projectiles, causing minor damage. An Israeli quadcopter drone was observed near the location.
OCHA further reported that on Wednesday, for the second consecutive day, approximately 1 million Gaza residents who rely on the Israeli water supply network were affected by reduced supplies. Water distributed from other sources via trucks has only been able to address a fraction of the shortage.
In the West Bank, OCHA stated that its humanitarian partners are deeply concerned by reports that the entire community of Khirbet at Tabban has been destroyed by Israeli forces. Khirbet is one of 13 herding communities in the Masafer Yatta area of Hebron. The community is home to over 1,000 people and is situated within the 18 per cent of the West Bank declared by Israeli authorities as a “firing zone” allocated for military training.
These communities have long faced demolition orders for all structures due to a lack of permits, even though Israeli authorities do not issue the necessary permits to Palestinians. Over the past two years, dozens of settler outposts have been established in the same area, with settler violence further increasing the pressure on Palestinians to leave the region.
OCHA stated that its partners are deploying emergency response efforts to support new refugees, while simultaneously supporting the livelihoods of vulnerable communities across the West Bank that are under pressure to abandon their lands. In this context, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced on Wednesday that herders in the West Bank have received 3.3 million vaccine doses from the agency and the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture to protect livestock and livelihoods over the last two years.