OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY AND ISRAEL CRISIS ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT APRIL 2024
6 MONTHS OF AGONY The escalation in response to the horrific 7 October 2023 attacks by Palestinian armed groups, is the latest and most brutal onslaught of violence carried out by Israel against Palestinians in the 57-year-long Israeli occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Oxfam along with 14 partner organisations have reached a total of 262,424 people with cash, food, and essential basic items as well as restoring water and sanitation services and providing protection to vulnerable groups. Oxfam is leading on campaigns for a permanent ceasefire and unfettered humanitarian access at the global level. We are grateful to our supporters and institutional donors for their contributions to this response.
Before October 7, over 80% of the population of Gaza relied on some form of humanitarian aid for survival, and life in the Gaza Strip was characterised by the almost total restriction on travel and trade, the absence of social safety nets and livelihood opportunities. However, since this latest Israeli escalation, after the horrific attacks on Oct 7 by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, almost all 2.3 million Palestinians trapped inside the Gaza Strip have been subject to terrifying bombardment, hunger, multiple displacements and constant fear. Palestinians in the West Bank have also seen a surge in violence, including raids, airstrikes and arbitrary detention. The Israeli military onslaught, which has included dropping at least 45,000 bombs within the first three months of the war, has killed at least 33,000 people, about 180 a day. However, the actual figure is estimated to be much higher, as many remain trapped under rubble. This death toll does not include those who have died due to lack of medicines, such as cancer or dialysis patients who have not been able to access life-saving treatments. At least 70,000 people have been injured, including tens of thousands with life-changing injuries. UNICEF reported that, by the 7th of January 2024, more than 1,000 children had one or both legs amputated. These children have to adapt to living with a disability while living in a war zone
Destruction caused by Israeli airstrikes in Al Remal neighbourhood in Gaza City . (photo: Marwan Sawwaf/Alef MultiMedia/Oxfam
without enough food to eat, school, and, in many cases without one or both parents. 75% of the population has been displaced, almost 2 million people, most of whom are now crammed into an area less than half the size of the entire Gaza Strip, already one of the most densely populated areas in the world. The Oxfam team in the OPT has mounted a humanitarian response despite unprecedented challenges. Along with partner organisations in Gaza, Oxfam started responding in the days after the crisis, delivering cash, food, essential basic items and restoring water and sanitation services where possible. Oxfam and partner staff are working under extremely challenging circumstances. Supply lines from Egypt and Jordan have been needlessly restricted by Israel, who have installed an opaque, excessively bureaucratic process for importing essential life-saving aid that causes delays and, sometimes, items to be rejected while waiting at the Rafah border for weeks or months.