Israel/Hamas War Situation Report #36

Military and Diplomatic Highlights:

· The Israeli Prime Minister stated that as of February 4th, A total of 17 of 24 Hamas battalions have been destroyed.

· The Israeli Ministry of Defense and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have completed the first phase of distributing weapons to the local defense forces in about 70 localities in the Gaza Envelope.

· The IDF reported that a fighter jet killed an Islamic Jihad terrorist who participated in the October 7th attack.

Civil Protection and Humanitarian Assistance Highlights:

· The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) as of February 6th, has still not heard from their EMS team that responded to the emergency call of 6-year-old Hind.

· The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported as of February 6th, that none of their 22 requests to open checkpoints early to access areas north of Wadi Gaza in January were facilitated.

· Continuing Displacement Update:

o Up to 1.7 million people (75% of the population) have been displaced, some multiple times as of February 3rd.

o As of February 5th, the influx of thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) into Rafah continues to be reported, including due to intense fighting in Khan Younis:

ü It is estimated that Rafah is already hosting over half of Gaza’s population and five times its population prior to October 7th.

o IDPs are continuing to face acute shortages of food, water, shelter, and medicine. An example is the UN Children’s Fund reported on February 5th that newly arriving IDPs have 1.5 to 2 liters of water per day to drink, cook and wash.

o On February 5th, the IDF re-announced evacuation orders that were first issued on January 23 and 29 for residents of specific areas in Khan Younis and Gaza governorates.

o The Israeli government approved a request from the PRCS to enable 8,000 IDPs who had sought refuge at Al Amal hospital and the PRCS headquarters in Khan Younis to reach Al Mawasi area, also in Khan Younis.

· Healthcare and Public Health Update:

o The World Health Organization (WHO) reported on February 2nd, that 22,000 IDPs are sheltering in the Gaza European Hospital due to the ongoing intensive fighting in Khan Younis:

ü This hospital has a capacity of 670 beds and is serving 800 patients, with the following services having limited functionality:

Ø Emergency department

Ø Intensive care unit

Ø Surgery and wound care

Ø Child and neonatal care

Ø Laboratory and radiology

ü WHO also delivered essential medical supplies for 9,000 patients.

o As of February 6th, a total of 84% of healthcare facilities in Gaza have been affected by attacks:

ü Only 4 of 22 UNRWA health facilities are still operational.

· The Israeli Prime Minister is continuing to accuse the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) of collaborating with Hamas and that the agency should be shut down.

Violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Highlights:

· On February 2nd, the PRCS reported that the Youth and Volunteers Department Director (Hedaya Hamad) was killed by IDF snipers at the PRCS headquarters in Khan Yunis.

· There have been five incidents of civilians been fired at while waiting for humanitarian aid trucks. The most recent incident occurred on February 4th near the Al Kuwaiti roundabout in southern Gaza city.

· On February 5th, UNRWA reported that a food convoy waiting to move into Northern Gaza was hit by Israeli naval gunfire.

· As of February 5th, the UN has recorded 506 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.

· On February 6th, Israel arrested three PRCS volunteers while they were passing through the humanitarian corridor for IDPs at the Al-Amal Hospital.

· The UN Secretary-General has appointed an independent review group to assess how the agency ensures neutrality and responds to allegations of serious breaches:

o This group will be led by Catherine Colonna, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, who will work with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, the Chr. Michelsen Institute, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.

o The group’s mission objectives are:

ü To identify the mechanisms and procedures that the Agency currently has in place to ensure neutrality and to respond to allegations or information indicating that the principle may have been breached.

ü To ascertain how those mechanisms and procedures have, or have not, been implemented in practice.

ü To assess the adequacy of those mechanisms and procedures and whether they are fit for purpose.

ü Make recommendations for the improvement and strengthening of the mechanisms and procedures that are currently in place or for the creation of new and alternative mechanisms and procedures.

Sources:

· Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #111

· UNRWA Situation Report #73 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (all information from 1-3 February 2024, is valid as of 3 February 2024 at 22:30)

· Prime Minister of Israel Twitter Page

· Israeli Ministry of Defense Twitter Page

· Israeli Defense Forces Twitter Page

· Palestine Red Crescent Society Twitter Page

· UNRWA Commissioner-General Twitter Page

· UN Agency for Palestine Refugees Twitter Page

· WHO Occupied Territories Twitter Page

Resources

ADL, We Stand with Israel Website