Emergency Manager's Weekly Report
- Apr 11
- 7 min read

Israel/Hamas War Situation Report #44

Military and Diplomatic Highlights:

· As of April 7th, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported the following:

o A total of 604 soldiers have been killed.

o More than 12,000 rockets have targeted Israel.

o Over 300,000 IDF Reservists have been called up to serve.

· The IDF reported that they have killed the following terrorist leaders:

o Amir Haniyeh, Hamas Cell Commander

o Ali Ahmed Hassin, Hezbollah Commander of the Radwan Forces

· On April 7th, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) reported that the IDF reportedly withdrew most of its ground forces from the southern Gaza Strip, leaving one brigade stationed in the newly established military corridor south of Gaza city.

Civil Protection and Humanitarian Assistance Highlights:

· On April 9th, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) supported by the Kuwait Red Crescent Society distributed 5,100 hot meals to displaced persons in the PRCS shelter camps in the areas of Mawasi Khan Younis, Rafah, and Deir al-Balah.

· In March, access restrictions and denials of movement by Israeli authorities have continued to hamper the delivery of life-saving assistance:

o Access into Gaza is characterized by lengthy inspection processes, fuel shortages resulting from Israeli restrictions, and restrictions on the movement of trucks, convoys, and vetted drivers and congestion at the Kerem Shalom crossing.

o Only 26% of planned food missions to high-risk areas requiring coordination with Israeli authorities were facilitated:

ü 51% were either denied or impeded.

ü 23% were postponed or withdrawn due to security concerns or operational constraints.

o For movement between southern and northern Gaza, Israeli authorities facilitated less than half of planned aid missions in March and humanitarian actors could only utilize one route, with a limited use so far of the Fence Road on Gaza's eastern border.

· On April 6th, Israeli authorities have made several commitments to facilitate the ability of humanitarian actors to scale-up assistance in Gaza. This includes:

o The temporary re-opening of Erez crossing to allow for the direct entry of assistance into northern Gaza from Ashdod port.

o Expansion of operating hours and scanning capacity at Kerem Shalom and Nitsana crossings.

o Increasing the number of trucks entering through the Jordan corridor via Allenby Bridge from 25 to at least 50 a day.

o Approval to resume the operation of the water pipeline in northern Gaza.

o Establishment of a coordination cell that links humanitarian actors directly with the IDF Southern Command.

o The deadline for these commitments has not been released.

· As of April 9th, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 11 of 36 hospitals are partially functional.

· The UN Agency for Palestine Refugees reports that 62% of all homes have either been damaged or destroyed.

· OCHA released the needs and challenges in Gaza between April 2-8:

o Healthcare and Public Health

ü Needs:

Ø Urgently establish field hospitals in northern Gaza to relieve the pressure on the four remaining partially functioning hospitals.

Ø Expand the capacity of the ten remaining partially functional hospitals across the Gaza Strip.

Ø Enhance preparedness in the western coastal areas of Rafah as part of contingency planning.

Ø Increase access to essential healthcare services for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities, particularly the most vulnerable, such as children, pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBW), and people with chronic illnesses.

Ø Expand routine immunization, disease surveillance, and laboratory and diagnostic capacity.

ü Challenges:

Ø Limited access to fuel continues to pose major challenges to partner operations, especially local NGOs.

Ø Poor living conditions and scarce or no access to proper water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities continue to fuel a high risk of disease outbreak.

o Food Security

ü Needs:

Ø Immediate, uninterrupted, and safe access across Gaza to address catastrophic levels of food insecurity, scale up the delivery of life-saving aid, and ward off famine, including the need for a secure humanitarian corridor.

Ø A continuous supply of fuel and cooking gas to sustain humanitarian operations and keep essential services, such as mills and bakeries, operational.

Ø Revitalizing agriculture, livestock, and fishing activities to restore livelihoods and ensure a sustained supply of nutritious food.

ü Challenges:

Ø Limited humanitarian access throughout Gaza, particularly in the northern areas, continues to exacerbate the catastrophic levels of food insecurity already faced by the population and to prevent the urgent delivery of life-saving food commodities. Failure to aid could exacerbate displacement, increase vulnerability to exploitation, and perpetuate cycles of instability.

Ø Distribution efforts between 25 March and 7 April faced numerous access challenges. In northern Gaza, food distribution by humanitarian actors reached only 16 per cent of the population. In Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, food assistance reached 45 per cent of the population, while in Rafah, where more than a million people are concentrated, only 30 per cent of the population was reached.

Ø The limited number of entry points into Gaza and sub-optimal operating hours at crossings and checkpoints continues to constrain the ability to expand supply routes.

Ø Infrastructural and security hurdles continue to hinder mobility and safe humanitarian access within Gaza, with escorts necessary to safeguard convoys.

Ø The lack of sufficient fuel for essential services and operations.

o Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH):

ü Needs:

Ø Enhance access to safe drinking water, especially in northern Gaza, and improve the functioning of water supply systems amid reduced water production capacities.

Ø Increase access to sanitation facilities for IDPs, particularly emergency latrines, showers, as well as solid and liquid waste management.

Ø Address shortages of hygiene kits, disinfection materials and other essential WASH supplies, particularly among displaced populations.

ü Challenges:

Ø Water production remains very low, amounting to approximately 48,000 cubic meters per day. Only one out of three water pipelines coming from Israel is operational at 70 per cent of its full capacity; two out of the three main desalination plants are partially functional, while the UAE's small desalination plant is working at full capacity and only 34 water wells are operational.

Ø Combined with limited fuel supply and water trucking capacity, the unavailability of water testing kits and water treatment chemicals hampers water accessibility and water quality control.

Ø Limited access to northern Gaza continues to severely undermine the scaling-up of WASH services.

Ø Limitations on the entry of construction material and other WASH-related material and supplies into Gaza are hindering the response and have triggered a rapid increase in market prices of construction and other WASH-related items.

Violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Highlights:

· As of April 7th, Israel reports that there a total of 133 hostages being held by Hamas.

· A total of 180 UN staff have been killed as of April 9th.

· The PRCS reported on April 7th, that a total of 16 staff members have been killed since the start of Israel’s invasion.

· UN OCHA reports the following as of April 8th:

o There were 33,207 fatalities.

o At least 75,933 people have been injured.

o A total of 1.7 million have been displaced.

o At least 1.1 million people are projected to face catastrophic levels of food insecurity.

· IDF has released the findings of their investigation into the attack on World Central Kitchen. Based on the these finding the IDF Chief of the General Staff took the following actions:

o The brigade fire support commander will be dismissed from his position.

o The brigade chief of staff will be dismissed from his position.

o The brigade commander and the 162nd Division commander will be formally reprimanded.

o The IDF Commander of the Southern Command will be formally reprimanded.

· The World Central Kitchen (WCK) released a statement in response the IDFs findings:

o The IDF has deployed deadly force without regard to its own protocols, chain of command and rules of engagement.

o The IDF has acknowledged that our teams followed all proper communications procedures.

o The IDF’s own video fails to show any cause to fire on our personnel convoy, which carried no weapons and posed no threat.

o WCK demands the creation of an independent commission to investigate the killings of our WCK colleagues. The IDF cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza.

· The WCK reported on April 10th, that one of their Palestinian staff members was gravely injured in an airstrike at the al-Bashir Mosque in Deir al-Balah on April 1. This attack occurred just 15 minutes before the strikes that killed the seven WCK staff members.

· On April 6th, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners reached the Al-Shifa Hospital:

o The team found at least five dead people.

o Most of the buildings in the hospital’s complex were extensively destroyed and most assets were damaged or reduced to ashes.

o Even restoring minimal functionality in the short term seems implausible.

· The PRCS provided an update on the status of the Al Amal Hospital following the withdrawal of the IDF:

o The hospital is incapable of providing services due to the damage inflicted by the IDF. This included the destruction of medical equipment, nursing rooms, intensive care units, the ophthalmology department, the emergency operations room, and ambulances.

· The PRCS reported on April 7th, that the body of Mohammed Abed was discovered at the Al-Amal Hospital. He was killed by the IDF during the PRCS evacuation of the hospital.

Cultural Heritage Protection Highlights:

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) has verified damage to 43 sites as of April 8th, they include:

· 10 Religious sites

· 24 Buildings of historical and/or artistic interest

· 2 Depositories of movable cultural property

· 3 Monuments

· 1 Museum

· 3 Archeological sites

Sources:

· Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #151

· Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel - reported humanitarian impact, 8 April 2024 at 15:00

· Humanitarian Needs and Response Update | 2-8 April 2024