Restoring ceasefire deal vital as death toll hits 50,000
and continues to rise amid Israeli airstrikes, aid and power
blockades, and renewed mass forced
displacements.
Oxfam and partners’ operations have
been severely hampered as Israel’s renewed military assault
and ground offensive on Gaza continues into its 7th
day.
Oxfam is calling for a renewed ceasefire and for
Israel to lift its 23-day siege which is again blocking aid
supplies and increasing famine risks for desperate
civilians. Israel imposed a complete blockade 23 days ago
and cut off electricity to Gaza a few days
later.
Israeli authorities are denying entry to trucks
loaded with 63,000 metric tons of food for 1.1 million
people. Operations have been forced to stop in vital areas
such as food security and livelihood, as well as hygiene
promotion, and essential repair work to damaged water
infrastructure.
Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s OPT
Policy Lead, said: “During the 42-day ceasefire families
in Gaza could finally fall asleep knowing their loved ones
would still be beside them when they woke up. Even though
aid that entered was not enough-far from enough-it was
something. The price of food stabilised. Supermarkets
reopened. Bakeries began running again. Many people even
went to their homes or what was left of it, and tried to
repair and rebuild, however little they
could.”
Humanitarian agencies were able to mount
operations that saw an average of more than 4,000 trucks per
week entering Gaza despite Israeli authorities initially
only partially opening the crossings and denying much of the
urgently needed reconstruction materials. Oxfam reached
almost 200,000 people with essential relief.
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The
Israeli government’s renewed bombardment of residential
areas, including Jabalia and Khan Younis, has killed almost
700 people, including at least 200 children since March 18.
Israeli authorities have issued new mass forced displacement
orders, forcing around 120,000 Palestinians to flee. These
orders are causing panic and chaos in the absence of
anywhere safe in Gaza.
Oxfam says humanitarian
operations have been gravely hindered by the absence of
guarantees of safety for aid workers moving around
Gaza.
Oxfam and its partners say their
storage facilities containing food parcels are severely
depleted. Israeli authorities have denied access to Oxfam
shipments of six desalination units and seven trucks of
water and sanitation infrastructure, up to 85% of which has
been destroyed by Israel’s bombing
campaign.
“Oxfam, through its partners
has been able to initiate emergency water trucking across
the Gaza Strip, and are maintaining some other aid programs,
such as multi-purpose cash transfers, despite the severe
challenges that all humanitarian workers now face around
lack of protection,” said Khalidi.
“For the past 535
days, Israel has been systematically weaponising life-saving
aid, inflicting collective punishment upon the population of
Gaza. The denial of food, water, fuel and electricity is a
war crime and a crime against humanity. Many within the
international community are enabling this by their silence,
inaction and complicity,” said Khalidi.
Oxfam’s
health partner in Gaza, Juzoor for Health and Social
Development, had its center in Jabalia destroyed in an
airstrike on March 18. It had been serving over 1,000
patients daily. Dr Umaiyeh Khammash, Director of Juzoor,
said: “Every airstrike that hits, threatens the lives and
safety of our dedicated staff and the patients they serve.
This center is not just a building; it’s the heartbeat of
healthcare for countless families here. Without it, many
will lose access to crucial medical care.”
In another
attack yesterday (March 23), three sewage operators from the
Abasan Al Kabira municipality working with Oxfam’s partner
Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) were killed
while performing their duties when their clearly- marked
truck was destroyed in an attack by Israeli
military.
A renewed ceasefire must be permanent and
accompanied by the safe return of Israeli hostages and
illegally detained Palestinian prisoners. Israel must
provide unfettered aid at scale. Oxfam said governments must
stop transferring arms, while the international community
must enforce international law. We reiterate our call for
justice and accountability for all those
affected.
Notes:
- Oxfam works with 19
partner organizations in the Gaza Strip. Between 20 January
and 28 February 2025, Oxfam reached a total of 181,622
people across the Gaza Strip with water and sanitation
services, including repair and reconstruction, protection,
multipurpose cash assistance, distribution of food parcels
and essential agricultural inputs for recovery, protection,
health care and case management. - Since Israel’s
breach of the ceasefire and airstrikes on Gaza on 18 March,
Oxfam staff movements have been severely restricted in the
absence of a notification system. This week, Oxfam’s
progammes in Gaza, including those of many partners, have
been severely impacted. Oxfam is still able to undertake
some water trucking and multipurpose cash distribution, but
under high-risk conditions - The fatality rate in Gaza
is based on the Palestinian Ministry of Health reporting on
24 March (11AM) and the fatality rate of children is
reported by UNICEF on 21 March - Since 2 March,
Israeli authorities have re-imposed a total siege,
blockading the entire Gaza Strip. It is banning the entry of
any humanitarian basic supplies, including water, food,
medical supplies and fuel, as well as banning any commercial
supplies to enter Gaza. - On 10 March, Israeli
authorities cut off electricity supply to the only
operational large-scale desalination plant for drinking
water. With the exception of that last remaining,
intermittent electricity feed to the desalination plant,
Gaza has been under an electricity blackout since 11 October
2023. - The current siege is one week longer than in
2023, when the Israeli authorities imposed a total siege
that lasted from 7-21 October 2023. - According to the
IPC
Special Snapshot – September 2024 – April 2025, the risk
of Famine between November 2024 and April 2025 persists as
long as conflict continues, and humanitarian access is
restricted - According to the Palestinian Water
Authority, 85% of the water and sanitation infrastructure in
Gaza is destroyed as a result of Israel’s bombing
campaign. - The UN
reported that during the 42-day ceasefire period, a total of
4,000 trucks per week travelled into Gaza, 600,000 people
received polio vaccinations and maternity care was provided
for 5,000 births. - Satellite images of the Gaza
displacement orders, on 18 March, covers an area amounting
to 37% of Gaza’s land and double the size of the original
buffer zone. This has been reported by Sky
News and the figures have been confirmed by the UN. The
UN reported on 21 March that more than 120,000 people had
fled since the evacuation orders were issued on 18
March. - Denial of Aid – breaches
Customary IHL Rule 55; 1977 Additional Protocol II Arts
69-71 and 81; Fourth Geneva Convention 1949, Arts 23,55-63
and 108-111; Rome Statute ICC, Crime Against Humanity of
Extermination, Art 7 1(b) “Extermination” includes the
intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the
deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to
bring about the destruction of part of a population.
OCHA / WFP food insecurity data,
released every tuesday (18 Mar 2025): Most recent OCHA
sitrep (18 Mar 2025): - Between
10 and 20 per cent of 4,500 surveyed pregnant and
breastfeeding women are malnourished, a recent analysis by
the Nutrition Cluster reveals. - To cope with
shortages, the Food Security Sector (FSS) partners are
drastically reducing food assistance to families, suspending
flour distribution to families to prioritize supplies for
bakeries, pausing the distribution of fresh produce, and
scaling down hot meal preparations at some community
kitchens. - FSS warns that over one million people
risk being left without food parcels in March, and at least
80 of the 170 community kitchens may be forced to close in
one to two weeks, if supplies, including cooking fuel, are
not allowed into Gaza. The FSS estimates that more than
50,000 metric tons (MT) of food supplies are required
monthly to assist everyone with full rations, in addition to
9,700 MT of flour needed monthly to keep the subsidized
bakeries running. - Since the ceasefire took effect on
19 January, and as of 15 March, 4,646 children have enrolled
in malnutrition treatment programmes, 672 of whom were
diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition. - The
Nutrition Cluster notes a decrease in monthly enrolments in
such programmes from about 5,000 in the month prior to the
ceasefire to a monthly average of 2,500 in Phase One of the
ceasefire. - Nutrition Cluster partners observed a
rising number of pregnant and breastfeeding women becoming
malnourished – between 10 and 20 per cent, - 11 March
inter-agency mission to eastern Khan Younis found that
agricultural facilities had been largely destroyed,
including 1,400 dunums of open land,150 greenhouses, 90
poultry farms, and dozens of livestock and dairy cattle
farms. The remaining cultivated land did not exceed 70-80
dunums. - Market
survey carried out by WFP covering key
developments during the first half of March (14th Mar
published): - WFP currently has sufficient
food stocks to support active kitchens and bakeries for up
to one month, as well as ready-to-eat food parcels to
support 550,000 people for two weeks. - WFP has
approximately 63,000 metric tons of food destined for Gaza,
stored or in transit in the region. This is equivalent to
two to three months of distributions for 1.1 million people,
pending authorization to enter Gaza. - Traders have
begun withholding goods due to uncertainty over when new
supplies will
arrive.
