Highlights
The Gaza strip experienced a series of airstrikes and shelling during the month of August, the most intensive attacks since the ceasefire in August 2014. The violence in the West Bank including East Jerusalem also increased recently. There were more than 250 clashes between Palestinians and Israeli Security Forces (ISF), leaving more than 300 Palestinians and more than 15 Israelis, including a number of ISF personnel, injured. There were more than 15 stabbing incidents reported.
In September, the UNICEF-supported ‘protective presence and accompaniment’ resumed, benefiting 4,334 Palestinian children and 333 teachers. This is to provide protection and monitoring support to large numbers of Palestinian school-age children in the West Bank who experience harassment from Israeli settlers and soldiers on their way to and from school, as well as in the school yards and in their classrooms, which can impede their access to education among other negative impacts.
In Gaza, awareness-raising risk education sessions on explosive remnants of war (ERW) have been delivered to 6,086 children through family centers. The total reached since January is 148,500 children (including through governmental schools) in addition to 9,836 caregivers.
Wastewater networks were reconstructed in Khan Younis and Rafah, and the Jumizet Al-Sabeel wastewater pumping station was upgraded, benefiting 20,888 persons. A needs assessment was conducted to improve basic water, sanitation and hygiene conditions at household level, and implementation started end September following the selection of beneficiaries.
Micronutrient supplementation delivered through MOH services to pregnant and lactating mothers, both in the West Bank and Gaza, reached a total of 65,255 mothers and 58, 566 children under five (50% girls).
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
In September the UN Secretary-General highlighted the “continued humanitarian deprivations of Gaza’s nearly two million residents” and warned that the Gaza Strip is a ticking time bomb and called for a full lifting of movement and access restrictions, an end to illicit arms buildup and militant activities as well as Palestinian unity.
The situation in Jerusalem continues to simmer although it has calmed in comparison to the last quarter of 2015. The number of grave violations documented, killings and injuries, and attacks on schools has decreased (in part due to the school recess). Arrests and detentions of children remain high: 218 children were arrested in April – July (212 were documented arrested in January – March).
Following the rapid escalation in violence between children and Israeli Security Forces (ISF) in East Jerusalem in OctoberDecember 2015, UNICEF undertook a rapid appraisal in five areas (Old City, Silwan, Issawiya, Jabal Mukaber & Shu’fat Refugee Camp). 80 children (61 boys and 19 girls), and 30 caregivers were interviewed and identified key drivers to violence as being priority humanitarian service delivery gaps: in order of priority 1) retaliation and revenge response to alleged humiliation by ISF and settler violence, 2) role of social media in response to witnessed incident(s), 3) act of patriotism and 4) peer pressure and bullying were identified as main drivers within a context characterized by poor domestic conditions, boredom, and lack of playing spaces. The Child Protection Working Group developed a strategic plan for East Jerusalem in light of the recommendations, and steps are underway to finalise and secure funding for implementation. In the H2 area of Hebron, which is under Israeli control, frequent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian civilians have resulted in the isolation of schools and their staff, increasing the need for emergency preparedness as well as provision of psychosocial support to students and teachers.