HUMANITARIAN SITUATION, PROBLEMS, and AGENCIES PRESENT.
In the West Bank, UN humanitarian access to most towns and villages, while officially allowed, is often still delayed by bureaucratic procedures. Delivery is made more difficult by the fact that field offices remain short of personnel due to movement restrictions experienced by Palestinian staff members. Bethlehem remains a closed military area. In Gaza, tight internal closures continue to take a heavy toll on the providers of essential humanitarian services such as UNRWA, the ICRC, and local authorities, and times even the International Red Cross. A humanitarian crisis is happening in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli authorities continue to block the entry of basic food items, medicines and fuel, and refuse to relax internal restrictions. Palestinians are also unable to move freely in most of the West Bank due to curfews, checkpoints, and ongoing IDF military operations. Curfews remain in place on a number of towns throughout the West Bank. Israel has closed off areas and restricted the movement of Palestinians during years of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed, marked by Palestinians suicide bombings and attacks against military and civilian targets and Israeli incursions into Palestinian controlled zones. .
Some 100,000 Palestinian jobs in Israel have been lost, agricultural production has fallen, and large parts of the Palestinian population are unable to get access to basic services such as health care, education, food and water. Malnutrition has been increasing with a percentage of children under 5 now suffering from chronic or acute malnutrition. Half of the population has had to borrow money to purchase food. Households have had to sell assets to buy food, including jewelry and other personal effects. More then half of the Palestinians now receive direct food assistance, a more than five-fold increase from two years ago. International and Palestinian aid organizations have faced increasing obstacles in delivering food and humanitarian supplies including permit requirements, denial of access at borders and checkpoints and denial of aid.
