Humanitarian Situation

Food insecurity remains widespread across the Gaza Strip.

IPC's July 2026 analysis found that more than 1.2 million people, 59 percent of the analysed population, faced Crisis or worse acute food insecurity between mid-April and the end of June 2026.

For July through December 2026, IPC projected deterioration, with more than 1.4 million people, 67 percent of the analysed population, expected to face Crisis or worse conditions.

Within that projection, approximately 212,000 people were expected to remain in Emergency, IPC Phase 4.

IPC states that large-scale assistance following the October 2025 ceasefire improved food security and nutrition conditions, while warning that needs remain high and humanitarian assistance remains fragile.

OCHA reported on 2 October 2026 that funding shortfalls were expected to significantly reduce daily cooked-meal production and monthly household food-parcel distribution from October onward.

The World Health Organization says health needs in the occupied Palestinian territory remain immense while health capacity remains limited.

WHO reports that hospitals have operated far beyond capacity and that thousands of people with life-changing injuries require long-term rehabilitation.

Essential services including maternal and newborn care and treatment for chronic physical and mental health conditions have been severely compromised.

WHO also reports attacks on health care affecting health workers, patients, health facilities and ambulances.

OCHA's 2 October 2026 report describes the health situation in Gaza as critical, with infectious diseases remaining widespread amid overcrowded displacement sites and inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene conditions.

Shelter conditions remain precarious for large numbers of people in Gaza.

Ahead of the 2026 rainy season, humanitarian partners assessed more than 400 displacement sites.

OCHA reports that 217 sites, hosting approximately 235,000 people, were assessed as being at medium to high risk of flooding.

The Shelter Cluster also estimated that more than 4,000 unsafe buildings required full or partial demolition.

More than 2,300 of those buildings remained inhabited, sheltering nearly 44,000 people.

Combined, OCHA reports that approximately 279,000 people were living in flood-prone displacement sites or unsafe buildings.

Access to reliable drinking water remains a major humanitarian challenge in Gaza.

OCHA reported that output from two seawater desalination plants in southern Gaza had fallen to its lowest levels because of shortages of spare parts and equipment.

The reduction raised concerns about drinking-water supplies for approximately 500,000 people in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis.

Water trucking remained a critical source of drinking water.

As of OCHA's 2 October 2026 report, the WASH Cluster estimated that 74 percent of Gaza's population relied on trucked drinking water.

Humanitarian operations depend on safe and predictable access, adequate funding and the ability to bring necessary supplies and equipment into affected areas.

OCHA reported in October 2026 that restrictions on the entry of critical humanitarian items continued to impede efforts to scale up the response in Gaza.

Funding shortages were also affecting humanitarian operations, including food assistance.

IPC similarly described humanitarian access as improved but volatile and called for safe, predictable and unhindered entry of humanitarian supplies through border crossings.

Humanitarian conditions in the West Bank are shaped by a different set of pressures from those in Gaza.

For the 22 to 28 September 2026 reporting period, OCHA reported that humanitarian needs continued to be driven by settler violence, demolitions and movement restrictions, causing displacement and disrupting access to services and livelihoods.

During that reporting period, OCHA recorded more than 50 settler attacks resulting in casualties and/or property damage.

OCHA also reported demolitions or sealing of Palestinian-owned structures and displacement during the period.