After several months of waiting to obtain humanitarian permits, EMERGENCY has entered the Gaza Strip to provide healthcare support to a population devastated by war.During this period, EMERGENCY has been working to define the project and establish coordination with UN agencies and other partners in the area.

“The possibility of bringing aid to the Strip has to deal with great limitations in the access of humanitarian organisations, amid difficult security conditions,” explains Stefano Sozza, EMERGENCY’s Head of Mission in Gaza. “Meanwhile, humanitarian space has been continuously shrinking since November. Today, about 305 square kilometres, or almost 84% of the Gaza Strip, have been placed under evacuation orders.”

As of 12 August, Israel’s declared humanitarian area in al-Mawasi had shrunk from 58.9 square kilometres at the beginning of 2024 to around 46 square kilometres. According to last week’s OCHA update, 68 humanitarian missions were denied by the Israeli authorities in the first half of August, about a third of the missions planned at the beginning of the month.