Urgent health update: Consequences of war on Gaza and the West Bank & East Jerusalem - October 4, 2025

Update to the Update:

We began compiling this week’s update prior to the announcement of the “Trump Peace Plan.” As we continue following its development, what we know currently is: the ground invasion of Gaza City appears to have halted; Israeli air strikes and attacks throughout the Gaza Strip continue; the entry of food, shelter, and medical aid is still being obstructed by Israel; movement of displaced people to their homes in Gaza’s north is still prohibited by Israel. We hope this will develop into a just, dignified, and health-supporting resolution to the conflict, but currently that remains unachieved and in doubt.

ACTION ITEMS

1. Sign a Public Letter from Jewish Health Professionals: End the Genocide in Gaza: Jewish professionals in medicine, public health, and related fields cannot remain silent in the face of genocide of Palestinians in Gaza carried out by the state of Israel. To be silent is to be complicit. This has triggered significant media coverage; help it attract more. Last call to sign this letter. here (1016 signatures to date!) 

2. Block the Bombs Act: Once again, with feeling: Use this JVP page to call or email your representative and tell them to cosponsor or at least vote against genocide. Even if you’ve done it before. Here: 

3. Do you live in California? Despite grassroots and teachers’ union objections, our state legislature passed AB 715, which will further marginalize Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, Jewish, and other voices in California classrooms. This site makes it easy to phone Governor Newsom and urge him to veto AB 715!

4. The New England Journal of Medicine just published two articles about Gaza, the first in a mainstream US journal. Note, the NEJM failed to allow the word “Genocide”. Please thank the editors for breaking the silence of US journals and add your thoughts as well. 175 words…
On bearing Witness by Samer Attar – a powerful testimony of a surgeon who volunteered in Gaza.  here

Standing by Our Colleagues in Gaza — A Plea to the U.S. Medical Community By  Feroze Sidhwa,   Yasmeen Abu Fraiha,  Akiva Leibowitz, and Naftali Kaminski here

Also circulate on social media.

5. Register for the next JVP Health Advisory Council webinar: https://www.jvphealth.org/events

Sunday Oct 19, 2025, Severed-film screening and discussion

Severed is grounded in the story of Mohamad Saleh, a teenager from Gaza who has survived five major Israeli assaults. In those attacks, he lost his home, close family members, his best friends, and—at the age of 12—his leg. Mohamad has lived for years with the physical and emotional impacts of that violence, including surviving genocide with an amputated limb. His story reflects the broader reality of thousands of other Palestinians whose disabilities are the direct result of Israel’s systematic violations of international law.

Spanish subtitles and interpreter for Q&A.

The film screening will be followed by a conversation with Jen Marlowe, consulting producer, and Baijayanta Mukhopadhyay, a family doctor who worked in Gaza and has first hand knowledge of disability and the health care in the devastated region. 

6. Professor Amy Hagopian, a longtime APHA member, has been singled out for her activism and criticism of Israeli policy. We invite APHA members and former members to sign on to a letter urging the APHA’s governing board, executive director, and governing council to reverse the decision to ban Professor Hagopian from this year’s APHA conference in Washington DC, cancel her membership, and remove her as the elected chair of the International Health Section for her pro-Palestine activism.

For more background and to sign the letter, click HERE. Invite your friends in the APHA to sign as well.

Videos

MAP (Medical Aid for Palestinians produced this 1-minute, gut-wrenching film about the reality of healthcare in Gaza. Here:

Research Articles 

The Lancet: ssessed the availability of 25 essential medicines across 14 functioning health facilities in Gaza between 5/21 and 7/9/25. Only nine medicines met the WHO benchmark of 80% availability, and several critical treatments—including those for diabetes, hypertension, and epilepsy—were entirely unavailable. Availability was lower in northern Gaza (37%) than in the south (54%), and overall access had deteriorated compared to 2023 estimates. The authors conclude that “Long-term recovery demands confronting the root causes: the Israeli settler colonial system and the genocidal violence against Palestinians. Restoring the agency of Gaza's pharmaceutical system is a prerequisite for rebuilding health and securing equitable access to medicines.” here 

Frontiers in Psychiatry: A cross-sectional survey conducted in 12/2024 examined the association between peritraumatic dissociation (PD) and psychological resilience among Palestinians exposed to war-related trauma (n=623). Participants demonstrated moderate levels of PD and psychological resilience, and there was a positive association between resilience and PD. The authors conclude that “contrary to expectations, resilience was positively correlated with peritraumatic dissociation, suggesting a complex relationship between psychological endurance and acute dissociative responses. Rather than indicating an adaptive role for dissociation, the findings may reflect the intensity of trauma exposure among resilient individuals in conflict zones.” here  

Archives of Public Health: A cross-sectional survey conducted between 11/2024-1/2025 assessed the experiences of accessing emergency healthcare in Gaza among 81 patients who were medically evacuated from Gaza to Turkey after 10/7/23. Nearly three-quarters of the respondents reported that healthcare facilities were damaged and 87.6% cited severe equipment shortages in emergency departments. Ambulance services never arrived for 34.5%, and 33.3% could not reach hospital emergency departments. Patients with comorbidities experienced significantly longer wait times for both ambulance arrival and emergency department access. The authors conclude by emphasizing “the importance of protecting EMS neutrality in conflict settings as a fundamental medical and legal obligation.” here

Editorials and Opinions

JAMA Psychiatry: In this viewpoint, the authors discuss the mental health challenges faced by Muslim populations who are simultaneously exposed to graphic imagery from Gaza and subjected to racism and Islamophobia in their own countries. The authors explain that while data on formal psychiatric diagnoses are still emerging, prior research following 9/11 suggests an elevated risk of adverse mental health outcomes and diagnosable psychiatric conditions. The authors recommend several strategies to combat these mental health effects including systematic screening for war-related distress, building first-line capacity in spaces Muslim individuals already trust, and creating opportunities for clinicians to refer patients to legal services for immigration- or employment-related stressors. here

New England Journal of Medicine: In this perspective, the authors call on the US medical community to “stop suppressing discussions about the destruction in Gaza because its victims are the “wrong” people and confront the realities of the devastation of a society.” The authors document Israel’s systematic targeting of hospitals, medical personnel, and infrastructure in Gaza and call for “unimpeded humanitarian access to food, water, fuel, electricity, shelter, and all other medical and humanitarian supplies; a ceasefire to allow such access; unlimited entry of medical personnel, equipment, research teams, and humanitarian organizations to all areas within the Gaza Strip; and release of all detained medical personnel and hostages held by both sides.” here

BMJ News Articles

This BMJ News Article describes at least 17 Israeli attacks carried out on or in the vicinity of healthcare facilities in Gaza since 9/16. Médecins Sans Frontières reported that they have been forced to suspend lifesaving services in Gaza City as the “relentless Israeli offensive,” including airstrikes and tanks advancing on hospitals, had put staff and patients at an “unacceptable level of risk.” here

Reports & Analysis

·       While starvation profoundly affects individuals across all age groups, this essay focuses specifically on Palestinian children to illuminate how deliberate starvation strategies are designed to compromise the futurity of the Palestinian nation by systematically destroying its youngest generation. Beyond the immediate devastation, Palestinian children’s physical health, mental well-being, and emotional development are being deliberately compromised through weaponized hunger. This analysis examines how starvation functions not merely as a byproduct of armed aggression, but as a calculated tool of necropolitical warfare aimed at foreclosing Palestinian futures. here

·       An American Nurse in Gaza City Films Hospital Collapse as Israeli Forces Surround It— Nurse Andee Vaughan said the state of the healthcare system is "insanity". here

·       As Israel Pounds Gaza City, an Overwhelming Exodus: The hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing Israel’s expanded ground offensive are further straining services, aid groups say. Hospitals are overflowing, water is low and diseases are spreading. here

·       Everyday Decisions, Fatal Consequences: Testimonies from Gaza's Fathers. here

United Nations

·       UN Relief Chief calls Trump's plan a “window of opportunity” for aid and hostage release.

·       Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said the UN is “ready and eager to act. We have some 170,000 metric tons of food, medicine, shelter and other desperately needed supplies poised to enter Gaza.”

·       He called for “open crossings; safe movement for civilians and aid workers; unrestricted entry of goods; visas for staff; the space for humanitarians to operate; and the private sector to be revived… Every minute of delay brings more misery.” Read the entire statement here.

·       UNRWA warned that statements by Israel officials labeling the roughly 250,000 civilians remaining in Gaza City and northern Gaza as “terrorists or terror supporters” suggest Israel may be planning large-scale massacres. Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini condemned the rhetoric, saying it amounts to intent to kill “women, children, elderly and vulnerable people unable to move out.” On October 1, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “This is the last opportunity for Gaza residents who wish to do so to move south. Those who remain in Gaza will be considered terrorists and terror supporters.” (Drop Site 10/3)

GAZA

Israeli forces continue air, land and sea bombardment of homes, schools, high-rises, and IDP tents, and continue to carpet-bomb Gaza City, forcibly displacing thousands. Israeli Defense Minister Katz said anyone remaining would be considered “terrorists and terror supporters.” Philippe Lazzarini (UNRWA): “Labelling the nearly 250,000 people currently trapped in Gaza City and the north as ‘terrorists or terror supporters’ suggests Israel is planning large-scale massacres: killing more women, children, elderly and vulnerable people unable to move out.” Since 5/27, Israeli targeting (with US mercenary support) of Palestinians seeking food has killed 2,580 and injured 18,930.

·       Starved to death: 455 (15 this week), including 151 children

·       This week: 429 Palestinians killed, 1,556 injured

·       Since 10/07/2023: 66,148+ killed, 168,716+ injured. 

·       Israeli soldiers in Gaza: 466 killed (1 this week), 2,939 injured (23 this week)

·       Hostages in Gaza: 48 

For more information: here

Israeli Attacks

·       9/27, Israel struck a crowded market near Abu Dalal mall in Nuseirat refugee camp killing at least 15 and injuring dozens, many critically. Overall, at least 91 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza. (Drop Site 9/29)

·       9/29, the UN Human Rights office (OHCHR) voiced dismay “that the Israeli military is destroying Gaza City, forcing Palestinians to flee” while they “intensified strikes on the northwestern part of the [Deir al Balah] governorate” during the mass displacement from Gaza City into Deir al Balah. 9/24-28, they recorded 12 strikes on Deir al Balah IDP tents, houses, and a market, killing “89 Palestinians, most of whom appear to be civilians including many children and women.” In August and September, they recorded 14 attacks killing 21 people gathering firewood, noting: “the use of live ammunition against Palestinians collecting firewood, appears to amount to attacks directed at civilians, demonstrably not directly participating in hostilities, and also suggest a policy of preventing Palestinians from accessing the necessities of life.”

·       9/30, a photojournalist displaced from northern to southern Gaza 4 days earlier was killed in an airstrike in Deir al Balah. The Palestinian Journalists Protection Center (PJPC) condemned the killing. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) reported  more than 252 journalists have been killed and dozens more injured, missing, arrested, or forcibly displaced since 10/2023. 

·       10/1, the Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD) reported an Israeli airstrike killed 1 and injured 7 rescue and firefighting officers evacuating casualties at a Gaza City school sheltering IDPs. This is the 27th reported Israeli attack on PCD teams since October 2023.

·       9/26-28 & 30, 4 attacks killed 45 (8 children) and injured dozens in IDP tents, residences, and markets in Deir al Balah.

·       9/27 & 29 and 10/1, 5 attacks killed 41+ (4 children) and injured many others in residential buildings, IDP shelters, and water trucks in Gaza City.

·       Killed while trying to access aid: 9/28, 6 killed by gunfire while awaiting supply trucks on the Morag route, south of Khan Younis; 9/30, 17 killed (4 children) and 33 injured at the militarized supply site in Wadi Gaza.

·       9/14-28, Israel struck 11 schools (10 in Gaza City, 1 in Deir al Balah). A TLS in Gaza City that supported 255 children was completely destroyed. Plans to relocate services to southern Gaza are stalled by supply shortages and difficulties securing sites. Israel continues to bar entry of education materials: notebooks, pens, pencils, play items, and computer tablets. 

·       10/1-2, 77 people were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza in the past day, including two who were hit while waiting to receive aid. Israeli bombardment reportedly focused on Gaza City and surrounding neighborhoods, with strikes also reported in Zawaida and Al-Muwasi, where a food distribution facility was damaged. Local sources said armored vehicles entered the Nuseirat camp and troops fired on civilians in Daraj and Rafah. 222 people were wounded by Israeli fire in the past day. In Gaza City itself, Israel targeted buildings in the Sabra neighborhood, the Al-Shati refugee camp, the Zeitoun neighborhood, and near Al-Shifa Hospital. Israeli forces opened fire on civilians in several areas. Armored vehicles, supported by heavy gunfire and smoke grenades, reportedly entered the northern part of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. here

·       10/2 Palestinian nurse Tasneem Marwan Al-Hams was abducted while she was on her way to work in Khan Younis. The incident came just two months after her father Marwan al-Hams, who oversaw field hospitals in Gaza for the health ministry, was abducted by undercover Israeli forces in northern Rafah. The ministry called Tasneem’s abduction a “flagrant violation of humanitarian laws,” held Israel responsible for her safety, and urged international action to protect medical staff and their families. (Drop Site 10/3)

·       Drone footage obtained by Reuters reveals that the camera struck by Israel—which it claimed was covered by a towel and being used by Hamas for surveillance—actually belonged to Reuters photographer Hussam al-Masri, who had used his prayer rug to shield it from heat and dust. A Reuters analysis of visual evidence and related information contradicts Israel’s explanation for its 8/25 attack on Gaza’s Nasser Hospital, which killed 22 people, including five journalists. These journalists had routinely gathered on the hospital’s stairwell landing to film from a high vantage point and report on events in Gaza’s Khan Yunis area. here   

·       Connectivity for humanitarian operations and individual communications have been limited by damage to infrastructure, targeted attacks on cables, and restrictions on imports and access for repair and maintenance. Security Communications Systems repeater at UNRWA’s Gaza Field Office was damaged and put offline 9/17. The repeater at the WFP Guest House in Deir al Balah has only limited coverage.

Hospitals and health care

·       9/25, Civilian injuries in Gaza similar to those of soldiers in war zones, study finds. Wounds such as burns or leg injuries more common in Gaza than among US soldiers who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. here

·       9/29, WHO supported medical evacuation for 29 patients and 103 companions. 7,841 patients have been evacuated since 10/2023, while 15,600 patients require evacuation. WHO notes the need to: restore medical corridor to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem; increase receiving-country offers; increase use of medical evacuation corridors to Egypt and Jordan; and resolve security challenges, fuel shortages, crossing closures, and daily exit limits.

·       Israeli military operations have damaged or destroyed most UNRWA shelter, water and sanitation, and health operations in Gaza City. Nearly 2,000 of 12,000 UNRWA personnel continue working at 11 emergency shelters hosting 2,000 families. Only one UNRWA medical point remains functional in the city. UNRWA estimates its healthcare delivery capacity has declined by 95% compared to before the ground invasion.

·       9/26, MSF announced that suspension of medical activities in Gaza City. “We have been left with no choice but to stop our activities, as our clinics are encircled by Israeli forces,” Jacob Granger, MSF Emergency Coordinator in Gaza, said in a statement. “This is the last thing we wanted, as the needs in Gaza City are enormous, with the most vulnerable people - infants in neo-natal care, those with severe injuries and life-threatening illnesses—unable to move and in grave danger.” (Drop Site 9/29)

·       9/28, Israeli forces carried out nighttime “fire belt” attacks across Gaza, killing more than 40 Palestinians. Israeli tanks approached Al-Helou Hospital in Gaza City, which was hit twice, leaving 91 people—including 12 infants—besieged inside the facility, meanwhile a number of patients were evacuated from Healing Hospital to Baptist Hospital. Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis also reported an infant death from malnutrition and lack of treatment. (Drop Site 9/29)

• 10/1, the Red Cross (ICRC) announced the suspension of their Gaza City operations. They will relocate to its existing offices in southern Gaza amid Israel’s military offensive on the city. The ICRC, which has been in Gaza City for decades, made the announcement saying in a statement: “Tens of thousands of people still in Gaza City face harrowing humanitarian conditions and are in desperate need of more assistance…Following the latest intensification of hostilities, ICRC teams stayed as long as they possibly could to protect and support the most vulnerable people. The ICRC remains committed to returning as soon as conditions allow.” (Dropsite 10/1)

·       9/28, Al-Helou maternity hospital (Gaza City) was damaged by strikes. MSF reported there were 12 newborns in the neonatal ICU, 5 patients in internal medicine dept, and 2 OB patients. OHCHR noted 17 attacks on Gaza City health facilities between 9/16-18, stating: “Israel’s military attacks on and around hospitals in Gaza city are leaving sick and injured civilians with nowhere to turn to for life-saving care, as escalating attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are leading to countless casualties.” 

·       9/29, a nurse at Nasser Medical Complex (Khan Younis) was injured by a gunshot to the head while working in the hospital. Marwan Abedin was injured near the human resources department and treated with improvised first aid before doctors stabilized him. Witnesses said the fire may have come from a quadcopter, sniper, or nearby tanks; the hospital has been struck repeatedly in recent weeks, Neonatal care is strained at Nasser, operating at 150-170% capacity, with supply shortages, and generally catastrophic conditions. Dropsite 9/30

·       10/2, an attack carried out by Israeli forces killed Doctors Without Borders (MSF) staff member Omar Hayek and seriously injured four others. The attack took place on a street where MSF staff were waiting to take a bus to the MSF field hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza. All staff were wearing MSF vests, clearly identifying them as medical humanitarian workers. Another MSF colleague, Hussein Alnajjar, was killed by Israeli forces less than two weeks previously; Hayek, an occupational therapist, was the 14th MSF staff killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023. 

·       In September, displacement orders and escalation of military activities in Gaza City closed 4 hospitals, 16 PHCs, and 20 medical points. The trauma stabilization points at Hamad Hospital and Sheikh Radwan PHC also closed. 18 medical points and 5 PHCs have opened in the south where the population has moved. Only 215 of 713 (30%) of all health service delivery points remain partially functional.

·       50% of Gaza City patients requiring hemodialysis are now displaced, mostly to Deir al Balah, placing an untenable burden on existing hemodialysis units, staff and supplies.

·       30 Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) operated by 22 Health Cluster partners remain operational across northern and southern Gaza. 12 focus on outpatient emergency care (4 mobile and 7 fixed), 4 provide inpatient surgical care, and 15 provide surgical, maternal, NCD treatment and emergency services. Following intensified military activity in Gaza City, one mobile EMT was closed, and one was relocated to the south.

·       The MoH reported 54% of essential drugs and 66% of medical consumables were at zero-stock. In ERs, 45% of items are unavailable, and the MoH faces severe blood shortages, with supplies expected to run out imminently.

·       From burns and blast wounds to lost limbs and fractured bones, Gaza’s hospitals have been overwhelmed by patients in profound pain. But a desperate shortage of drugs means there is little doctors can do to help. Treatment and operations need to be carried out without proper anaesthetics, and what painkillers there are have to be rationed.

·       Over 1,300 suspected cases of meningitis (primarily viral) have been reported between May-September 2025. Since June 2025, 122 cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) have been recorded, leading to 16 preventable deaths due to lack of treatment medicines and supplies. 

·       Gaza’s healthcare system is in freefall. Al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, is barely functioning as Israeli forces close in. Children’s hospitals have been forced out of service, oxygen is gone, and patients lie on the floor. Every hour of silence costs lives. Evacuation orders have been issued to all clinics and hospitals.  At the same time, a new BMJ study has confirmed what doctors have long reported: Palestinians are being targeted as if they were combatants. Civilians are showing patterns of gunshot wounds to both limbs, burns penetrating to the bone, and injuries deliberately designed to disable and maim. This is medical evidence of genocide. (Doctors Against Genocide 9/27) here, here

·       Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, Director General of Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, told Seraj TV that Gaza City is facing “wholesale extermination” under relentless Israeli bombardment, with several hospitals out of service and tanks just a few hundred meters from Al-Shifa. Roughly 50 people killed daily, and dozens critically injured, while desalination plants have largely stopped functioning—limiting the availability of clean water—and international organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, are no longer operating. Children are being starved and killed, the occupation is blocking food and medicine deliveries, and famine is worsening. (Drop Site 9/29)

·       Dr. Muhammad Mustafa, a Palestinian-British ER doctor treating children in Gaza, told Breaking Points that the humanitarian situation is catastrophic: “A million children are being starved to death… a quarter of the population is in Stage 5 famine, where four of every 10,000 children die each day.” He described performing chest drains on children without sedation, calling it “like being a butcher.” Mustafa warned that without doctors, medicine, and functioning infrastructure, people die even if food is available, and he’s urging governments in Ireland, Australia, and the UK to provide urgent medical relief. (Drop Site 9/29)

·       World Health Organization released a new report that found nearly 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza have suffered “life-changing injuries” since the war began. One in four of those injuries are in children. More than 5,000 people have had amputations. (Drop Site 10/3)

AID

·       UN and its partners face physical and bureaucratic impediments by Israel that prevent the provision of lifesaving assistance in Gaza. Complex authorization and inspection procedures, limited clearance capacity at border crossings, rejection of entry to pre-cleared cargo, and movement denials hinder operations. A high percentage of cargo that does enter is stolen by groups apparently armed by Israel. Currently, only 15 humanitarian partners have Israeli authorization to manifest trucks through UN Logistics Cluster coordination via the Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and West Bank aid routes. 

·       Israel closed the Allenby Bridge crossing on 9/18 and the Zikim crossing on 9/12. Only 2 convoys carrying shelter items have been authorized to offload at Kerem Shalom crossing (9/29-30). Israeli authorities opened the Kissufim crossing 9/15 but the WFP notes that the limited capacity and security Kissufim provides is inadequate for northern Gaza needs. The West Bank route remains limited to food from a single humanitarian partner and UN health supplies. Israeli authorities reject most trucks from the Egypt route.

·       9/24-30, of 120 movements coordinated with Israeli authorities: 47 were facilitated (39%), 15 were impeded (12%), 50 were denied (42%) and 8 were withdrawn (7%). The denial rate tripled in September. Since the 9/12 closure of Zikim, the denial rate in and to northern Gaza has increased to 52%. Denied missions involved water trucking, life-saving equipment retrieval, and hospital visits.

·       Daily meals in northern Gaza have fallen from 170,000 in mid-September to 50,000, and crossings for food aid have been blocked for more than two weeks, leaving hundreds of thousands of residents at risk of disease and starvation. Dropsite 9/30/25

·       After branding UNRWA a terrorist organization and dismantling its operations, Israel is reportedly applying similar tactics to other humanitarian groups in Gaza. A new “re-registration” process requires NGOs to submit full staff lists, and any employee linked to boycott calls in the past seven years risks losing authorization. Aid has increasingly been funneled through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which now operates just four sites, with none in northern Gaza. NGOs resisting the scheme face reprisals, including permit revocations and visa denials, leaving aid workers warning that Israel is using humanitarian aid to further ethnic cleansing while isolating or co-opting organizations. (Drop Site 9/29)

Displacement

·       Israeli displacement orders and military operations continue to drive additional waves of displacement, particularly from Gaza City. Since 3/18, more than 1,200,000 displacement movements have been recorded, with about 1/3 being from Gaza City to Deir al Balah and Khan Younis. The financial burden of displacement has forced families to sell their belongings to cover transportation costs, while those unable to afford transport had to walk. A woman told UNICEF: ‘’When our tent was hit and the shelling surrounded us, we had to leave with nothing… We need clothes, shoes, food… winter clothes, blankets and bedding… I have been displaced three times… we are exhausted.”

·       It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people remain in Gaza City and North Gaza governorate where protection and support activities are suspended due to heavy bombardments, the displacement of staff, and the destruction of offices, safe spaces, and administrative facilities. As of 10/2, only 2 Protection partner organizations remain in Gaza City, down from 30 in July. 

·       9/27-30, 127,000 people arrived at 357 displacement sites In Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, raising the population there to over a half million. This demands an expansion of health, water and sanitation, and protection services as well as shelter materials and cooked meals. Yet, families are squeezed into overcrowded schools, makeshift tents along the coast, or sleep amid rubble in the open. 1.5 million people currently need shelter assistance. 

Food Security and Nutrition

·       “Israel has built the most efficient starvation machine you can imagine,” says Michael Fakhri, the UN’s special rapporteur on the right to food. CNN charts how Israel created famine in Gaza. here

·       The amount of food entering Gaza remains grossly inadequate, less than 26% of the 2,000 tons of food supplies required daily. Israeli military activity is the greatest obstacle to nutrition and, as noted by OHCHR, with repeated attacks on police and those providing convoy security contributing to the collapse of public order and safety.

·       As of 9/30, only 8 community kitchens are active, producing 45,000 meals daily, down from 155,000 daily meals by 29 kitchens of 8/30. Bread production is also limited. 

·       Israeli starvation strategy continues to impose malnutrition: the WFP’s Blanket Supplementary Feeding Program remains on hold; of the 290,000 children who need LQ LNS supplements, only 13,000 received them in the first half of September. 

·       4 Stabilization Centers (SCs) for treating Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) with complications remain operational, and only 1 in the north (Gaza City). Partners are working with WHO to open an additional Stabilization Center the Al Khair Hospital.

·       Israeli intensification of military operations in Gaza City have caused fewer children to be brought to malnutrition screening points in September: UNICEF partners reported 31,628 screenings in the first half of September compared to 45,455 during the same period in August. 

·       Research by the Women’s Refugee Commission indicates that women and girls face particular obstacles in obtaining food, while a study by Humanity and Inclusion highlights the exclusion of persons with disabilities, particularly those without caregivers.

·       WFP’s market monitoring report shows minimal local production and availability of fresh produce and an extreme volatility of unaffordable prices. 2 kilos of bread costs 30 NIS (US$9), compared with 2 NIS ($0.30) in early 2025.

·       Israel’s block on cooking gas imports makes firewood expensive and risky to collect. Households resort to burning waste to prepare food, exacerbating health, safety and environmental risks.

·       Food insecurity drives negative coping strategies, including child marriage. Nearly 4,700 people participated in awareness sessions on safe food collection, with gender-based violence risk mitigation integrated into training and guidance.

·       Data from the Gaza Health Ministry indicates a decline in the number of deaths from hunger or malnutrition. One person has died from hunger in the past ten days, as opposed to several each day. Data also shows a sharp drop in food prices across the Strip.  Aid workers in Gaza also say the rate of Palestinians leaving Gaza City has slowed. The number of deaths from starvation so far stands at 453 people, including 150 children. The data shows that most of those who died from starvation have died in the weeks since the end of July, at a rate of about five per day. In the last ten days, the death rate has dropped to an average of about one person per day. Humanitarian workers in the Gaza offer two explanations for the change. The first is Israel’s easing of restrictions at the end of July and the subsequent improvement in food access. The second is that the chaos prevailing in Gaza’s hospitals does not allow the Ministry to collect comprehensive data. here

Water and Sanitation 

·       WASH services in Gaza City have been limited by insecurity, movement constraints, the relocation south of resources where needs have increased, and the destruction. UNRWA suspended all WASH activities outside emergency shelters in Gaza City, including water trucking, solid waste removal and the maintenance of the main UNRWA well in the north. Damage to the Israeli Mekorot water pipeline and a sewage pipe to the Sheikh Radwan lagoon created additional problems.

·       WASH partners have been expanding services in southern Gaza, with 20 partners supporting water trucking and a 30% increase in waste collection. Water supply from the UAE-funded desalination plant on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing has increased, supplying drinking water to Al Mawasi area.

·       A new household WASH assessment shows that one million people (49% of the population) cannot access 6 liters of drinking water daily and ½ million (28%) cannot access 9 litres of domestic water daily. Other findings include: No one has access to safe sanitation (compared to 85% before 10/2023); 1.2 million people are exposed to sewage within 10 meter of their homes; only half of households can access basic private sanitation while the rest rely upon shared or unsafe facilities; 63% of households lack access to hygiene products; 500,000 women and girls lack adequate menstrual hygiene materials. Since 3/18, no sanitation items have entered Gaza, and hygiene items were blocked until late July.

·       Solid waste management have been severely disrupted by fuel shortages, lack of spare parts, and inaccessible landfills. 42% exposed to garbage accumulation in their neighborhood. No vector control interventions have been implemented in over 2 years, allowing pests and parasites to thrive. 64% of households report infestations of lice and mites, and 575 report skin conditions such as rashes and scabies.

Environment

·       UN Environment Program (UNEP) noted that the environmental situation in Gaza has worsened dramatically, highlighting that freshwater supplies are severely limited and much of what remains is polluted. The collapse of sewage treatment infrastructure, the destruction of piped systems, and the reliance on cesspits for sanitation have likely increased contamination of Gaza’s aquifer, while marine and coastal areas are also suspected to be contaminated. Since 2023, Gaza has lost: 97% of tree crops, 95% of shrubland, and 82% of annual crops, making food production at scale impossible. 78% of Gaza’s estimated 250,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed, generating 61 million tons of debris, of which 15% is probably toxic. 

·       Since 10/2023, Mine Action (MA) partners have documented 132 Explosive Ordnance (EO) incidents that killed 47 (14 children) and injured 249 (71 children). MA partners have cordoned off 508 EO items which are a threat to civilian life, dignity, and recovery efforts. 

WEST BANK, including EAST JERUSALEM

In the past week, Israeli military killed 3 West Bank Palestinians and injured 29 (6 children); Settlers killed another Palestinian and injured 17. Of the 29 Palestinians injured by Israeli forces, 19 occurred during raids on Palestinian communities. So far this year, Israeli forces carried out 7,500 raids (force deployment, house searches, arrests, field interrogations, movement restrictions), a 37% over the same period last year. 

For more West Bank information: here

Israeli attacks

·       9/24, Israeli forces shot and killed an 18-year-old in a raid on Anza (Jenin).

·       9/25, undercover Israeli forces surrounded an agricultural building, then shot and killed 2 men in Tammun town (Tubas), withholding their bodies. The Israeli military accused them of planning an imminent attack.  

·       9/28, a Palestinian man and an Israeli soldier were killed, apparently in a ramming attack near Jit junction (Qalqiliya). The body of the Palestinian has been withheld. Afterwards, Israeli forces restricted movement across the northern West Bank, closing 10 road-gates in Salfit and Qalqiliya governorates and 5 checkpoints surrounding Nablus city, stranding thousands for 6 hours. They also raided Salfit city and Kafr ad Dik village (Salfit) and Azzun (Qalqiliya), withdrawing after 24 hrs. 

·       9/29 Israeli forces carried out mass raids across the occupied West Bank on Monday, arresting 34 Palestinians and shutting down a UNRWA medical clinic in Jalazone refugee camp near al-Bireh. Detainees included 14-year-old Ismail al-Sarsour and his 18-year-old cousin from Ramallah, as well as men from Hebron, Bethlehem, and Nablus. In Kafr Laqif village, east of Qalqilya, troops detained 17 residents, with homes searched and field interrogations conducted before the army withdrew. (Dropsite 9/30)

·       Since October 2023, Israeli forces have withheld the bodies of 199 West Bank Palestinians; 7 were subsequently handed over while 192 remain withheld. 

Demolitions, Displacement and Movement Restrictions

Last week, Israel demolished 13 structures for lacking impossible-to-obtain building permits. 

·       In East Jerusalem, 9 structures were demolished (4 by their owners, to avoid additional fines), displacing 16 people (5 children).

·       9/26, Israeli forces punitively demolished a 2-story building containing 2 apartments in Area B of Al Qubeiba village (Jerusalem). The upper apartment was sealed following the 9/8 shooting attack at a Jerusalem bus stop that killed 6. Besides displacing 18 inhabitants of the 2 apartments, the 15-hour Israeli operation forced the evacuation of 10 buildings, destroyed the targeted building, made 2 nearby houses uninhabitable, and damaged 5 others. This displaced another 16 people (5 children) and affected 6 additional families (30 people, 7 children).  

·       9/30 Palestinian activists circulated a photo showing workers blindfolded, handcuffed, and stripped by Israeli soldiers in Wadi Siyal, near the wall separating Masafer Yatta villages and the Israeli settlement of Arad, according to the Ma’an News Agency. Human rights groups called the incident a violation of international law and urged an immediate investigation.

·       Since 2009, punitive demolitions displaced over 1,060 West Bank Palestinians (400 children). The UN Secretary-General reported: “Punitive house demolitions and withholding of bodies may amount to collective punishment (A/HRC/46/63, paras. 9–10), in violation of international humanitarian law. Such measures impose severe hardship on people for acts they have not committed, resulting in possible violations of a range of human rights, including the rights to family life, to adequate housing and to an adequate standard of living.” 

Eviction Threats in East Jerusalem 

·       9/29, the Israeli Enforcement and Collection Authority handed home eviction orders to 6 Palestinian households (3 extended families) in Batn al Hawa, Silwan, East Jerusalem. The families reached the final stage of litigation, exhausting all legal remedies in Israeli courts. They join more than 90 families (450 people, 200 children) at risk of forced displacement from cases filed by Ateret Cohanim settler organization. The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said in June 2025: “rulings were based on discriminatory laws that permit Jewish individuals to reclaim property lost in the 1948 war, while denying Palestinians the same rights.”

·       At least 243 East Jerusalem Palestinian households are battling eviction cases, the majority filed by settler organizations, threatening 1,000 people (460 children) with forced displacement. Evictions have grave physical, social, economic and emotional impact on Palestinian families concerned. In addition to depriving the family of a home – its main asset and source of physical and economic security – evictions frequently result in disruption in livelihoods, increased poverty and a reduced standard of living. High legal fees families incur when defending a case in court further strain already meagre financial resources. The impact on children can be particularly devastating, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and diminished academic achievement. The establishment and continued presence of settlement compounds within Palestinian areas has significantly affected the daily lives of Palestinian residents, contributing to an increasingly coercive environment that may place additional pressure on them to leave. The main elements of this environment include increased friction; restrictions on movement and access; and a reduction on privacy due to the presence of private security guards and accompanying surveillance cameras. 

Intensification of Settler Attacks and Settlement Activities

27 settler attacks last week killed 1 Palestinian and injured 17, displaced 3 families (10 people, 3 children), and damaged 5 olive trees and 4 vehicles. 

·       9/23, Israeli settlers shot and killed a Palestinian man and injured two others in Al Mughayyir (Ramallah). Following the shooting, Israeli forces raided the area and fired live ammunition and tear gas at Palestinians.  

·       9/27, after a series of raids by armed and uniformed settlers, 3 families (10 people, 3 children) were forced to dismantle their structures in Ibziq herding community (Tubas) and relocate. 3 other families left the community last week under similar pressures. 

·       In Masafer Yatta, settlers raided 4 herding communities, injuring 5 Palestinians and 2 international activists. 9/24, 2 men were injured in a car crash in Isfey al Fauqa caused by settler harassment. 9/27, settlers raided Khirbet al Fakheit and broke the mobile phones of 3 people recording a settlers break-in of a storage structure and theft of 40 sacks of fodder. 9/26, settlers raided Halaweh community, breaking into a house and injuring 1 person. 

·       9/27, settlers attempted to set fire to trees, destroying 1 olive tree, in Barriyet Hizma Bedouin community (Jerusalem) belonging to families displaced by settler attacks last September. The same day, settlers were filmed cutting electric and internet cables in Mikhmas Bedouin community (Jerusalem).  

·       9/27, settlers raided Khirbet Tell el Himma herding community (Tubas), assaulting and pepper-spraying residents. 

2025 Olive Harvest Season 

·       Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture announced the 10/9 start of this year’s olive harvest season, unfortunately expecting a low yield due to weather, access restrictions, and settler violence. Among the restrictions facing Palestinian farmers is the Israeli government’s permanent ban, announced 1/2025, on access to the “Seam Zone” areas between the Barrier and the 1949 Armistice Line, preventing tens of thousands of farmers from reaching their lands.

·       Israeli NGO HaMoked challenged the ban in the Israeli High Court (5/24), arguing it is a severe, disproportionate, and protracted violation of farmers’ rights to livelihood, freedom of movement, and property. The court recently noted the absence of expert opinions justifying the restrictions, instructing the state to do so by 11/15. HaMoked notes this will be the 3rd season that harvest access remains uncertain, affecting the livelihoods of thousands. 

·       Protection Cluster, led by OHCHR, with OCHA, the Legal Task Force, the Food Security Sector, MoA and NGO partners plan to: provide coordinated protective presence; conduct olive harvesting campaigns in identified hotspots facing a high risk of settler violence or access restrictions; document violence; provide agricultural tools, legal aid, access coordination, and emergency preparedness awareness sessions and kits; and rights advocacy. 

Operations in the Northern West Bank 

·       9/24, Israeli forces raided Ya’bad town, Sanur village, and Jenin city, disrupting schooling and searching houses (including the home of the head of Ya’bad municipality).

·       Operations by Israeli forces in Jenin have intensified since 9/25, with infantry patrolling the central square and areas adjacent to Jenin Camp. These patrols have raided shops, pharmacies and homes, worsening the cloud of insecurity and uncertainty hanging over residents.  

·       9/29, Israeli forces emptied a residential building without prior notice in the “Abu Safieh” neighborhood adjacent to Tulkarm Camp, Israel declared it a “military zone” on 8/31 and forced residents to evacuate. Israeli authorities allowed the families to retrieve their belongings later that day. 

ISRAEL

·       Israel’s Knesset National Security Committee advanced a bill that would allow the death penalty for Palestinian captives convicted of killing Israelis in cases Israel defines as “racist or hate-motivated crimes,” according to the committee vote led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Human rights groups warned that, given the military courts’ 99.4% conviction rate for Palestinians, the law would effectively authorize near-automatic executions. The draft passed its first reading 4-1 but must clear two more readings in the full Knesset before becoming law. (Drop Site 9/29)

·       Palestinian leader Ahmed Sa’adat, 72, is reportedly facing worsening abuse in Israel’s Megiddo Prison, where he is held in solitary confinement. Prisoner groups say he suffers from starvation, beatings, and medical neglect in what they describe as a systematic effort to break his resolve. Sa’adat, Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), has spent nearly two decades in Israeli prisons and remains a central figure in Palestinian resistance, with both the PFLP and the Prisoners’ Media Office calling for international intervention to secure his release. (Drop Site 9/29)

·       Palestinian Prisoners’ Club reported Israel has re-arrested at least 40 former prisoners who had been released in the January–February 2025 exchange, with 16 still in custody, including three women. Most are being held under administrative detention, among them Wael al-Jaghoub of Nablus, who previously spent 23 years in Israeli prisons. Freed detainees face repeated arrests, interrogations, and investigations, citing the latest case of Hanan Barghouthi, seized from her home in Kober near Ramallah, and described the campaign as a systematic policy that violates the deal and keeps released prisoners under constant threat. Read Drop Site’s coverage of Jaghoub’s case and the worsening conditions for Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli detention here.

·       Israel’s cabinet unanimously approved a $40 million increase to the Foreign Ministry’s propaganda budget, Haaretz reported. The funds include $24 million for global influence campaigns and $16 million to finance international delegations through 2025. According to the Times of Israel, the allocation is more than 20 times the ministry’s usual public diplomacy budget, with a priority on shaping opinion abroad, particularly on U.S. college campuses.

·       Israeli army just announced that it won’t allow Palestinians in central and southern Gaza to travel north to Gaza City. Movement will only be allowed to leave the city for the south, the Israeli army said in a statement. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also said that this was the Palestinians’ “last warning” to leave Gaza City, adding that anyone who remains will be considered “terrorists or terrorist supporters.” An estimated 500,000 Palestinians remain in Gaza City, who are now officially cut off from any provisions coming from the south, including food, water, fuel, and medicine. To the north, Gaza City is completely sealed off from northern Gaza, including the cities of Jabalia, Beit Lahia, and Beit Hanoun, where the Israeli army is operating. (Mondoweiss 10/2)

UNITED STATES

·       9/28, Trump announced his 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza that was drafted in coordination with  Netanyahu’s top adviser, Ron Dermer, and spearheaded by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. No Palestinian officials from Hamas or any other faction, including the internationally-recognized Palestinian Authority, were consulted in crafting the plan. Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill and Jawa Ahmad report on the details of the plan, which requires Hamas to disarm, Palestinians in Gaza to renounce the right to armed resistance, and indefinite subjugation by foreign actors. Dropsite 9/30

·       Palestinian Islamic Jihad spokesperson Mohammed al-Hajj Mousa told Ultra Palestine that Hamas and other factions will meet to craft a unified response to President Trump’s ceasefire proposal, stressing that “the paper is not about Hamas alone but about the entire Palestinian people.” He welcomed the joint Arab statement calling for full Israeli withdrawal, unrestricted aid, no displacement, and Gaza’s reunification with the West Bank, but said Trump’s plan “looks more like a comprehensive Israeli project than a ceasefire initiative,” entrenching division and legitimizing Israel’s presence in Gaza. Mousa rejected reliance on U.S. guarantees, urged binding Arab and international oversight, and called on Palestinian Authority leaders to join a united stance to halt the war and genocide. (Dropsite 10/1)

·       In Massachusetts, the Northampton City Council unanimously passed a resolution to divest from companies complicit in violations of international law and human rights in Israel and Palestine. The vote came after months of advocacy by activists, with support and research from AFSC. (Daily Hampshire Gazette) To learn more about this win and these companies, check out AFSC’s divestment resource. here

·       The Oakland People’s Arms Embargo Coalition recently held a press conference and rally at Oakland International Airport to demonstrate widespread opposition to military shipments flying out of Oakland to the state of Israel, and to urge local decision makers to implement an arms embargo to stop further shipments. Monadel Herzallah of the US Palestinian Community Network and the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo Coalition says that at least 46 members of his family have been killed by Israel in Gaza, using US-made weapons. He told The Electronic Intifada Podcast that even though this Oakland-based arms embargo campaign is nascent, there is clear potential for its success.

·       Internal shipping records shared by the Palestinian Youth Movement, and cross-referenced with public flight-tracking data, reveal a steady flow of U.S.-made weapons components moving from New York to Israel. Parts for fighter jets, missile launchers, and ammunition have routinely left JFK on commercial cargo flights while Israel’s air campaign destroys homes, schools, and hospitals. (Mondoweiss 10/1) 

·       10/2, In New York, more than 1,000 rabbis and Jewish peace activists led a protest demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to U.S. arms transfers to Israel. They gathered at Brooklyn Borough Hall for a mass public memorial service on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, known as the Day of Atonement. Nearly 60 people were arrested as they nonviolently blocked traffic to the Brooklyn Bridge. (Democracy Now 10/3)

US Universities

·       Dr. Eric Cheyfitz, a professor of American studies at Cornell, said the university has canceled the two classes he was set to teach this semester. It comes as the provost is recommending that he be suspended for two semesters without pay on the grounds that he violated federal antidiscrimination laws. Cheyfitz’s lawyer, Luna Droubi, said it’s the latest turn in months of investigations—carried out by different university bodies—into whether Cheyfitz, 84, told a graduate student last semester to drop a class he was teaching about Gaza because the student is Israeli. Cheyfitz, who is Jewish and whose daughter and grandchildren live in Israel, denies the allegation. The class, titled “Gaza, Indigeneity, Resistance,” had come under fire from politicians, activists, alumni, and even Cornell’s president, who criticized the course description as “radical” and “biased” in a leaked e-mail last year. (Drop Site 9/29)

·       At least 300 Northwestern University students have been blocked from registering for classes after refusing to complete a mandatory antisemitism training video produced by the pro-Israel Jewish United Fund, according to the Guardian. Students say the program equates criticism of Israel with hate speech and contains factual errors, with noncompliance threatening their jobs, visas, health insurance, and stipends. The requirement stems from Trump’s funding threats to universities deemed lax on antisemitism; $790 million in federal research money has already been cut from Northwestern. here

·       9/30, A federal judge ruled today that the Trump Administration’s practice of targeting noncitizen students and faculty with arrest, detention, and deportation because of their pro-Palestinian advocacy violates the First Amendment and is therefore unconstitutional. This decision is a historic win for free speech, academic freedom, and our community. In a 161-page opinion, Judge William Young found that the government cannot deport people solely because of their viewpoints. (Dropsite 9/30/2025)

·       Members of New York City civil society gathered at the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in solidarity with Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian activist and green-card holder, and Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, who face the possibility of being re-detained. Mahdawi, a lawful and permanent resident of the U.S., was first arrested on April 14, 2025, when he arrived for what he believed was his final interview to become a U.S. citizen. He moved to the US in 2014 and has recently graduated with a Master’s degree in peacemaking and conflict resolution. The government’s claims of the “danger” posed by Mahdawi were also challenged by the 1500+ letters submitted to the court outlining his role as a peace activist and advocate for conflict resolution. There was also an amicus brief for the case in defense of Mahdawi’s role as an advocate for peace filed by 26 Israeli citizens. Mahmoud Khalil addressed Mahdawi’s case at a gathering: “Mohsen and I and other students, we know that this is not about us. It’s about the values that we stand for. It’s about our opposition to genocide. It’s about making an example out of us, so that you fear speaking out,” Khalil said. “Maybe they will succeed in deporting us. But their goal is to silence you, to silence every one of you, unless you fit the very narrow definition of what an American is.” (Dropsite 10/1)

·       Columbia graduate student and Palestine activist Mohsen Mahdawi faces a hearing today as the U.S. government appeals his release before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, alongside Tufts PhD student Rümeysa Öztürk, who was detained after writing an op-ed critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza. Supporters say the cases test free expression and academic freedom, warning that a successful appeal could send both students back to prison immediately. The case will be heard by three conservative judges—two appointed by Donald Trump and one by George W. Bush. (Dropsite 9/30)

·       Statement from Johns Hopkins University, Jewish faculty and staff: in support of academic freedom and free speech. here

INTERNATIONAL

·       In Australia, the pro-Israel lobby is suing two University of Sydney scholars under racial discrimination laws. If they succeed, anti-Zionism will be legally classified as hate speech and essentially banned. here

·       Spain, which previously declared an arms embargo on Israel, has extended the ban to include the supply of U.S. weapons to Israel via U.S. bases in the country. (Dropsite 9/30)

·       10/1, Israeli forces began intercepting the Global Sumud Flotilla according to organizers. Around 500 volunteers from more than 45 countries were part of the 44-vessel fleet – including European Union Members of Parliament Rima Hassan and Emma Forreau, Nelson Mandela’s grandson Mandla Mandela, former Mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau, ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ star Adèle Haenel, and Greta Thunberg. The flotilla was carrying hundreds of tons of aid – including medicine, food, baby formula, diapers, and prosthetic limbs – to Gaza. (Zeteo 10/1)

·       Interception is now complete, organizers have vowed that they will continue “to sail until Gaza is free.” They’ve already announced that the next mission will send a thousand ships to Gaza. (Mondoweiss 10/3)

·       As many as 100,000 people in Berlin rallied in support of Palestinians in what was Germany’s largest Gaza protest to date. The demonstration, dubbed ‘All Eyes on Gaza’, demanded an end to German support for Israel. Police were filmed violently arresting participants. (Al Jazeera 10/2)

SOURCES

OCHOPT, Haaretz, Dropsite News, AFSC, Doctors Against Genocide, Aljazeera, Mondoweiss, Zeteo, Democracy Now, The Guardian