Israeli military strikes add to civilian suffering in Gaza, West Bank and Lebanon
The latest UN humanitarian update on conditions in Gaza and the West Bank, released on 15 May, reports that most people in Gaza are displaced and exposed to health and environmental risks, while residential areas remain under attack.
On Wednesday, hundreds of families were forcibly displaced from areas in eastern Deir al Balah to other parts of Gaza. Palestinian militia forces reportedly went to people’s shelters and ordered them out. Displaced families say they also received phone calls from people who identified themselves as Israeli forces, instructing them to leave within a short period of time.
Health Hazards
On Thursday, the UN brought pesticides into Gaza to help address the growing risks related to insects and other hazards. A pest control campaign is set to start next week, prioritising areas where waste has accumulated within or near residential areas, as well as around food storage facilities and public markets.
On Thursday, the UN brought pesticides into Gaza to help address the growing risks related to insects and other hazards. A pest control campaign is set to start next week, prioritising areas where waste has accumulated within or near residential areas, as well as around food storage facilities and public markets.
Humanitarian partners say that to provide a more complete response to risks linked to rodents and pests, the Israeli authorities must let in critical rubble removal and explosive ordnance clearance equipment; and facilitate access to Gaza’s two sanitary landfills near the Strip’s perimeter.
Sorely needed aid supplies are trickling into Gaza: only one in every two aid trucks from Egypt could offload at Israeli-controlled crossings along Gaza’s perimeter in the first 11 days of May, based on data tracked by the UN-led logistics cluster, which coordinates deliveries.
However, despite the constraints, humanitarian partners are helping people in Gaza restore bread production and strengthen early market recovery.
‘A catastrophe of grave proportions’
The update coincided with the UN commemoration of the 78th anniversary of the Nakba, in which more than 750,000 Palestinians were uprooted from their homes.
Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, said that the situation in Gaza today is a catastrophe of grave proportions. The senior UN official said that, since the horrific terrorist attacks by Hamas on 7 October 2023, devastation from the subsequent war has been staggering, with more than 85 per cent of Gaza’s population displaced, many repeatedly so.
Over 43,000 people in Gaza have sustained life‑changing injuries, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, while rehabilitation services remain overstretched.
Spike in settler violence
Civilian suffering is not confined to Gaza: the Jordan Valley has witnessed a spike in settler violence, with the monthly average of incidents causing casualties or property damage increasing 14-fold since 2020.
In the West Bank, 45 Palestinian-owned structures were demolished between 5 and 11 May. 90 per cent of the buildings were used for agricultural, livelihood, water or sanitation purposes.
Mr. Khiari said that in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the UN continues to document systematic displacement of Palestinians, home demolitions, settlement expansion and the proliferation of outposts, adding that more than 40,000 Palestine refugees have been forcibly displaced from camps in the northern West Bank since early 2025.
All Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have no legal validity and are in flagrant violation of international law and relevant UN resolutions.
Lebanon: diplomacy overshadowed by ‘alarming’ reality on the ground
Despite the ceasefire that started on 17 April, civilians in Lebanon continue to endure an increasingly devastating toll from Israeli airstrikes, the senior UN official in Lebanon declared on Friday.
Imran Riza, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, noted that airstrikes and demolitions continue daily, causing civilian casualties among women, men and children, as well as displaced families, including Syrian and Palestinian refugees and Bangladeshi migrants. First responders have also been affected.
During his visit to the southern suburbs of Beirut on Friday to assess the scale of destruction, Mr. Riza spoke to residents about their experiences of repeated displacement and trauma, lost homes and livelihoods, and damaged basic services.
“Residents shared devastating stories of loss, trauma and survival,” he said in social media post. “One man told us he was out on an errand when one of the strikes on 8 April destroyed his house, killing his wife, son and the two displaced families he was sheltering.”
Under international humanitarian law civilians – including humanitarian workers, medical teams and first responders – must be protected at all times, and the vital infrastructure civilians rely on must be spared. All parties must facilitate rapid and unimpeded humanitarian passage to civilians in need.
“Diplomatic efforts now offer a critical opportunity to stop the violence,” said Mr. Riza. “The people of Lebanon urgently need security, stability, and the chance to recover, not renewed pain, displacement, and suffering.”
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