The UN has warned that nearly 1.7 million displaced Palestinians, about 80 percent of Gaza's population, are living in extremely poor conditions across nearly 1,600 displacement sites, with acute shortages of water, shelter and basic services.
Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a news conference on Tuesday that "shelling, gunfire, bombing and air strikes continue to harm civilians across the Gaza Strip."
He noted that UNICEF announced in a social media post that a 17-year-old girl, one of its Youth Champions, was killed while on her way to sit her high school exam.
"We reiterate that civilians, including children, must always be protected," Dujarric said.
He said that a newly released assessment of displacement sites found that at least 59,000 individual shelters house more than eight people each, while around 38,500 people are sleeping in the open.
"An estimated 600,000 people in the assessed sites lack sufficient access to drinking water," he said, adding that "half of the sites lack visible drainage, and nearly half reported fire hazards near shelters."
Dujarric reported that rodent infestations were recorded at 80 percent of sites, and open sewage and accumulated waste were present at more than half of the sites.
"In almost 250 sites, hosting nearly 250,000 people, there were reported incidents involving explosive ordnance," he said.
Since the ceasefire took effect on 10 October 2025, Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,027 people and injured 3,280 others, according to Gaza's health authorities.
The ceasefire was reached after two years of a genocidal war launched by Israel in October 2023.
The offensive killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and wounded over 173,000 others while destroying about 90 percent of Gaza's civilian infrastructure, with the UN estimating reconstruction costs at roughly $70 billion.
