Many are now seeing for themselves the significant parts of the Gaza Strip that have been left in ruins: gaping holes, destroyed homes and piles of rubble that have made neighborhoods unrecognizable. 

Many returned north, where essential services are barely functioning. There is very little fuel, and no way to pump water to houses. People are forced to walk for hours through destroyed streets to find drinking water – that which may not be completely safe.

28 February 2025, Jerusalem/Amman/Geneva – A five-day mass polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip concluded on Wednesday, reaching nearly 603 000 children under 10 years of age with novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) following comprehensive, simultaneous access to all five governorates during the ongoing ceasefire. The campaign was conducted as part of emergency efforts to end an ongoing poliovirus outbreak and prevent further spread in the Gaza Strip.  

Since 7 October 2023, the escalating crisis in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory has caused large numbers of civilian deaths and injuries. In the Gaza Strip, airstrikes and a lack of medical supplies, food, water and fuel have virtually depleted an already under-resourced health system. Hospitals have been operating far beyond capacity due to rising numbers of patients as well as displaced civilians seeking shelter.