Gaza Protection Monitoring Snapshot | 7 July to 6 August 2025

INTRODUCTION

The Protection Monitoring System (PMS) continues to provide timely and systematic evidence on protection risks affecting displaced populations across Gaza. Through a combination of Key Informant Interviews (KII) and Focus Group Discussions (FGD), the system captures both quantitative trends and qualitative insights to inform protection analysis and response planning. This snapshot presents an overview of protection risk severity scores, evolving risk trends since the start of monitoring in August 2024, and key protection concerns raised by affected communities during the most recent reporting period.

Methodology

During this reporting period, data collection was conducted through structured interviews with key informants
representing diverse community groups and sectors, and through facilitated focus group discussions engaging
displaced populations across multiple locations. A central role in data collection was played by the Emergency
Protection Responders Network under the umbrella of the Protection Cluster in Gaza, whose trained field teams
carried out the majority of KIIs and FGDs, ensuring timely, community-based data collection under challenging
field conditions. The data collection tools applied were developed based on the Protection Analytical Framework
(PAF), enabling comprehensive monitoring of protection risks aligned with Global Protection Cluster standards.

Qualitative Analysis

KEY PROTECTION RISKS IDENTIFIED BY THE COMMUNITIES

Deliberate Deprivation through food restrictions is driving soaring prices denying families access to sufficient and nutritious food, forcing reliance on scarce flour-based bread. This disproportionately harms children, persons with disabilities, older persons, female-headed households, and those with dietary needs such as gluten intolerance. Scarcity drives dangerous attempts to access aid, exposing people to violence, exploitation, and exclusion, and undermining their right to life, health, and dignity.

• Severe Cash Shortages and Exploitation through fees deny families the means to secure food, water, and medicine, preventing them from accessing protection services when needed most. This economic deprivation fuels household tensions, GBV, exploitation, and negative coping strategies, including risky attempts to obtain aid through unsafe distribution points, exposing women and children to violence and harm.

• Risk of Harm Associated with Different Delivery Mechanisms: Current delivery mechanisms are unsafe and failing to reach the most vulnerable. Overcrowding, insecurity, and poor organization at “Gaza Humanitarian
Foundation” points exposes aid seekers to violence, exploitation, and humiliation. Looting of supply trucks puts aid seekers at additional risks of harm and excludes the most vulnerable and in need from accessing critical food and
supplies.

• Overcrowded Shelters, Extreme Heat, and lack of Hygiene Supplies, including menstrual products, undermine health, dignity, and safety, particularly for women, girls, and persons with disabilities. Women and girls resort to
unsafe measures such as using unclean cloth or suppressing menstruation with pills, risking infections, stigma, marital breakdown, and GBV. Untreated skin and reproductive infections contribute to psychological distress,
and isolation.

• Menstrual Hygiene and Sanitation Shortages: Absence of sanitary pads forces women and girls to take unsafe measures, while poor sanitation and lack of clean water spread lice and other conditions, eroding dignity and privacy. 

• Children’s Mental Well-being: Stressful and unsafe conditions are causing behavior changes in children, including withdrawal and aggression, with limited access to safe spaces.

• Family Separation: Reports of children separated from caregivers, including unaccompanied minors are increasing. 

• Limited Access for Persons with Disabilities and Older Persons: Physical and financial barriers hinder access to shelters, aid, and health services. 

• Overcrowded and Unsafe Shelters: Informal shelters lack privacy, safety, and space, especially for women and children. 

• Persistent Insecurity: Ongoing conflict and absence of protective mechanisms perpetuate fear, stress, and exposure to violence.

IMPACTS ON THE POPULATION

• Women and children are disproportionately affected, especially in terms of unmet needs and exposure to risks. 

• Persons with disabilities face significant challenges in daily life and accessing essential services. 

• Malnutrition and lack of clean water are frequently cited, particularly for children and pregnant women. 

• Inadequate information on available services hinder community members from seeking the support they need. 

• Displacement disrupts social networks, increasing aid dependence and risks of exploitation and abuse.

COPING MECHANISMS

• Community members rely heavily on informal networks, including neighbors and extended families, to meet their needs.

• Use of health points or medical volunteers, when available, as alternative access points for care.

• Children cope through play and storytelling, though safe spaces are limited.

• People share their limited resources, such as food and water, with others in their area.

• Psychosocial support is minimal, though some communities refer to reliance on faith or resilience from previous experiences.

COMMUNITY CAPACITIES

• Community committees exist in many areas, although they often lack resources or formal support 

• Information sharing happens mainly through WhatsApp groups, mosques, or door-to-door communication. 

• Conflict resolution is often managed through elders or informal leaders, without formal processes and mechanisms. 

• Youth and volunteers are actively involved in helping people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. 

• In some areas, there is access to humanitarian services, but this varies widely by location.