Sam Rose, Director of Planning at UNRWA, provides a frontline assessment of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and reflects on the immense challenges facing humanitarian organisations operating in the territory.

Drawing on his experience working in Gaza between early 2024 and March 2025, Rose examines the realities facing civilians after nearly three years of conflict, the pressures on humanitarian agencies, and the wider political context shaping the crisis.

The session explores:

• The continuing humanitarian emergency in Gaza despite the reduction in large-scale hostilities.

• The role of UNRWA and the challenges it faces in maintaining services under political, operational and financial pressure.

• Conditions experienced by displaced Palestinians, including shelter, sanitation, water and food insecurity.

• The long-term impact of displacement and the cumulative effects of years of conflict on Gaza's population.

• Public health concerns, including disease outbreaks, malnutrition, environmental hazards and the collapse of basic infrastructure.

• The difficulties humanitarian agencies face in delivering assistance and restoring essential services.

• The importance of education and the efforts made to return children to learning despite extraordinary obstacles.

• The humanitarian consequences of territorial restrictions, displacement and loss of access to agricultural land and resources.

• The pressures facing international NGOs, UN agencies and humanitarian workers operating in Gaza.

• The relationship between humanitarian conditions and the broader political realities of occupation, sovereignty and self-determination.

Rose argues that while humanitarian organisations continue to provide essential support, the crisis cannot be understood solely through a humanitarian lens. He emphasises that the conditions facing Palestinians are rooted in broader political questions relating to rights, accountability, self-determination and international law.

He also reflects on the resilience of Gaza's population, describing efforts by families, teachers, healthcare workers and humanitarian staff to maintain daily life and essential services despite extraordinary hardship.

The presentation concludes with a warning that the consequences of policies and practices tested in Gaza may have implications far beyond Palestine, making accountability and international legal protections increasingly important for humanitarian work worldwide.

Recorded at the Britain Palestine Project annual conference, Recognition is the Beginning, held at the Greenwood Theatre, London, on 2 June 2026.

Sam Rose is Director of Planning at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). He has worked extensively on humanitarian operations, emergency response and development programmes across the Middle East and has spent significant periods based in Gaza. Through his work with UNRWA, he has become a leading voice on the humanitarian situation facing Palestinian refugees and the challenges confronting international relief efforts in Gaza and the wider occupied Palestinian territory.