UNICEF Gaza Humanitarian Cash Transfer Monthly Bulletin
Reporting Period August 2025
About
KEY FINDINGS
• Even though the total goods that entered the Gaza Strip in August 2025 are almost as much as in the previous five months combined, this improvement needs to be maintained and expanded further. Private sector has an irreplaceable role in restoring full market functionality and stabilized prices, which are preconditions to avert famine and eradicating malnutrition.
• In August 2025, market conditions improved compared to July. This can be attributed mostly to the resumption of the entry of commercial trucks. Previously unavailable food items such as fruits, dairy products, cheese, and eggs started reappearing—though in limited quantities and with prices unaffordable for the most vulnerable families (18 USD/kg for onions or 8 USD/kg for potatoes). Multiple critical food items - such as meat - remain unavailable.
• Most prices across food and non-food categories decreased in August - with staples, fresh produce, condiments, and pulses recording declines of 50–90% - for instance lentils can be found at 2 USD/kg. This decline in prices doesn’t apply to most of the sanitation and hygiene items.
• For a large number of marginalized families these improvements don’t necessarily imply a significant relief – as they don’t have the adequate financial means to access markets. In an environment of gutted economic activity and near collapsed humanitarian food delivery systems, targeted cash assistance needs to be scaled up to fight widespread severe malnutrition of children.
• Compared to July 2025, the post-distribution monitoring survey shows an increased impact of the cash assistance received and respondents expressed an increasing preference for cash assistance (75%) over in-kind (3%).
• Our latest data collection presents some positive signals also in other areas: post-distribution monitoring survey respondents report an increase in acceptance of digital payments, and a reduction in liquidity fees.
• This is confirmed by surveyed retailers, who also report some stabilization of law and order: August is the first month since May in which there has been a decrease in the reports of shop looting and robbery incidents by retailers. This security improvement unfortunately does not extend to humanitarian aid cargos.
