Humanitarian Aid Trickles into Gaza Amid Deepening Crisis
More than 90 truckloads of crucial humanitarian aid have been collected by United Nations teams within the Gaza Strip, arriving several days after Israel eased an 11-week blockade on the territory. The aid, containing essential supplies like flour, baby food, and medical equipment, was picked up from the Kerem Shalom crossing point late Wednesday night and transported to warehouses for urgent distribution. Initial efforts saw some of the delivered flour quickly used by a local bakery to produce much-needed bread.
However, the arrival of this aid follows a frustrating three-day delay in collection by UN teams. The United Nations attributed this hold-up to severe insecurity along the single approved access route within Gaza designated by the Israeli military. Aid agencies deemed this route highly dangerous, citing risks of attacks from desperately hungry civilians and armed criminal gangs targeting valuable cargo. With aid agencies operating without armed guards, a safe and unimpeded route is deemed essential for effective distribution. A senior World Food Programme (WFP) official highlighted the market value of such cargo, estimating a truckload of flour could fetch around $400,000 on the Gaza market, underscoring the security risk.
Aid Quantity Falls Far Short of Urgent Need
Despite the arrival of these trucks – and Israeli authorities stating they allowed over 100 loads through on Wednesday – the UN has unequivocally stated that the amount is “nowhere near enough to meet the vast needs in Gaza.” UN bodies estimate that as many as 600 trucks are needed daily to address the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe gripping the territory. The current delivery is described by the UN as merely “a drop in the ocean.”
Humanitarian organizations continue to sound dire warnings about acute levels of hunger among Gaza’s population of 2.1 million. Significant shortages of basic foodstuffs and skyrocketing prices have pushed many to the brink. The Palestinian Authority Health Minister recently reported to Reuters that 29 children and elderly individuals had died from “starvation-related” causes in the preceding days. An assessment by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) further projects that half a million people face starvation in the coming months, while the World Health Organization warns Gaza’s health system is “stretched beyond breaking point.”
Initial distribution efforts are underway, with bakeries supported by the WFP beginning to produce bread for distribution to the most vulnerable families. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) managed to bring in one truck of medical supplies for a field hospital, but stressed that “a trickle of trucks is woefully inadequate.” Aid agencies universally call for a “rapid, unimpeded, and sustained flow of aid” via safe routes, alongside a lengthy ceasefire and an extension of the narrow window currently permitted for aid transfer.
Conflicting Perspectives and Aid Controversies
Israel’s decision to ease the aid blockade comes after halting deliveries entirely on March 2nd and resuming its military offensive two weeks later, ending a two-month ceasefire. Israeli officials have linked allowing limited aid to preventing a humanitarian crisis, which they state is necessary to maintain the Israeli military’s freedom to continue its expanded ground offensive aimed at defeating Hamas and taking control of the territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that enabling aid helps allow Israel’s allies to continue support for its operations.
Israel also maintains there is no overall aid shortage and has accused Hamas of diverting supplies for its fighters or to sell – an allegation strongly denied by both Hamas and the UN. The UN countered that Israel is obligated under international humanitarian law to ensure food and medicine reach Gaza’s civilian population and denied any diversion of aid.
Adding complexity, a proposed US-Israeli plan for aid distribution has sparked significant controversy. This plan would bypass existing UN facilities, utilizing a private company and security contractors or Israeli troops to distribute food from designated hubs. Netanyahu reportedly framed this plan as “another tool to win the war.” However, the UN and other aid agencies have stated they will not cooperate, arguing it contradicts fundamental humanitarian principles, appears to “weaponize aid,” and would logistically force civilians to travel long distances through unsafe areas for food access. As one WFP official put it, “The food should go to the people, not the people to the food.”
Ongoing Conflict and Displacement
Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment and ground operations continue intensely across the Gaza Strip. The Hamas-run health ministry reported over 100 fatalities in the 24 hours preceding recent updates, with significant casualties reported since dawn on subsequent days, including reports of a strike killing multiple members of one family in northern Gaza’s Jabalia area.
The Israeli military has issued evacuation orders for Jabalia and other northern neighborhoods, citing ongoing operations against terrorist organizations. The UN estimates that approximately 81% of Gaza is now either under Israeli evacuation orders or located within militarized “no-go” zones. This has resulted in massive displacement, with nearly 600,000 people estimated to have been displaced again since March, including over 160,000 in the past week alone.
The ongoing conflict began in response to Hamas’s cross-border attack on October 7, 2023. According to the Gaza health ministry, the death toll in the territory has now surpassed 53,700 people, including over 16,500 children. Aid agencies reiterate that only a substantial increase in safe, unimpeded aid access can begin to mitigate the catastrophic humanitarian situation unfolding alongside the military operations.
References
- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czdyv3jp5elo
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czdyv3jp5elo
- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crk2264nrn2o
- https://www.jazz88.fm/
- https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/652041/World/Mena/UN-says-90-truckloads-of-aid-now-in-Gaza-after-three-day-delay-at-crossing
