GAZA — Despite a ceasefire agreement, Israel has allowed only about 100 aid trucks to enter the Gaza Strip daily, with humanitarian organizations confirming they are “effectively barred” from delivering desperately needed assistance to the war-ravaged enclave.
What is the total amount of aid that has entered Gaza?
According to the Gaza Government Media Office on Thursday, between the start of the ceasefire on October 10 and November 6, Israel has allowed only 4,453 of the 15,600 trucks scheduled to enter the Gaza Strip.
This amounts to just 28% of the total.
On average, only 171 trucks have been allowed to enter Gaza daily, far below the 600 trucks per day stipulated under the humanitarian protocol.
The Office said this highlights “that the occupation continues to impose a policy of deprivation and political pressure on more than 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
What items is Israel preventing from entering Gaza?
The Office stated that, as part of its policy of starvation, Israel is depriving civilians of over 350 essential food items needed by children, the sick, the wounded, and other vulnerable groups. The key items being blocked include:
- Eggs
- Red meat
- White meat
- Fish
- Cheese
- Dairy products
- Vegetables
- Nutritional supplements
- Along with dozens of other items vital for pregnant women, patients, and those with weakened immune systems.
Only about 100 aid trucks are entering the war-ravaged Gaza Strip daily – a figure “wholly insufficient” for the desperate population with NGOs effectively “blocked” by Israel from distribution efforts, an aid group says.
The Norwegian Refugee Council confirmed that only 100 aid trucks are entering Gaza daily through the UN system as the NGO and other humanitarian organisations are “effectively barred” from bringing in desperately needed assistance.
“There may be aid coming in through governments like [the UAE and Egypt] that we don’t have oversight over, but we know the amount of aid that is entering is wholly insufficient for the tremendous amount of need in Gaza after two years of bombardment and destruction,” communication adviser Shaina Low told Al Jazeera.
“We have about $4m worth of aid sitting in warehouses in Egypt waiting to be deployed,” including shelter and hygiene supplies that will be critical for the approaching winter, she added.
“But each time we apply with the Israelis, we get rejected.”
Low said even basic tents are a rare commodity for hundreds of thousands of displaced people in war-battered Gaza.
“Many people do not even have tents,” she said. “The people who have tents in Gaza are the ones who are lucky.”
“We’re just calling for the entry of emergency shelter supplies like tents, like tarpaulins … which will provide the minimal amount of shelter for the winter,” said Low.
“We haven’t even been able to prepare or plan for the long term.”
The World Food Programme said this week only half the needed amount of food is coming in. Abeer Etefa, senior spokesperson for WFP, described the situation as a “race against time”.
“We need full access. We need everything to be moving fast,” she said. “The winter months are coming. People are still suffering from hunger, and the needs are overwhelming.”
“We’re coming into winter soon – rainwater and possible floods, as well as potential diseases because of the hundreds of tons of garbage near populated areas,” said Amjad al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian agencies that liaise with the UN.
He said only 25-30% of the amount of aid expected into Gaza had entered so far.
“The living conditions are unimaginable,” noted Low of the Norwegian Refugee Council. The NRC estimates that 1.5 million people need shelter in Gaza but large volumes of tents, tarpaulins and related aid are still waiting to come in, awaiting Israeli approvals, Low said.
Dr. Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Government Media Office in Gaza, told Quds News Network (QNN) that the items allowed into the Strip are often highly processed, high-calorie foods with low nutritional value. Basic staples such as fresh vegetables, fruits, eggs, dairy, meat, grains, and legumes remain restricted.
“These foods do not improve food security or public health. Instead, they deepen hunger and chronic malnutrition,” Dr. Al Thawabta said. He emphasized that children, women, and the elderly are the most affected. He described the policy as a form of “systematic starvation,” using food as a tool of political and humanitarian pressure.
He added that these actions violate international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit depriving civilians of essential food and medicine.
Dr. Al-Thawabta noted that the content of the trucks matters more than the number. Most contained non-essential goods like coffee, soft drinks, chocolate, and dry snacks. Critical items such as medicines, fuel, construction materials, and health supplies were severely restricted. Only 115 fuel trucks entered during this period, just 10% of the required 1,100. Only four trucks carried medical supplies.
“The Israeli policy selectively allows goods that do not support life or health, while blocking essential items. The market may appear active, but in reality, the blockade continues to suffocate civilians and intensify the humanitarian crisis,” Dr. Al-Thawabta said.
A continuing lack of fuel, including cooking gas, is also hampering nutrition efforts, and over 60% of Gazans are cooking using burning waste and wood, said OCHA, adding to health risks.
On Thursday, the Gaza Petroleum and Gas Authority confirmed that Israel has been blocking the entry of cooking gas trucks for the third consecutive day.
From November 3 to 5, not a single gas truck was allowed in, and in the days before that, only two or three trucks entered daily, it added.
The recent ceasefire includes a term requiring Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. Despite this, essential goods still face heavy delays. Residents report that the blockade continues to limit life-saving food and supplies.
Last August, the Integrated Food Phase Classification (IPC) officially announced that Gaza is subjected ti an Israeli-made famine. By the end of last month, the total number of deaths from malnutrition in Gaza had risen to 447, including 147 children.Copy URL — QNN
