Food access in Gaza is more difficult than ever

Aid flowing into Gaza dropped sharply in May, with humanitarian officials saying their operations were at risk of being halted and the threat of widespread starvation greater than ever.

Most aid has arrived at the southern Gaza crossing since the war began, but the flow of aid trucks has all but stopped since Israel expanded fighting in the southern city of Rafah. In northern Gaza, new entry points allow small amounts of critical aid to reach people most at risk of famine for months. But the aid is not enough to support the people of Gaza, and most does not reach the central and southern regions, where most people have been displaced by the war.

An International Court of Justice ruling issued on Friday appeared to order Israel to halt its military offensive against Rafah, although at least some court judges said limited operations may continue despite the ruling. The ruling explicitly noted the “spread of famine and starvation” in Gaza and stressed the need for “unhindered and large-scale delivery of much-needed basic services and humanitarian assistance by all parties involved.”

Israel pledged to increase aid to Gaza after an Israeli army attack last month that killed seven World Central Kitchen workers, sparking international outrage. Israel’s tight controls on aid and the challenges of distributing it within the enclave have caused catastrophic hunger.

Under pressure from President Joe Biden, Israeli officials began sending more aid through the port of Ashdod and opened the northern Erez crossing, which Israel had used after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack closed later.

But in early May, Israel expanded its military operations in southern Gaza after a Hamas rocket attack near the Kerem Shalom crossing killed four soldiers. Israel closed that crossing, as well as the Rafah crossing, from which most aid arrives. Just one day before the invasion, nearly 300 aid trucks passed through.

“This is our record since the war started,” said Georgios Petropoulos, director of the U.N. aid office in Rafah. “We kind of wanted to say, ‘Okay, maybe we’re where we need to be.'” And then boom, it was gone.

Israel reopened Kerem Shalom on May 8, but aid workers from multiple organizations said the key entry point remained closed, with an average of only eight aid trucks entering per day. One of the reasons is Egypt’s refusal to allow trucks to continue to Kerem Shalom from the closed Rafah crossing.

Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi agreed on Friday to provide aid and fuel to Kerem Shalom until the Rafah crossing reopens. On Sunday, 126 trucks carrying food and other aid from Egypt arrived at the crossing, according to an Israeli military statement. United Nations distribution trucks heading to Kerem Shalom to receive aid from Egypt were forced to evacuate the crossing due to security concerns, said Sam Ross, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Officials including Ross said aid had not made it through the crossing as of Sunday.

Senior UNRWA officials Scott Anderson and Mr Petropoulos said the crossing area remained an active military zone and security and logistical challenges could hamper aid reaching the crossing and prevent its immediate Collection and distribution. Israel launched an airstrike on a makeshift tent camp in Rafah on Sunday night, killing at least 45 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The Israeli military said the attack targeted a Hamas compound.

Empty trucks from inside Gaza heading to Kerem Shalom to load aid often wait for hours behind commercial trucks carrying goods for sale in Gaza, with officials saying there are more than 100 or 200 trucks a day. While humanitarian groups say they welcome the arrival of commercial supplies, which may not include basic necessities, most people in Gaza cannot afford them.

Delivering aid to the people of Gaza is also difficult as Israel expands operations in the south and north, forcing nearly a million people to flee to areas with little shelter, food or water amid the rubble of the coast or central areas.

Before Operation Rafah, most people took shelter in areas where most aid was coming in. Erez West -Beset by problems. They brought too little aid to sustain everyone and were far from the largest gatherings of people.

Distributing aid through each border crossing also poses significant challenges. Recent Israeli evacuation orders in parts of Rafah and northern Gaza have made many aid agency warehouses inaccessible and made travel more dangerous. UNRWA announced on May 21 that it was suspending distribution in Rafah, citing security concerns, supply shortages and lack of access to its warehouses.

Without consistent, predictable delivery of aid, many trucks won’t be able to travel very far among desperate people. For example, on May 18, the World Food Program reported that 11 of 16 trucks had been robbed after leaving U.S. terminals.

A military road and checkpoint in northern Israel bisecting the enclave, which early in the war prevented aid from being easily transported from the south to the north, could create similar problems for aid in the opposite direction, Mr. .

COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid delivery, said increasing the amount of aid entering Gaza remained a top priority. The group reports daily that it has inspected hundreds of trucks and coordinated their transfer to border crossings, though those numbers tend to be higher than those reported by aid groups, which track the number of trucks collecting goods entering Gaza, excluding those carrying commercial Cargo truck.

Neither set of figures account for distribution difficulties that could prevent aid from reaching civilians in Gaza. Israel says enough aid is already entering Gaza and accuses aid groups of not distributing aid to civilians more quickly — a claim that aid groups dispute, saying the Israeli military has made distribution extremely difficult.

Aid groups also warn that if the fuel runs out, they will be unable to deliver supplies to anyone and safe water supplies that are already insufficient will disappear. UNRWA’s Mr Anderson said at least 200,000 liters of fuel per day was needed. But since the closure of the Rafah crossing, only a quarter of the cargo has arrived on average every day, according to United Nations data.

“Fuel constraints mean we often have to make a choice: keep the generator running at the hospital, the bakery or the wastewater treatment plant?” Mr Anderson said.