A limited amount of food was delivered to desperate Gazans for the first time since early March on Wednesday, but senior United Nations officials warned the supply was “nowhere near enough” to forestall the worsening humanitarian crisis.
UN officials say they are hoping for more to be delivered on Thursday.
Aid agencies warn that much of Gaza will be on the verge of famine if supplies are not allowed into the enclave in volume.
Until this week, Israel had forbidden all humanitarian aid entering Gaza since March 2, saying Hamas was stealing and profiting from it.
Tom Fletcher, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, posted on X Thursday: “In close touch with team in #Gaza. Today will be crucial. Truckloads of lifesaving aid finally on move again.”
Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid began delivering the first food and supplies in Gaza in more than 11 weeks on Wednesday. More than 90 trucks carrying flour, baby supplements and other food began dispersing aid into southern Gaza, according to the head of Gaza’s transport association Nahid Shuheiber.
Kamel Ajour, the owner of the Ajour bakeries in Gaza, said some of the flour would be distributed to bakeries in the south to start working “immediately.”
Shuhaiber said he hoped for a similar number of trucks Thursday but said two trucks had been stolen by desperately hungry residents on Wednesday.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said late Wednesday that five kitchens had resumed operations in Khan Younis and Gaza City, but five others had been forced to close for a lack of supplies.
According to COGAT, the Israeli agency handling the passage of aid into Gaza, five trucks entered Gaza on Monday, 93 trucks entered on Tuesday, and another 100 entered on Wednesday.
But the head of the UN Children’s Fund, Catherine Russell, said on X Wednesday: “The few trucks that have entered with life-saving supplies are nowhere near sufficient and have yet to reach those in desperate need. We’re running out of supplies inside Gaza, and we’re running out of time.”
There have also been delays caused by disagreements between the Israeli military and aid agencies over the routes to be used within Gaza.
“Israeli authorities had only allowed our teams to go through one area where that was highly congested, that we felt was insecure and where we felt looting was highly likely to take place given the prolonged deprivation in Gaza,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, on Wednesday.
OCHA also said Wednesday that “critical items such as hygiene products or fuel have not been allowed by the Israeli authorities.”
Israel has endorsed a plan promoted by the US ambassador in Jerusalem, Mike Huckabee, for distribution of aid to be organized by a private group known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. UN officials have said the plan is inadequate.
As aid begins to trickle into Gaza, Israeli forces continue to expand their operations, pushing the civilian population into a smaller area. OCHA said that “large numbers of people continue to be displaced,” with 80 per cent of Gaza now either subject to displacement orders or located in Israeli-militarized zones.
“The ongoing displacement of Gaza’s population is putting immense pressure on humanitarian teams,” OCHA said, leading to “an extreme lack of shelter space. Displacement sites and residential buildings are very overcrowded.”
UN agencies are also concerned about strikes on hospitals. It said that on Wednesday Al Awda hospital in northern Gaza – the only partially functional facility in the area – was struck, while Kamal Adwan Hospital ceased operations. The Palestinian Health Ministry said Thursday that the closure of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza had deprived more than 400,000 people of health services.
In southern Gaza, the European hospital remains out of service after several Israeli strikes last week.
The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had received one truck of medical supplies for its field hospital in Rafah but added that it would take time to recover from the deficit created over the past ten weeks.
“The coming days are critical,” the ICRC said.
Another issue is water, with the largest desalination plant in the north of Gaza located in an area which civilians have been told to leave. Many people have moved to Al-Mawasi, a coastal area in the south, but it is not connected to the water network and relies heavily on water trucking.