The meagre flow of aid into Gaza is creating a deadly health crisis for Palestinians

For months, delivering aid to the people who need it in Gaza has been an enormous challenge. But since the Israeli military launched its ground invasion of Rafah in early May, it has become even more difficult, greatly exacerbating the already dire health situation for Gaza’s 2.2 million strong population.

One of the two main entry points for aid into Gaza—the Rafah crossing with Egypt—has been closed since the Israeli military seized it on 7 May. The other—Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom)—has reopened, but active combat around the crossing and the prioritisation of commercial goods trucks often makes it too difficult for humanitarian workers inside Gaza to access. As a result, the amount of aid getting into Gaza has dropped precipitously: data from the United Nations (UN) show the total number of trucks entering the south fell from 5671 in April to 1656 in May.1 Less than 400 trucks entered between 6 May, the day the ground invasion of Rafah began, and the end of the month1—a pitiful figure considering that Gaza normally requires at least 500 trucks of aid a day to meet people’s most basic needs, owing to the blockade imposed by Israeli authorities since 2007.

Even when aid does make it into the territory, the near constant bombardment and destruction of roads makes distributing essential supplies extremely dangerous, while permission to do so is not always granted. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, less than half of all humanitarian assistance missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by the Israeli authorities between 1 June and 18 June; the rest were either refused access, cancelled, or impeded.2 People trying to access aid have also been attacked: at least 112 people were killed while waiting to collect flour in early March after Israeli troops reportedly opened fire on them.3

With very little aid able to reach people, and food either unavailable to buy or unaffordable, Gaza’s hunger crisis is spiralling—and children are bearing the brunt. Nine out of 10 children in the Gaza strip are experiencing severe food poverty and eating just two or fewer food groups a day, according to Unicef.4 Another survey found that 85% of children had gone a whole day without eating at least once in the previous three days before the data were collected.5 The UN has reported that 32 people, mostly children, have already died as a result of malnutrition, and the director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned earlier this month that “a significant proportion of Gaza’s population is now facing catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions.”6

For Gaza’s pregnant women—95% of whom face severe food poverty—the lack of food is having a disastrous effect.7 Staff at a hospital in central Gaza, run by ActionAid’s partner Al-Awda, told us that miscarriages were becoming more common as a direct consequence of women being malnourished. Most children are born underweight, and their mothers are struggling to produce milk in order to breastfeed them, doctors at the hospital said.

Gaza is also experiencing a critical shortage of water because of the lack of fuel needed to operate key facilities like desalination plants.8 This is particularly dangerous considering the hotter temperatures that will continue to sweep over the territory in the next few months, turning tents into greenhouses. Two children have already died from the heat since the start of summer, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa).9