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A week into the Gaza ceasefire and not enough aid is still flowing into the war-torn north, infectious diseases are “spinning out of control”, humanitarian organizations have warned.
About 560 metric tons of food per day has entered the Gaza Strip since a US-brokered ceasefire took effect last Friday, but levels in the first week have been described as a “trickle – not necessarily a flood”. Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian chief, has said thousands of aid vehicles will be arriving weekly to tackle widespread malnutrition, homelessness and infrastructure collapse.
now support group face increasing uncertainty Queues of trucks at the southern border have led to crossing closures and administrative challenges. They have also not been allowed to bring food and medicine Through the key Rafah crossing, which has been largely closed since the conflict began, in 2023.
israel Threatened to keep crossings closed this week and reduce aidHe accused Hamas of returning the bodies of the hostages at a very slow pace. Israel said that on the first day of the ceasefire, more than 500 aid trucks entered Gaza. But in a major blow, Israel’s military aid agency COGAT said this week it would halve the number allowed per day, from 600 to 300.
Gaza’s civilian population still faces hunger, with the UN World Food Program (WFP) warning that they were operating in a “narrow window of opportunity” to increase deliveries, while others said millions of pounds of aid were held in warehouses.
The issue is particularly affecting northern Gaza, where aid convoys are struggling to reach famine-stricken areas. About 950 trucks entered southern and central Gaza on Thursday through the Kerem Shalom and Kisufim crossings with Israel, the U.N. humanitarian coordination agency said, citing figures from Israel’s military aid agency COGAT presented to mediators.
But WFP said it had not begun deliveries to Gaza City, pointing to the continued closure of Zikim and Erez, two border crossings with Israel in the north of the enclave, where the humanitarian debacle is most acute.
Oxfam said on Friday it had more than $2.5 million worth of life-saving aid in warehouses outside Gaza and ready for distribution.
Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s head of policy in the occupied Palestinian territories and Gaza, said: “Right now, a flow of aid is entering Gaza at a time when the need is flooding in. The ceasefire promised access to aid organizations, yet many international NGOs with decades of experience have been prevented from entering and doing their work.”
Many aid groups say bureaucracy is proving to be a hindrance in delivering aid to places where it is needed most.
In March, Israel announced a registration process for all humanitarian organizations working in the Palestinian territories. Any group that is “delegitimizing” Israel, or employing someone who has called for a boycott of Israel in the last seven years, may lose its authorization to operate.
Milena Moore, spokeswoman for the aid group Mercy Corps, said Independent It was exploring “every possible avenue” to increase their response.
“However, we are facing bureaucratic challenges associated with the interim period of the re-registration process, which has not been implemented as initially envisioned,” she said. “While these administrative barriers remain in place, our teams continue to focus on service delivery and will remain ready to deliver life-saving aid to Gaza as soon as we gain access.
Israeli officials said Israel decided to slow aid and delay plans to reopen the border with Egypt because Hamas was too slow to hand over the remains of dead hostages – an issue that has put heavy pressure on the ceasefire this week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel “will not compromise” and demanded that Hamas meet requirements set out in the ceasefire agreement regarding the return of hostages’ bodies.
Food prices in Gaza have risen amid fears the ceasefire will not hold, after falling last week in anticipation of a ceasefire.
But food is not the only concern. With medical centers desperately short of supplies, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that infectious diseases were “spinning out of control” in the enclave.
Hanan Balki, the UN health body’s regional director, told AFP news agency that “a huge amount of work” remains to be done to tackle the growing number of health conditions, including meningitis and respiratory illnesses.
Balki stressed the urgent need for fuel, food, medical equipment, medicines, physicians and doctors in Gaza, as the enclave’s health system was destroyed by two years of bombardment. Despite the end of hostilities, only 13 out of 36 hospitals are partially functioning.
As violence flared up in Gaza last week, there are fears there will be only a limited amount of time left to deliver needed aid before the ceasefire collapses.
WFP spokesperson Abir Atefa said: “The ceasefire has opened a narrow window of opportunity, and WFP is moving very quickly to increase food assistance.”
He said on Friday that WFP is able to deliver an average of about 560 tonnes of food a day to Gaza, but some areas are still inaccessible. The United Nations has an additional 190,000 metric tons of aid waiting and ready to go.
Etefa said access to the north, including Gaza City, was “extremely challenging”, and convoys were struggling to navigate damaged or blocked roads from the south.
Then there is the issue of Rafah crossing, which was supposed to be reopened but has not happened yet. COGAT said it was being coordinated between Israel and Egypt in accordance with the ceasefire agreement. But no date has been set yet and even when it reopens it will only allow the movement of people across the border, not aid.
A COGAT spokesperson said, “It must be stressed that humanitarian aid will not pass through the Rafah crossing.” “This was never agreed upon at any level. In full compliance with the signed agreement, humanitarian aid continues to enter the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing and additional crossings after Israeli security inspections.
“The IDF, through COGAT, will maintain its commitment to the agreements in accordance with the directions of the political arena.”