A UNRWA warehouse in Amman, Jordan holds enough aid to last a month for over 200,000 people in Gaza. Photo courtesy of UNRWA official Facebook account.
“Children in Gaza are not walking to school. They are once again being forced to try to find somewhere safe. But there is nowhere,” the agency wrote on X.
UNRWA stated that overcrowding and aid restrictions are leaving families without shelter, emphasising that it has been barred from bringing in tents and other supplies for nearly six months. “There is not enough space. There are not enough tents,” it said, adding that warehouses in Egypt and Jordan hold enough materials to fill 6,000 trucks that could enter Gaza “immediately” if restrictions were lifted.
According to Gaza’s government media office, only 2,654 aid trucks entered the enclave over the past month—far short of the 600 trucks per day it says are needed for the 2.4 million residents.
Israel blocked UNRWA operations in Gaza and the West Bank in October 2024 after accusing some staff of involvement in the 7 October 2023 attacks. Since then, aid delivery has slowed to a trickle as the war has left much of Gaza in ruins. More than 63,000 Palestinians—most of them women and children—have been killed and more than 159,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Humanitarian warnings
International organisations have issued stark new warnings about the consequences of Israel’s ongoing offensive. On Saturday, International Committee of the Red Cross president Mirjana Spoljaric denounced Israeli plans for a mass evacuation of Gaza City ahead of an expected military takeover, saying it was “impossible” to carry out safely.
Such an order, she warned, would trigger a population movement that no part of Gaza could absorb, given the destruction of infrastructure and shortages of food, water, shelter, and medical care. The UN estimates that nearly one million people live in the Gaza governorate, which includes Gaza City and its surroundings.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also renewed his call for a permanent ceasefire last week, describing an “endless catalogue of horrors” in Gaza. “Famine is no longer a looming possibility—it is a present-day catastrophe. People are dying from hunger,” he said.
The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has declared parts of Gaza in famine and warned the crisis could engulf the enclave without an end to the war and blockade. Aid groups say more than 300 Palestinians, including children, have already died from starvation or malnutrition.
World Food Programme head Cindy McCain said Gaza is “at a breaking point,” urging an urgent revival of its food distribution network.
Aid distribution under fire
Meanwhile, UN human rights experts voiced alarm over reports of enforced disappearances of Palestinians seeking food at distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. This Israeli-and US-backed body has sidelined UN agencies.
The experts accused Israel’s military of direct involvement in the disappearances. They said at least 1,857 Palestinians had been killed while seeking aid since late May, including more than 1,000 near GHF sites.
They demanded Israel clarify the fate of the missing and end what they described as a “heinous crime against an already vulnerable population.”
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