Coinciding with the shift of attention away from Gaza in the wake of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and renewed fears of a broader regional conflict, volumes of essential supplies entering the Strip since September have plummeted. This drastic drop, in the midst of the humanitarian catastrophe in the territory and another military siege in the north, is the result of new obstacles from Israel and the chaos caused by its offensive in the enclave. And now the situation could get even worse with the approval last Monday of a law in the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) that prohibits the activities of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA, according to its acronym in English).
Israel’s increase in obstacles to the shipment of essential goods, both from humanitarian agencies and the private sector, occurs at the threshold of winter and with the threat of famine hovering over Gaza. The latest report from the main international organization on food security warned this October that acute malnutrition will worsen in the Strip in the coming months, in part due to reduced aid and limited access to food. And he warned that the risk of famine will persist if the war continues and aid is restricted.
In September, the total number of humanitarian aid shipments and commercial shipments entering Gaza was the lowest since February, according to UN data. Furthermore, if only humanitarian shipments are counted, deliveries in September were by far the lowest since the start of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, with the exception of October 2023, and remained almost 70% below the record high. in April. Data from Israel show a significantly larger flow, but reflect similar trends.
The situation got even worse in October. According to UN data, until the 27th of that month, the last for which figures are available, no private commercial cargo entered Gaza, while Israeli authorities put the figure at 104. In the previous five months, in Instead, Israel had let in at least 1,200 trucks chartered by the private sector each month. During the same period in October, only 836 humanitarian trucks entered Gaza, according to UN data, more than 40% less than in September.
This collapse in aid to Gaza is mainly due to two factors, according to Tamara Alrifai, spokesperson for UNRWA. On the one hand, the closure of border crossings by Israel, which most of the time keeps only two open; and, on the other, to its continued restrictions on sending aid, including “long and cumbersome verifications” of shipments. One of the latest obstacles is a new customs clearance process introduced in September for shipments from Jordan.
“Until now, the aid that entered through the Jordanian corridor did not require customs procedures, since it was regulated by another mechanism [acordado] between the UN and Israel,” says Alrifai. “Adding a customs rule is the prerogative of any country, but it adds a layer of unnecessary bureaucracy and time to the practice,” he points out. In August, 346 UN and NGO trucks arrived in Gaza via this route, according to UN data. But the number fell to 31 in the first half of September and zero during the second. In October, 130 were counted.
Regarding the private sector, Jonathan Whittall, acting head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Palestine, states that deliveries “have been drastically reduced due to increased controls, the desire of the authorities Israelis to see them reduced, and the closures of border crossings during a festive period.
Fifteen international NGOs reported in September that aid within Gaza is also systematically obstructed by the lack of security guarantees, restrictions on the movement of aid within the Strip, the vast destruction of infrastructure and displacement. of civilians. “A recent development is that it is increasingly difficult to find truckers who agree to pick up humanitarian goods, as they fear the looting and violence that now surrounds any movement of goods,” explains Alrifai.
No alternative routes
Whittall points out that they have requested to open alternative routes to transport goods and thus avoid the great breakdown of public order that currently exists around the main border crossing, in the south of Gaza, and at the same time not having to travel on a single road full of looters. . But “the Israeli authorities have been denying them for months,” he laments.
The supplies that are entering Gaza are far below those necessary to alleviate or reverse its serious humanitarian crisis. Before the Israeli offensive, about 500 trucks entered daily, mostly from the private sector. But in the last year Israel has not allowed it to reach this average again, despite the fact that now the needs are even greater.
“These 500 arrived before there were two million displaced people, around 80% of the infrastructure destroyed, [los niveles actuales de] food insecurity, the collapse of the health system, and the lack of water, sanitation and shelter,” says Whittall. “And many of the things [necesarias] to save lives, they cannot be loaded into the back of a truck: health personnel, emergency response personnel, all that type of things,” he adds.
Israel’s ban on UNRWA operations in the country threatens to make aid distribution even more difficult.The law passed by the Knesset could collapse the activities of this UN agency in the occupied Palestinian territories, and although Israel insists that they will work with other entities, there is currently no replacement with similar infrastructure.
Restrictions on aid to Gaza are in the spotlight because Israel is obliged under international law to ensure that Gazans receive essential supplies. In May, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) asked the court to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, partly on suspicion that Israel uses “the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.”
But the Government denies it. “Israel does not restrict the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” says a spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Defense body that manages the day-to-day operations of the occupation in the Palestinian territories, Cogat. “Due to the dynamic combat situation, adjustments are made to entry agreements from time to time to facilitate the entry of aid and prevent its use by terrorist organizations,” he justifies.
The reality on the ground, however, is perceived differently. “If the siege is not lifted and the full functionality of the border crossings is guaranteed, essential aid will not be able to reach those in need,” predicts Ahmad Baroudi of Save the Children. Ahmed Bayram, from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), agrees with him: “It’s been the same story for a year. “We are talking about so much effort, so much discussion, so much diplomacy and so much pressure, for what is probably the most basic of human rights: to be safe and to eat.”
