Gaza City — After a prolonged three-day delay, more than 90 humanitarian aid trucks have finally entered the Gaza Strip, the United Nations confirmed late Wednesday. The delivery comes as Israeli authorities temporarily eased an 11-week-long blockade, allowing essential supplies to cross into the besieged territory through the Kerem Shalom border point.
The trucks, carrying critical items including flour, baby formula, and medical supplies, were transferred to UN-operated storage facilities for immediate distribution. On Thursday, several bakeries resumed limited operations, using the newly arrived flour to bake bread for local communities.
The UN attributed the delay in distribution to ongoing security challenges along the singular Israeli-approved access route. Though Israeli officials claimed to have allowed an additional 100 truckloads through the crossing, the UN emphasized that this figure falls drastically short of what’s needed to address the escalating humanitarian crisis.
Before the war, Gaza regularly received around 500 truckloads of goods daily, the UN stated. Since the escalation, humanitarian organizations have reported widespread hunger, with basic food items scarce and prices soaring beyond what most can afford.
Palestinian Authority Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan said Thursday that at least 29 children and elderly individuals have recently died due to hunger-related complications. A UN-backed analysis warns that half a million people in Gaza are on the brink of famine.
Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) reported that it has over 140,000 tonnes of food — enough to supply the entire population of Gaza for two months — staged and ready at various aid corridors. However, delivery at scale remains stalled by logistical and political barriers.
Israel had cut off all aid and commercial shipments into Gaza on March 2, before resuming military operations after a brief ceasefire. Officials in Tel Aviv say these restrictions aim to pressure Hamas into releasing the 58 hostages still believed to be held, with up to 23 presumed alive.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained that aid shortages are not due to Israel’s policies, but rather to misappropriation by Hamas — accusations denied by both the militant group and the United Nations.
In a strongly worded statement Thursday, Netanyahu criticized Western leaders — including those of France, Canada, and the UK — accusing them of being swayed by “Hamas propaganda” suggesting Israel is deliberately starving civilians. He reiterated plans to implement an alternative aid distribution system via American firms, effectively bypassing UN agencies.
That plan has been rejected by the UN and other humanitarian organizations, who argue it undermines core principles of impartiality and could turn humanitarian aid into a political tool. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was able to deliver one truckload of medical supplies to a field hospital in Rafah but warned that far more is required to meet urgent needs.
“The current pace of aid delivery is completely inadequate,” the ICRC said in a statement. “Only a sustained, large-scale flow of assistance can begin to address the catastrophic conditions on the ground.”
Mandy Blackman, a UK nurse coordinating field efforts for UK-Med in southern Gaza, described the situation as “devastating.” Speaking from al-Mawasi, she said patients are arriving visibly malnourished and are being served only one basic meal per day.
“People are constantly being displaced, unable to care for or feed their children. The fear and suffering are unrelenting,” she told the Times Report.