How Three Journalists Tracked the Deadly Aid Crisis in Gaza

New York Times

08-08-2025

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How do journalists cover a conflict they can't witness firsthand? That's one of the hardest parts of reporting on the Israel-Hamas war: Israel restricts outside journalists from entering Gaza on their own, though a few have entered with the Israeli military; they can't interview people or walk with them to document the dangers of getting food. They can't talk to Hamas militants or Israeli soldiers freely.
But war reporters find ways to get the truth. Last month, after a number of violent incidents near aid sites in Gaza, several of my New York Times colleagues huddled and discussed why the sites had become so deadly. That question led them to examine satellite imagery, video from Gaza and data from Israel, the U.N. and other sources, and to report with officials and others in the region.
The reporting resulted in a Times article, 'How Did Hunger Get So Much Worse in Gaza?,' which uses maps and graphics to show readers the situation in Gaza and how hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, many of them by Israeli forces, while heading toward these aid sites.
I hosted an online conversation with three colleagues who worked on the piece to discuss why they pursued the story, how a collaboration like this works at The Times and what their reporting brought to light. This conversation has been edited and condensed.
Patrick Healy, assistant managing editor based in New York: I was a Boston Globe reporter in Afghanistan after Sept. 11, and in Iraq in 2003, and was able to get to cities like Kandahar and Falluja to talk to a lot of people. Gaza is so different — The Times has two local journalists on the ground there, but this war also forces reporters to think about storytelling beyond the in-person interview. Why did you decide to pursue this story?
Aaron Boxerman, reporter based in Jerusalem: Gaza's humanitarian crisis has been a key reporting target for us since the war began. And things have deteriorated dramatically, beginning in March with an Israeli decision to block practically all aid going into Gaza. We wanted to map out how some of these policies had played out on the ground, where the situation has also been complicated by rampant lawlessness. Hamas has also made it difficult for journalists on the ground to operate freely, and intimidates its critics in Gaza, which has a chilling effect on people.
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