UNRWA official says Gaza aid not enough, calls for expanded access
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Israel's recent steps to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza are not sufficient to reverse severe shortages, Gaza acting director of UNRWA affairs Sam Rose said.
Rose added that while 'we very much welcome these initial steps to increase the flow of aid,' he said it is 'not enough'.
'First of all, you [Israel] limit the supply of aid coming in, or you completely block it. Second, you criticise the organisations whose job it is to provide that aid, the UN organisations — whose job, of course, is made far more difficult by the controls that Israel imposes,' he said.
'And then the next stage of this is to frame humanitarian aid itself as part of the problem,' he continued. 'And that's the dynamic we've been facing over the past few weeks in which countless children have died of malnutrition.'
'This has clearly been part of an approach of manufactured starvation over several months,' Rose told Al Jazeera.
UNRWA welcomes statements of humanitarian pauses and announcements that restrictions on bringing in humanitarian aid to #Gaza might be eased.
We hope that UNRWA will be finally allowed to bring in thousands of trucks loaded with food, medicine and hygiene supplies.
They are… — UNRWA (@UNRWA) July 27, 2025
Meanwhile, airdropped humanitarian aid into northern Gaza has sparked public frustration. Jordan and the UAE deployed three missions on Sunday, parachuting approximately 25 tonnes of supplies into the Beit Lahiya area. However, many residents say the aid never reached them.
According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, the combined contents of the three airdrops amounted to just two truckloads. Much of the cargo reportedly landed inside Israeli militarised zones, inaccessible to civilians.
Read: Trump, Starmer to hold talks on trade, Gaza starvation
The same office said Gaza needs 250,000 cans of baby formula and 600 trucks of aid per month to meet minimum survival standards. In a statement released on Telegram, it described the humanitarian situation as dire and called for a 'radical and urgent solution', demanding the unconditional lifting of Israel's blockade and immediate opening of all crossings into the territory.
Photos: Aid trucks wait at Rafah crossing in Egypt
Trucks carrying aid line up near the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt on July 28, 2025. — Reuters
Truck carrying aid lines up near the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt on July 28, 2025. — Reuters
Trucks carrying aid line up near the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt on July 28, 2025. — Reuters
Trucks carrying aid line up near the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt on July 28, 2025. — Reuters
Mass starvation
Despite recent claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there is 'no starvation' in Gaza, humanitarian agencies continue to raise alarms.
In Gaza City, a baby named Muhammad Ibrahim Adas has died from severe malnutrition and the lack of baby formula, a medical source at Al-Shifa Hospital told Al Jazeera.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that nearly one in five children under five in Gaza City is now acutely malnourished, making it the worst-hit area in the besieged enclave.
Malnutrition is on a dangerous trajectory in the Gaza Strip, marked by a spike in deaths in July.
Of 74 malnutrition-related deaths in 2025, 63 occurred in July—including 24 children under five, a child over five, and 38 adults. Most of these people were declared dead on arrival… pic.twitter.com/nIILYzPYhj — World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) July 27, 2025
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has expressed frustration over what he described as a lack of appreciation for recent US humanitarian donations to Gaza.
'We gave $60 million two weeks ago for food for Gaza, and nobody acknowledged it,' Trump said at a press conference. 'No other country gave anything... nobody gave but us.'
Trump appeared to be referring to US contributions to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a body backed by the US and Israel. The GHF has faced criticism from humanitarian groups for inadequate aid delivery and unsafe conditions at distribution sites.
Since the GHF began operations in May, Israeli forces have reportedly killed more than 1,000 Palestinians attempting to access food near aid distribution points.
Today's death toll
Meanwhile, at least 41 Palestinians have been killed across Gaza by Israeli attacks since dawn, including eight civilians struck while waiting for food aid, according to medical sources cited by Al Jazeera.
The continuing bombardment coincides with the detention of 21 activists from the Handala aid ship by Israeli authorities, 17 of whom have now been seen by lawyers.
The Handala, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition's civil mission to break the naval blockade on Gaza, was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters last week. Israel has since accused the group of illegally entering the country.
Legal rights group Adalah, which has met with most of the detainees, described their condition as 'relatively stable'. In a statement on social media, the Flotilla group said detainees were being pressured to accept 'voluntary deportation' or face indefinite detention and legal proceedings before a tribunal.
'Handala' was illegally boarded by Israel military in international waters, around 40 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza.
Before interception the 21 crew made this statement: if attacked they will join the global hunger strike for Gaza.
Call your governments now and hold them… pic.twitter.com/QbqUaduXG1 — Freedom Flotilla Coalition (@GazaFFlotilla) July 27, 2025
Israel's war on Gaza
The Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing nearly 60,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
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