Israel, under pressure, allows more aid into Gaza, but U.N. says it's a fraction of what's needed
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government announced over the weekend that it would enable more food and medicine to enter the war-torn Palestinian territory after images of hungry people and malnourished children drew international condemnation.
Israel has also permitted humanitarian air drops. On Sunday, Israel, Jordan and the UAE all parachuted pallets of aid into the ruins of Gaza.
The drops look dramatic, but they're expensive, inefficient and potentially dangerous. People have been hurt and even killed by the heavy pallets during past air drops over the territory.
To meet the need, the bulk of the aid will have to come into Gaza by truck. Each truck can carry between 4 and 10 times as much as a parachute.
After 22 months of war, including months when Israel blocked all aid coming into Gaza, people are so hungry that they're looting the convoys.
Video from over the weekend showed men clambering to pull bags of flour off trucks before they could reach aid depots.
International charities have a new name for it — "self-distribution" — and it's a graphic depiction of the level of desperation in the Palestinian enclave.
On Sunday, 120 trucks worth of aid moved into Gaza. At least as much was expected to arrive on Monday — but it's not nearly enough. Before the war started, more 500 trucks per day was the norm.
Maryam Yahya is one of the roughly 2 million Gazans trying to survive in a tent.
"We haven't seen a thing," she said. "No aid... from land, air or anywhere else."
Meanwhile, the war rages on. Israel's military has said it will pause the fighting in heavily populated areas from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. local time, for an unspecified number of days. But there have been more reports of people being shot trying to access food.
In a statement on Monday, the U.N. agency tasked with helping Palestinians, UNRWA, welcomed Israel's declaration of humanitarian pauses and the easing of restrictions on aid entering Gaza, but it stressed that much more was needed.
UNRWA warned that, according to its data, "1 in every 5 children is malnourished in Gaza City. More children have reportedly died of hunger; bringing the death toll … to over 100."
"We hope that UNRWA will finally be allowed to bring in thousands of trucks loaded with food, medicine and hygiene supplies. They are currently in Jordan and Egypt waiting for the green light," the agency said. "Opening all the crossings and flooding Gaza with assistance is the only way to avert further deepening of starvation among the people of Gaza. What's needed is at least 500/600 trucks of basics every day."
The Israeli military has also said it will secure safe routes for aid trucks to deliver and distribute their loads through Gaza. It's something that the U.N.'s aid agencies have been pushing for and, if it works, it will allow much needed food to finally reach the people who so badly need it.
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Washington Post
29 minutes ago
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From dawn to dusk, a Gaza family focuses on one thing: finding food
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Every morning, Abeer and Fadi Sobh wake up in their tent in the Gaza Strip to the same question: How will they find food for themselves and their six young children? The couple has three options: Maybe a charity kitchen will be open and they can get a pot of watery lentils. Or they can try jostling through crowds to get some flour from a passing aid truck. The last resort is begging.
Associated Press
29 minutes ago
- Associated Press
From dawn to dusk, a Gaza family focuses on one thing: finding food
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Every morning, Abeer and Fadi Sobh wake up in their tent in the Gaza Strip to the same question: How will they find food for themselves and their six young children? The couple has three options: Maybe a charity kitchen will be open and they can get a pot of watery lentils. Or they can try jostling through crowds to get some flour from a passing aid truck. The last resort is begging. If those all fail, they simply don't eat. It happens more and more these days, as hunger saps their energy, strength and hope. The predicament of the Sobhs, who live in a seaside refugee camp west of Gaza City after being displaced multiple times, is the same for families throughout the war-ravaged territory. Hunger has grown throughout the past 22 months of war because of aid restrictions, humanitarian workers say. But food experts warned earlier this week the 'worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in Gaza.' Israel enforced a complete blockade on food and other supplies for 2½ months beginning in March. It said its objective was to increase pressure on Hamas to release dozens of hostages it has held since its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Though the flow of aid resumed in May, the amount is a fraction of what aid organizations say is needed. A breakdown of law and order has also made it nearly impossible to safely deliver food. Much of the aid that does get in is hoarded or sold in markets at exorbitant prices. Here is a look at a day in the life of the Sobh family: A morning seawater bath The family wakes up in their tent, which Fadi Sobh, a 30-year-old street vendor, says is unbearably hot in the summer. With fresh water hard to come by, his wife Abeer, 29, fetches water from the sea. One by one, the children stand in a metal basin and scrub themselves as their mother pours the saltwater over their heads. Nine-month-old Hala cries as it stings her eyes. The other children are more stoic. Abeer then rolls up the bedding and sweeps the dust and sand from the tent floor. With no food left over from the day before, she heads out to beg for something for her family's breakfast. Sometimes, neighbors or passersby give her lentils. Sometimes she gets nothing. Abeer gives Hala water from a baby bottle. When she's lucky, she has lentils that she grinds into powder to mix into the water. 'One day feels like 100 days, because of the summer heat, hunger and the distress,' she said. A trip to the soup kitchen Fadi heads to a nearby soup kitchen. Sometimes one of the children goes with him. 'But food is rarely available there,' he said. The kitchen opens roughly once a week and never has enough for the crowds. Most often, he said, he waits all day but returns to his family with nothing 'and the kids sleep hungry, without eating.' Fadi used to go to an area in northern Gaza where aid trucks arrive from Israel. 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Otherwise, they scour Gaza's bombed-out streets, foraging through the rubble and trash for anything to fuel the family's makeshift stove. They've become good at recognizing what might burn. Scraps of paper or wood are best, but hardest to find. The bar is low: plastic bottles, plastic bags, an old shoe — anything will do. One of the boys came across a pot in the trash one day — it's what Abeer now uses to cook. The family has been displaced so many times, they have few belongings left. 'I have to manage to get by,' Abeer said. 'What can I do? We are eight people.' If they're lucky, lentil stew for dinner After a day spent searching for the absolute basics to sustain life — food, water, fuel to cook — the family sometimes has enough of all three for Abeer to make a meal. Usually it's a thin lentil soup. But often there is nothing, and they all go to bed hungry. Abeer said she's grown weak and often feels dizzy when she's out searching for food or water. 'I am tired. 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Associated Press
29 minutes ago
- Associated Press
A day in the life, in photos, of one family's search for food in Gaza
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Sobh family lives in a seaside refugee camp west of Gaza City after being displaced multiple times during the war between Israel and Hamas. The family of six spends its days searching for food and water. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
