Severe hunger grips northern Gaza amid aid blockade and bakery closures

The National

23-05-2025

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached a critical level, with no deliveries of aid reaching the north and only a trickle getting through in the south – nowhere near enough to end the extreme levels of hunger, say authorities. Ismail Al Thawabti, director of the Gaza's government media office, says aid brought in by fewer than 100 lorries had entered the southern part of the Strip in recent days, but not the north. Even in the south, distribution efforts are chaotic. 'Gaza needs at least 500 aid trucks daily to meet basic humanitarian needs. What has come in so far isn't even a drop in the ocean,' Mr Al Thawabti told The National. 'A famine cannot be resolved with a few dozen trucks.' He also criticised the US-proposed aid distribution organisation, expected to launch next week. He said it 'undermines dignity, institutionalises famine and fails to address the core of the crisis'. Local and international humanitarian organisations shared these concerns, he added. In Gaza city's Al Jalaa neighbourhood, Mohammed Al Mahlawi, a father of five, described the growing desperation. 'We keep hearing that bakeries are operating in the south and flour is being distributed. But here in the north, we see none of it. There is no bread, no aid and no indication that the crisis is nearing an end,' he told The National. 'The world is watching us starve – men, women, and children – and does nothing. [Israel] has failed to kill us with weapons, and now it's trying with hunger. But we will not surrender. We are a people of dignity, rooted in our land and our faith.' Abdel Nasser Al Ajrami, head of the Bakery Owners Association in Gaza, confirmed that only four bakeries are operating – all in central and southern Gaza. Northern areas are without functioning bakeries due to the lack of supplies and fuel. 'We have 25 bakeries ready to run, but only four are active,' Mr Al Ajrami told The National. 'Even if all 25 were operating, it would barely scratch the surface of this hunger crisis.' He said that while some bread was distributed recently under a new aid mechanism, the system is 'impractical and insufficient'. 'Gaza needs a large and sustained supply of flour and essential baking materials. A handful of trucks cannot end a famine,' he said. A World Food Programme official echoed these concerns, saying that Israeli authorities continue to block aid from reaching northern Gaza under 'unjustifiable pretexts'. 'Thousands of aid trucks are queued up, ready to enter Gaza, but the Israeli side is blocking them. You cannot fight famine with bureaucracy,' the official said. They also warned against testing new aid models at this critical stage. 'The previous distribution mechanism was the most effective. Any alternatives introduced now are unlikely to succeed,' the official added. The limited supply of bread produced in southern Gaza cannot keep pace with the immediate needs of the population. 'We urgently require significantly larger shipments to meet the growing humanitarian demand,' the WFP source said. As famine tightens its grip and international relief efforts remain stalled, health and humanitarian officials are calling for immediate intervention. 'We are well beyond the threshold of a crisis,' said Mr Al Thawabti. 'This is a catastrophe. The world must act now.'