Report: Israel turns humanitarian aid into another tool to besiege Gaza

The crisis has evolved from shortages of supplies to increasingly complicated procedures governing their entry and distribution, followed by a reduction in the role of established humanitarian organizations, particularly the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Throughout these changes, civilians have remained the most vulnerable, confronting hunger, displacement and widespread destruction.

Crossings under Israeli control

Since the beginning of the war, Gaza’s crossings have been at the center of the humanitarian crisis. The entry of food, medicine, fuel and other essential supplies has depended on Israeli approvals, procedures and restrictions, slowing the flow of aid and disrupting its delivery to areas where it is needed most.

The crisis has extended beyond the crossings themselves. Humanitarian convoys have faced serious obstacles moving inside Gaza and reaching civilians because of Israeli military operations, movement restrictions and the destruction of roads and infrastructure.

As humanitarian needs have multiplied alongside mass destruction and displacement, relief organizations have remained unable to respond on the scale required. Thousands of families have consequently been forced to depend on irregular assistance or limited quantities that fall far short of meeting their basic needs.

UNRWA’s humanitarian role undermined

The report highlights the growing challenges facing UNRWA, which for decades has been one of the central pillars of humanitarian and relief operations in Gaza. Increasing restrictions on the agency have directly affected its ability to bring in and distribute humanitarian assistance.

Restricting UNRWA and reducing its operational capacity have created a significant gap in the humanitarian response because of the agency’s extensive experience, large network of employees, facilities, shelters and services throughout Gaza.

At the same time, humanitarian needs have continued to grow, meaning that any reduction in the capacity of established relief organizations directly affects displaced families and the most vulnerable groups, particularly children, women, older people and the sick.

UN data indicate that restrictions on UNRWA and its inability to directly bring aid into Gaza have prevented it from distributing supplies stored outside the enclave that could assist hundreds of thousands of people, despite thousands of Palestinian UNRWA employees continuing to provide services inside Gaza.

Controversial aid distribution mechanisms

According to the report, the problem has not been limited to the amount of aid entering Gaza. Changes to the mechanisms used to distribute assistance have also raised serious questions about civilian protection and equitable access.

Instead of relying on an established humanitarian system capable of delivering assistance to civilians where they are located, obtaining food has at various stages required Palestinians to travel through dangerous areas amid widespread infrastructure destruction, repeated displacement orders and the dispersal of communities.

As a result, hunger has been exacerbated not only by shortages of food but also by the difficulty of reaching it, irregular distribution and the weakening of institutions that once formed the backbone of Gaza’s humanitarian response.

A growing gap between needs and aid

One of the most dangerous consequences of the crisis, the report says, is the widening gap between Gaza’s enormous humanitarian needs and the actual capacity to address them amid continued restrictions on the movement of supplies and people and the destruction of essential infrastructure.

Gaza’s neighborhoods, homes, hospitals, water systems and sewage networks have suffered extensive destruction. Such conditions require a humanitarian operation capable of functioning continuously and on a massive scale, rather than limited aid deliveries and intermittent responses.

Continued restrictions on access to large areas of Gaza have made aid delivery even more difficult, disrupting humanitarian operations as well as water, healthcare and food services, while increasing the dangers facing civilians trapped in besieged or devastated areas.

UN reports have indicated that restrictions on access and movement inside Gaza have forced some humanitarian organizations to reduce or suspend life-saving activities, while large areas remain subject to severe restrictions affecting civilians and humanitarian workers.

Aid between politics and humanitarian need

The report places humanitarian assistance within a broader political and military context, arguing that relief efforts cannot be separated from the conditions under which they operate, particularly when the occupying power controls crossings, the movement of goods and people, and access routes to affected areas.

Ensuring humanitarian assistance therefore requires more than simply making supplies available. It requires a mechanism that guarantees their safe, regular and effective entry and delivery to civilians without restrictions or disruptions that prevent available supplies from actually reaching families in need.

The report stresses the importance of preserving the independence of humanitarian operations and enabling specialized international organizations to carry out their work. It also warns against replacing established humanitarian systems with arrangements that fail to adequately protect civilians or distribute assistance according to humanitarian need.

The crisis extends far beyond food parcels. Gaza also requires fuel, medical supplies, shelter materials, spare parts and equipment needed to operate essential facilities. Restrictions on these supplies directly undermine basic services.

Water and sewage facilities and healthcare centers continue to face severe challenges because of shortages of fuel, equipment and spare parts, while Palestinians are left to endure accumulating waste and deteriorating water and healthcare services.

Humanitarian aid has therefore become part of a much broader struggle to maintain the basic conditions necessary for life in Gaza. Food cannot be separated from water, water cannot be separated from fuel, and healthcare cannot function without allowing humanitarian organizations to move freely and reach civilians.

International responsibility

The report concludes that addressing Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe requires moving beyond temporary solutions toward measures that guarantee the sustained and sufficient flow of aid, remove restrictions obstructing humanitarian organizations and allow them to reach civilians throughout the Strip.

It also calls for restoring the role of the international humanitarian system and supporting organizations capable of carrying out large-scale, organized relief operations, particularly UNRWA, while ensuring the protection of humanitarian workers and facilities.

As Palestinians continue to endure the consequences of the war, humanitarian assistance has become more than temporary relief for millions of people. It represents a final line of defense against hunger, disease and displacement. Yet that line remains dangerously fragile as long as supplies are subjected to restrictions and humanitarian organizations are prevented from freely reaching those who need them.

In Gaza, the tragedy is not only that Palestinians have been deprived of the necessities of life. It is that assistance sent to them does not always arrive; what does arrive is often insufficient, and those able to obtain food or medicine today may have no way of reaching it tomorrow.

Humanitarian aid has thus become a reflection of one of the most devastating dimensions of Gaza’s catastrophe: the basic human rights to food, medicine, water and shelter have been transformed into a daily struggle for survival.