DaysofPal – Ten days into the ceasefire agreement, Gaza remains strangled by severe shortages of food, medicine, and fuel as Israel continues to restrict the entry of humanitarian aid, defying the terms of the truce.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, only 986 aid trucks have entered the besieged enclave since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, out of the 6,600 trucks that were supposed to arrive by Monday evening.
“The average number of trucks entering Gaza daily since the ceasefire began does not exceed 89 out of 600 that are supposed to enter,” the office said, describing the situation as “a continued policy of strangulation, starvation, and humanitarian blackmail practiced by the Israeli occupation.”
The statement warned that these limited supplies “do not cover the minimum humanitarian and living needs” and called for the urgent entry of at least 600 trucks daily, including food, medicine, relief materials, operating fuel, and cooking gas, the bare minimum for survival.
Under the ceasefire deal, Israel was required to allow the unrestricted flow of humanitarian assistance. Yet, the Government Media Office reports that Israel continues to impose numerous obstacles to the entry of aid and the work of international organizations, jeopardizing the lives of more than two million people in the enclave.
Of Gaza’s seven border crossings, Israel is currently permitting the entry of limited aid only through the Kerem Shalom and Kissufim crossings, while keeping the Rafah border crossing with Egypt closed. Israel has said it will not reopen Rafah until Hamas hands over the bodies of Israeli prisoners “at an acceptable rate.”
The crossings, Gaza officials stressed, are the lifeline of the blockaded territory. In September, only 1,824 trucks entered Gaza out of the 18,000 expected, according to previous government figures, evidence of a long-standing blockade that predates the current ceasefire.
Even after October 10, only 653 trucks entered on October 12 and 15 combined, an average of just 108 per day, far below the 600-truck daily requirement set by the United Nations.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) cited Israel’s own COGAT agency, which claimed that 950 trucks entered Gaza on Thursday, including 807 through Kerem Shalom and 143 through Kissufim. The day before, 716 trucks reportedly entered, only 16 of which carried gas or fuel.
Israeli restrictions have prevented thousands of aid trucks from delivering life-saving aid, leaving them stranded on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing. This obstruction has triggered a worsening food crisis and skyrocketing prices inside Gaza.
UN agencies have urged Israel to lift its limitations. OCHA’s spokesperson Jens Laerke stressed the need to open more crossings, including those in northern Gaza, warning that “famine has started there.”
“It is essential that these crossing points are operational to stop this famine,” Laerke said. “This way we can deliver hundreds, even tens of thousands of tons of pre-positioned aid.”
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini also emphasized that the flow of aid “should not be restricted to the agency and international NGOs,” calling instead for an unrestricted, sustained humanitarian corridor to meet Gaza’s massive needs.
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