Why Does Relief Aid for Gaza Frequently Fail to Reach Its Destination?
In the embattled Gaza Strip, a 42-year-old father of five, Hatem Abu Rami, paints a grim picture of desperation. People rush towards aid deliveries without organisation or security, struggling to survive in a region teetering on the brink of famine.
Amidst this dire situation, the World Food Programme (WFP) is doing everything possible to distribute vital food assistance to families in Gaza. Israel allows aid deliveries to enter the region, with over 1,200 trucks from UN and other international organisations picked up in the past week.
However, the distribution of aid supplies is profoundly impacting food security. Since the October 2023 conflict escalation, Israel has significantly restricted aid inflows. This has resulted in a severe shortage, exacerbating famine conditions for civilians.
Limited aid is now being allowed only through a tightly controlled system under the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by Israel, to prevent Hamas interference and looting. Yet, this has drastically reduced the volume of food reaching Gaza compared to pre-conflict levels—June and July food deliveries under GHF were roughly a fifth or less than amounts from early 2025.
This restricted aid flow, combined with ongoing conflict and infrastructure destruction, has pushed Gaza into famine-like conditions. Over 39% of the population goes days without food, acute malnutrition among children under five has quadrupled to 16.5%, and half a million people face starvation and death risk.
Aid workers report that despite ample supplies in nearby warehouses, blocked access prevents distribution, leading to starvation and the breakdown of markets and health services.
To prevent looting and ensure equitable distribution, Israel has implemented a centralized aid distribution system via the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, aimed specifically at excluding Hamas from handling supplies. This control is intended to prevent theft and diversion of aid.
However, this system has been criticised for its limitations and inefficiency. Despite these measures, distribution remains dangerously insufficient, and many civilian needs are unmet. International agencies and the UN continue to urge scaling up aid flows and lifting restrictions to prevent catastrophic hunger, but substantial improvements on the ground remain lacking.
The WFP has published a video showing hundreds of young men looting aid supplies in the Gaza Strip. The region is currently experiencing warnings of an impending famine, with over half a million people immediately threatened by famine. Every aid delivery in Gaza has turned into a chaotic and dangerous event due to the lack of a functioning distribution system.
Fatal incidents around the distribution centers of aid have claimed the lives of around 1,500 people, who were reportedly killed in their attempt to obtain aid. The situation in Gaza is described as "absolutely apocalyptic" by Ricardo Pires from UNICEF's Children's Fund.
Around two million people in Gaza are living in intolerable conditions. Armed individuals sometimes seize control of aid supplies and load them into their own vehicles, preventing the civilian population from receiving aid. There are mutual accusations between Israel, Hamas, and the UN regarding the distribution of aid supplies and the creation of chaotic conditions in Gaza.
The Gaza Strip currently has four active crossings for aid deliveries, with Kerem Shalom and Zikim being the most important. The Israeli army has issued evacuation orders for 88% of the area in the Gaza Strip, forcing the two million inhabitants to crowd into 12% of the area. Aid seekers often have to cross dangerous war zones to reach aid supplies.
In an effort to alleviate the crisis, aid has been dropped from the air by countries including Germany, France, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Egypt. The WFP demands a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to safely and consistently reach all those at risk of starvation.
However, a significant portion of the aid deliveries is looted, either by hungry civilians or reportedly by the Islamic Hamas or other criminal organisations. The WFP urges all parties involved to prioritise the welfare of the civilian population and ensure that aid reaches those who need it most.
[1] Source: The New York Times [2] Source: The Guardian [3] Source: Al Jazeera [4] Source: BBC News
- In the turbulent Gaza Strip, matters of health-and-wellness and nutrition have become crucial concerns as famine conditions worsen.
- The science behind food security is deeply impacted by the ongoing conflict, as Israel's additional restrictions on aid inflows have led to a severe shortage.
- In the realm of politics and international relations, the World Food Programme (WFP) calls for scaling up aid flows and lifting restrictions to alleviate the impending famine.
- Amidst the violence and chaos, crime-and-justice issues arise as aid supplies are sometimes seized by armed individuals and looted, further exacerbating the crisis.
- In the midst of war-and-conflicts, general-news reports depict a dire situation in Gaza, where accidents and fatalities occur around aid distribution centers, with over 1,500 lives lost.
