DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The situation in Gaza’s bakeries is becoming increasingly dire, as the United Nations reports they will deplete their flour supplies within a week. Meanwhile, food distribution to families has been halved, markets face shortages of key vegetables, and many aid workers are hindered by continuous Israeli airstrikes.
For the past month, Israel has completely shut off the Gaza Strip—home to over 2 million Palestinians—from receiving food, fuel, medicine, and other essential supplies. As hunger grips the region, this blockade marks the most prolonged effort in Israel’s campaign against Hamas, with no immediate resolution in sight. The timing exacerbates the crisis, coinciding with Eid al-Fitr, a period typically marked by celebration.
Humanitarian workers are trying to prolong their existing resources but warn of an impending hunger crisis. If aid is not restored soon, complete food scarcity looms, as nearly all local food production in Gaza has been decimated by the ongoing conflict.
“Without this aid, we have nothing,” Shorouq Shamlakh expressed, collecting her family’s monthly food allotment from a U.N. center in Jabaliya. With three children to feed, she is stretching their meals to last through the month. The World Food Program stated that flour for supplying bread to 800,000 people per day will be exhausted by Tuesday. They also revealed that comprehensive food reserves will only last for two weeks. If necessary, emergency stockpiles of nutritional biscuits are reserved for 415,000 people.
Other resources, including fuel and medicine, are not far behind in running out. Hospitals are experiencing shortages of critical medications like antibiotics and painkillers. Aid groups are managing limited fuel supplies with competing demands like transporting relief goods, powering water plants, and operating hospital machinery.
“The choices we face are impossible, as everything is desperately needed,” noted Clémence Lagouardat from Oxfam International during a briefing from Deir al-Balah. “Prioritization is extremely challenging.”
The situation is exacerbated by Israel’s renewed military operations, resulting in hundreds of Palestinian casualties, predominantly women and children. More than 140,000 Palestinians have faced repeated displacements due to fresh evacuation orders.
Communication systems allowing aid groups to notify Israel’s military about their movements, ensuring their safety, have not been reinstated. Consequently, several organizations have ceased essential services like water deliveries and child nutrition programs due to safety concerns.
COGAT, Israel’s agency responsible for aid coordination, mentioned that the notification system was paused during the ceasefire and is now selectively reinstated, depending on the ground situation.
During the 42-day ceasefire starting mid-January, aid groups managed to bring in substantial aid, which also revitalized local markets. However, Israel’s blockade, enforced since March 2, has resulted in the absence of fresh produce in Gaza. The siege aims to apply pressure on Hamas for negotiating a new ceasefire agreement and releasing more hostages. As a result, staples like meat, chicken, potatoes, yogurt, eggs, and fruits have vanished, while the cost of essentials has skyrocketed.
“It’s chaos,” lamented Abeer al-Aker, a teacher in Gaza City. “We’re facing another famine.”
In aid centers, families like Rema Megat’s—comprising 10 members—wrestle with limited rations: rice, lentils, sardines, some sugar, and powdered milk. “This won’t last the month,” she said. The U.N., through OCHA, has redirected more resources to public kitchens at the expense of ration distributions to fuel increased bread and meal production. But this only depletes supplies faster.
UNRWA has only a few thousand food parcels left and flour for a few days, according to acting director Sam Rose in Gaza. The shortage of ingredients like meat or vegetables has public kitchens serving simple meals like rice mixed with canned vegetables.
“We’re seeing more people in need, looking increasingly desperate,” said Hani Almadhoun from Gaza Soup Kitchen.
Despite U.S. pressure easing Israel’s blockade in earlier phases of the war, current support backs Israel’s measures. Rights groups are criticizing it as a “starvation policy,” framing it as potentially constituting a war crime.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claims that international laws guide their actions, citing aid theft by Hamas, thereby justifying the blockade. He mentioned no prospects of relief from the siege, referring to past influxes during ceasefire periods to signal sufficient supplies.
As aid organizations struggle to operate amidst these concerns, Save the Children, unable to ensure staff safety, suspended operations aiding malnourished children. Rachael Cummings from the group warned of a likely rise in malnutrition affecting children, adolescent girls, and pregnant women.
Intertwined issues of malnutrition and disease proliferate amidst overcrowding and unsanitary conditions, further burdening already overwhelmed hospitals.
Humanitarian workers and Palestinians alike feel desolation settling in. As Alexandra Saif of Save the Children highlighted the drastic drop in clinic attendances out of safety concerns, UNRWA’s Sam Rose reflected the despondency, expressing that even the most severe crises fail to spur global intervention.
“Our moral compass is lost,” he concluded.