Palestinians in Gaza said aid packages dropped by Israel and other nations on Sunday, and the dozens of aid trucks that entered the enclave are not enough and have yet to reach the population of more than 2 million people.
“We haven’t seen aid from land, air or anywhere else,” said Maryam Yahya, a displaced woman from Rafah living in Zawaida.
“Here we are, sitting by the road, receiving nothing and nothing is reaching us. We sit in tents like beggars, waiting for a kilo of flour, and no one bring it to us.”
Israel has implemented daily 10-hour “tactical pauses” in three areas of Gaza to allow for limited humanitarian access amid rising international concern over worsening hunger.
However, the United Nations (UN) said the temporary pauses remain insufficient as the risks of looting persist. The World Food Programme (WFP) has called for reliable corridors and consistent access to deliver aid at scale.
“We used to receive aid from UNRWA (United Nations relief agency). They no longer give it to us. If they had handed it over to UNRWA, they would have brought it to us. When UNRWA delivered (aid), we never lacked anything,” Yahya said.
“Aid is delivered by air. The person fears leaving the tent and having a box fall on their children,” said Ahmed Al-Sumairi, a man from Khan Younis now displaced in Central Gaza.
“Many have died due to drop (aid) on the tents. On the ground, there is no ceasefire... The situation remains the same: a siege, no food or drink.”
“They call it a 'temporary ceasefire', we don't see it as a temporary ceasefire. We see bombing everywhere,” said Mohammed Al-Sumairi, displaced from Khan Younis, living now in a tent in Zawaida.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would allow “minimal” aid to enter Gaza after images of emaciated children fanned criticism of Israel and urged its allies to call for the Israel-Hamas war to end.
Israel claims it has restricted the level of aid which can enter Gaza because Hamas siphons it off to bolster its rule, a claim the militant group rejects.
The Israeli Defence Forces said 28 aid packages containing food were airdropped into Gaza on Sunday and that further measures would be put in place to establish secure routes.
The UN World Food Program said it had enough food in, or on its way, to feed all of Gaza for nearly three months. It has been said that a third of the territory’s population were not eating for days, and hundreds of thousands were suffering from famine-like conditions.
