A critical shortage of life-saving humanitarian aid in Gaza is being directly caused by Israeli authorities who systematically prioritize commercial goods over aid cargo at crossing points, United Nations officials warned Monday. This obstruction is exacerbating a deadly winter crisis where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians face flooding, exposure, and the collapse of war-damaged homes, while supplies meant to help them wait at the border.
Despite a sustained humanitarian effort, the needs of Gaza's population are accelerating far beyond the pace of the hobbled aid response. Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza, stated that the limited volume of supplies and a long list of blocked items, including heavy machinery and spare parts needed to repair shattered infrastructure are crippling relief efforts. “There are many instances in which humanitarian cargo is deprioritised and prioritisation is given to the commercial sector,” Cherevko said, noting these delays have a direct and harmful impact on aid delivery speed.
The urgency is catastrophic as winter storms batter the coastal enclave. Recent torrential rains have flooded more than 27,000 tents and collapsed multiple residential buildings, killing at least 11 people in less than 24 hours and injuring others. A Palestinian infant died from exposure in a waterlogged tent, highlighting the extreme danger for the young and elderly. Civil Defence teams, hampered by a lack of heavy equipment and fuel due to the blockade, struggle to rescue people trapped under rubble. An estimated 1.3 million people are in desperate need of shelter assistance, with hundreds of families being forced to voluntarily relocate from flood-prone areas.
These winter disasters are intertwined with the lasting devastation of Israel’s military campaign. Thousands of families are sheltering in buildings structurally weakened by bombing, which are now collapsing under the weight of rain and wind. People like Mohammad Nassar, who lost his son and daughter when a damaged building fell, represent the agonizing choice Gazans face: risk death in crumbling structures or endure exposure in flooded tents. The UN and Palestinian officials state at least 300,000 new tents are urgently needed but unavailable.
The obstruction of aid is systematic and extends far beyond queue priorities. Since the October ceasefire began, Israeli authorities have rejected over 100 requests from humanitarian organizations to bring essential relief items into Gaza, including blankets, winter clothes, and tools for water and sanitation systems. More than half of these rejections were made on the grounds that the organizations themselves were not authorized to bring items in. Furthermore, critical materials classified as “dual-use” by Israel, such as solar panels, generators, and vehicle parts, remain largely blocked.
This restricted flow violates the terms of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, which stipulated that 600 aid trucks should enter Gaza daily. An Associated Press analysis of Israeli military data shows an average of only 459 trucks have entered per day since the truce began, a significant shortfall. The UN’s own figures are even lower, reporting only about 113 trucks per day being offloaded at its facilities. The result is that food remains scarce, aid packages have been halved, and malnourished babies are being born to starving mothers.
Humanitarian agencies stress they have the capacity to launch a major response but are being artificially constrained. “All of these impediments must be lifted,” Cherevko of OCHA emphasized. “We have the capacity to respond, but we are constrained at a time when people’s needs are increasing faster than we can meet them”. With each day of delay and each storm that passes, the already dire conditions for two million Palestinians in Gaza continue to deteriorate.