Aid groups have thousands of tons of food, fuel and medicine ready to send to Gaza. This help is in Egypt, Jordan and Cyprus, a few hours or less from the people who need it. But a large part cannot enter.
For what? Some problems are typical of a war zone. Aid groups want to protect their workers from bombs and gunfire. Roads and warehouses are destroyed, making the terrain difficult to navigate.
But there have been bigger problems: Israel has imposed opaque rules that turn back trucks destined for Gaza, citing security concerns. Egypt has blocked aid intended to protest Israeli military operations. Hamas has stolen, or attempted to steal, aid deliveries for its own use.
In other words, those responsible for allowing aid to flow into Gaza prioritized their own interests over helping starving Palestinians. In doing so, they have repeatedly made decisions that humanitarian groups cannot overcome. Today’s newsletter will explain what is stopping aid from entering Gaza.
Israel’s concerns
Israel generally cites two justifications for blocking aid: It wants to stop any supplies that could help Hamas, which attacked Israel on October 7. And he wants to keep aid workers out of harm’s way.
The first reason is the most controversial. U.S. officials and aid groups say Hamas has intercepted very few deliveries. Critics say Israel was too cautious in the face of an exaggerated threat — or, worse, used the aid as a weapon against the Palestinians. “They are trying to provide a plausible cover to justify collective punishment,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International, a humanitarian organization.
But Hamas intercepted a few helpand Israel says its precautions prevent the group from taking more.
Other Hamas tactics have also made Israel more cautious. The group often hides behind civilians by placing its members in hospitals and hiding weapons in schools. Israel fears that Hamas could also hide behind aid groups and workers. Israel therefore demands that humanitarian groups account for their activities. For example, it authorizes specific routes, in part to ensure that these are humanitarian missions and not covert enemy operations.
These checks can still fail. In April, Israel killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen, even though the group said it had coordinated its mission with the army. Israel called the strikes a mistake and apologized for the killings. He fired two of the officers involved and reprimanded others.
“It was a turning point,” said my Jerusalem-based colleague Adam Rasgon. After the massacres, Israel opened more crossing points to let aid into Gaza. The Israeli army also announced this week that it would stop its operations in parts of southern Gaza during the day; the pause in fighting could help deliver more aid to starving Palestinians.
Since Israel controls what enters and leaves Gaza, it is largely responsible for the crisis there. But it is not the only country to have interrupted supplies to the Palestinians.
Egypt too. After Israel moved into the southern city of Rafah last month, Egypt protested the incursion by blocking aid shipments. He did not want to give the impression that he accepted Israeli control of the Rafah crossing and was upset that Israel was operating so close to the Egyptian border. (Consider: Egypt once occupied Gaza, but lost control of it in 1967 during a war with Israel.)
Egypt has since begun allowing some aid through Kerem Shalom, a border crossing with Israel. Yet the amount of aid arriving in Gaza has fallen by almost two-thirds since Israel began operations in Rafah, according to the United Nations. Despite these problems, humanitarian groups rarely criticize Egypt for its role in the crisis. “They know that Egypt is very important to their operations and is also extremely unresponsive to public criticism,” Adam told me.
Furthermore, Palestinians have looted some shipments, out of hunger and desperation or to sell their supplies on Gaza’s black markets.
Far-right Israeli activists have also intercepted humanitarian aid trucks heading from Jordan to Gaza and destroyed their supplies. Activists argue that the Palestinians should not receive aid until Hamas returns the Israeli hostages. United States imposed sanctions last week on Tsav 9, one of the groups involved in these attacks.
Aid groups also face some practical problems, such as a lack of fuel to drive aid trucks deep into Gaza and back.
Some countries have sought creative solutions – with limited success. The United States has airdropped aid and built a floating jetty off the coast of Gaza to deliver supplies. But those efforts haven’t brought much additional support. The pier, which broke in stormy seas, may close soon.
A choice
Aid workers often argue that the responsibility for all these problems ultimately lies with Israel: Gaza residents are starving because Israel launched its military campaign in the territory; he has the power to stop the war.
But Israel has genuine national security interests in destroying Hamas. He wants to ensure that nothing comparable to the October 7 attack can happen again. To achieve this, Israeli leaders believe they must fight across Gaza. In this sense, Israel placed the security of Israelis before that of Gazans – a predictable, if controversial, choice in times of war.
Related: The fighting in Gaza has ended millions of tons of debriswhich in itself poses a health risk, the UN said.
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