🔗 Share this article

Although the border entry point from Egypt becomes operational soon, relief agencies confront major obstacles delivering aid to Gaza City, the region hardest impacted by starvation, analysts state.

Access Problems

Major routes are almost unusable due to extensive devastation across the devastated territory – or remain under the control of security personnel. Any truck that stops working is almost certainly instantly looted.

Zikim, the key gateway to the north, damaged by 24 months of war, has been shut down for several weeks, and Israeli officials have informed NGOs in Gaza that there are no current intentions to open the border point, per reports from relief personnel.

Devastation in Northern Gaza

Gaza City was the focus of a large-scale military operation launched in August that was continuing when the ceasefire deal was signed recently.

Destruction in the northern region has been extensive, with entire towns including local municipalities and neighboring towns in destroyed as well as many of the peripheral zones of the main city.

"Any opening of a access route into Gaza is positive, but we need to make sure we can access populations where they are," commented a senior director from an international NGO.

Relief Situation

Local residents said many of the approximately 300,000 people who have gone back to the north from the densely populated southern area where they had been living during the Israeli offensive were now "staying" among the debris of their homes, often without any housing and with insufficient supplies or resources.

An official from an international organization said the devastation in the northern territories was "shocking".

"We see neighborhood after neighborhood, building after building ... there is extreme need for clean water. It's pretty harrowing. We must have all the crossings functioning," the official, who was in the northern city recently, stated.

Insufficient Entry

An organization head based in the urban center said the needs in what used to be the region's bustling commercial and social center were "enormous".

"We see hope and optimism but there needs to be rapid progress on the access routes. We haven't seen substantial progress on the situation yet," the official stated.

"We are still getting a very limited amount of support [and] we are just beginning to understand the degree of damage. So many streets are overwhelmed by ruins ... there is almost no home that is secure. We see destruction and unexploded bombs across the region."

Recent Progress

In recent days, relief groups said small quantities of necessary propane came into Gaza for the first instance in seven months, along with deliveries of wheat, rice and fresh vegetables. The additional resources sent market costs decreasing.

In the central town, a community member said there had been noticeable change since the truce.

"Stores are stocked with supplies, vegetables, and fresh fruit, although the costs are remaining elevated and not affordable for everyone," the individual commented.

Colder Months Preparations

"Our most important needs at present, especially with the arrival of the cold season, are to have a shelter to keep us safe from the cold weather and winter clothes because the markets do not have adequate garments for us or, if they are available, they are extremely limited and very expensive."

Multiple organization-assisted bread-making centers in various locations have begun working again since the truce.

Support Distribution

Trucks were announced to have entered the humanitarian corridor via the eastern border to Gaza during Wednesday, though specific quantities were unknown.

The nation's news organization announced that recent humanitarian shipments would include food, healthcare equipment, energy sources, propane and equipment to fix essential services.

"Assistance resources continues to enter the conflict region through the Kerem Shalom crossing and additional routes after Israeli security inspection," an Israeli security official commented.

Allocation Challenges

But counting the quantity of vehicles could be misleading, warned a professional from an international NGO. "We must determine what is in the transports and how full they are for it to be a genuinely useful indicator," the official said.

Commercial operators are sending fleets of trucks loaded with sweets, soft drinks and treats, which have little nutritional value, while urgent medical support for children or people who have lacked adequate food for an extended period are limited.

Treatment Situation

Within the northern urban center, only few healthcare facilities are working, compared with many in summer.

Various groups have substantial resources in assistance materials stored around Gaza waiting to go in. A UN agency working with local residents across the territory for many years has extended provisions of food for everyone in Gaza ready to be transported.

"We maintain the supplies, the tools and the skills ... we just need the access," said one aid worker, just returning from Gaza.

Diplomatic Considerations

A proposed plan outlines that "comprehensive" assistance should be delivered to Gaza and be allocated through humanitarian bodies and the Red Crescent, without obstruction from both combatant organizations or national security.

This seems to prevent the controversial government-supported aid group which started working in earlier this year, resulting in chaotic scenes and multiple fatalities as crowds of aid-seekers gathered around its distribution sites.

Aid officials in Gaza {told|informed