“Israel Partially Reopens Gaza Aid Route After Global Pressure: Only 5 UN Trucks Allowed in Amid Starvation Crisis”
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| Aid lorries were photographed arriving at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing with southern Gaza on Monday morning/ |
In a tense and politically charged move, the Israeli government has permitted a limited number of humanitarian aid trucks—just five—to enter the Gaza Strip after maintaining a nearly three-month-long total blockade that pushed over 2.1 million Palestinians toward the brink of starvation. This symbolic yet highly consequential decision came after mounting international pressure, especially from U.S. senators concerned over the severe humanitarian crisis and the global optics of a famine unfolding in Gaza. According to the Israeli military body COGAT, these trucks, operated by the United Nations, carried essentials including baby food and entered via the Kerem Shalom crossing into southern Gaza early Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarified that this aid allowance was “minimal” and temporary, intended solely to avoid an outright famine before the implementation of a new, heavily criticized U.S.-backed distribution plan involving military-secured aid hubs, a move sharply opposed by the UN.
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| Around 115 of the 180 community kitchens in Gaza had been forced to shut down by last Wednesday due to the lack of supplies/ |
Netanyahu, facing internal backlash from his far-right coalition partners like National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, justified the move not on humanitarian grounds, but as a strategic decision to avoid losing diplomatic support from Western allies. In a video message, he emphasized that the decision was based on practical and diplomatic necessity rather than compassion, citing the risk of damaging international support if famine images emerged from Gaza. “To achieve victory over Hamas, we must prevent a situation of starvation,” he stated, noting that several top U.S. senators privately urged him to act before such a crisis escalated further.
The limited aid delivery occurred amid Israel's expanded military offensive across Gaza, including devastating airstrikes that reportedly killed at least 40 Palestinians on Monday alone, with five casualties at a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp being used as a shelter. The Israeli military claimed the strikes targeted Hamas operatives inside a command center. At the same time, Israel ordered the full evacuation of Khan Younis and surrounding areas, warning residents of an “unprecedented attack” to follow.
The return to conflict followed Israel’s halting of all humanitarian and commercial deliveries on March 2, ending a ceasefire agreement and reinitiating full-scale hostilities. Since then, over 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and another 400,000 displaced, while the UN has warned that hundreds of thousands are now at risk of dying from hunger and disease. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza reported that 57 children have already died from malnutrition-related causes during the blockade, a grim statistic that has fueled outrage worldwide.
The UN, along with international NGOs, had 8,900 aid truckloads pre-positioned for entry and had repeatedly requested access, insisting that they could provide aid directly to civilians. However, Israel’s new strategy excludes UN involvement and instead favors a model coordinated with the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” a U.S.-backed NGO working under IDF protection. Critics, including renowned chef and humanitarian José Andrés, denounced the plan as logistically unrealistic and ethically flawed, warning it would leave Palestinians hungry and deepen suffering. "This is not true. Will take weeks," he said on social media, referring to Israeli claims that the new plan could be operational in seven days. “This plan will leave Palestinians hungry. The new humanitarian foundation members should be ashamed of themselves,” Andrés added.
Human rights organizations and UN agencies have fiercely rejected the proposed Israeli-US distribution framework, stating that it contradicts the core humanitarian principles of impartiality, independence, and neutrality. They also warn it will cause additional displacement, exclude people with mobility issues such as the elderly and disabled, and effectively make aid conditional on political and military objectives—setting a dangerous precedent globally.
On the ground, conditions have become catastrophic. Most community kitchens have shut down, including 115 of the 180 once operating, due to a complete lack of ingredients. Gaza residents describe surviving on one meal a day, while even local charities like Shabab Gaza struggle to feed a fraction of the hungry population. “Getting access to food, medicine, and hygiene products has become extremely difficult—almost impossible—due to shortages and high prices,” said Abd al-Fatah Hussein, a displaced Palestinian now living with his family in al-Mawasi.
Despite permitting the five aid trucks, Netanyahu reiterated that this is only a temporary solution. He emphasized that full military control over all of Gaza remains the primary goal, with the ongoing offensive aimed at dismantling Hamas and rescuing 58 remaining Israeli hostages. “We are going to take control of all areas of the Strip, that’s what we’re going to do,” he said in a statement. Israel Defense Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin also confirmed the scale of the renewed offensive, involving five divisions and a strategy to divide the Gaza Strip and distance the civilian population from active conflict zones.
Meanwhile, ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked in Qatar. Both sides have failed to make progress toward a new agreement, and the cycle of violence continues with no clear end in sight. Israel launched its current campaign after Hamas's October 7, 2023 cross-border assault, which killed around 1,200 Israelis and saw 251 hostages taken. Since then, the Gaza health ministry reports that more than 53,000 Palestinians have died—3,340 of them since the conflict reignited following the collapsed truce in March.
The selective reintroduction of aid, while a welcome relief for some, has done little to address the broader humanitarian emergency. The UN and NGOs remain steadfast in their refusal to participate in Israel’s militarized aid distribution model. They continue to push for unfettered access to Gaza via traditional humanitarian corridors that serve the entire population, rather than those handpicked by Israeli authorities. As international scrutiny intensifies, so too does the pressure on Israel to reconcile its military objectives with its obligations under international humanitarian law—a balance critics argue it is currently failing to strike.
With more than half a million people facing imminent starvation and basic services near collapse, the situation in Gaza has reached a critical tipping point. Whether the entry of five UN aid trucks marks the beginning of a broader shift or merely a brief political maneuver remains uncertain. What is clear is that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is far from over—and that the world is watching.