The entire population of Gaza is now at risk of famine, UN agencies warn, with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) declaring it “the hungriest place on Earth.” For families across the strip, this is not a distant threat – it is the daily reality of parents watching their children weaken and the elderly struggling to survive. The World Food Programme confirms hunger has reached crisis levels, hitting children, pregnant women, and older Gazans the hardest.
Despite urgent appeals, life-saving aid is still barely getting through. UN figures reveal a stark gap – only 6,000 tonnes of wheat flour have entered Gaza since May – far short of the 10,000 tonnes urgently needed just to meet basic food needs. While the Kerem Shalom crossing is operating as the single official entry point, it is plagued by delays and insecurity.
“Access remains severely limited and dangerous,” stated Deputy UN Spokesperson Farhan Haq, adding a grim reality: “Many of the trucks are being looted before they can reach the people in need.”
This means that even the trickle of aid that arrives often vanishes before reaching the starving families it was intended for.
Olga Cherevko, an OCHA official, emphasized the vital need for “an uninterrupted, predictable, and scaled-up flow of aid, including food, shelter materials, fuel, and medical supplies.” She urged the Israeli authorities to facilitate the coordination requirements and reduce delays, claiming that the current levels of access were insufficient to meet the scale of humanitarian needs.
The impact of the ongoing restrictions on humanitarian access is becoming increasingly visible on the ground.
Hisham Mahna, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza, told DevelopmentAid that civilians continue to be killed and injured amid unrelenting hostilities, while simultaneously struggling to obtain basic necessities such as fuel due to ongoing constraints on aid delivery.
He noted that the ICRC’s field hospital in Gaza had admitted more than 170 patients within a short space of time on 15 June, many of whom had gunshot wounds.
“They said they were trying to reach a food distribution center,” Mahna explained, pointing to the incident as yet another indicator of the growing dangers facing civilians every day.
Mahna stressed that humanitarian assistance must be allowed to reach those in need without delay or obstruction, adding that people require immediate access to food, water, medical supplies, and other essentials and that the wounded must receive urgent medical care.
In Gaza City, residents shared firsthand accounts of the growing desperation. Hisham Al-Shamali, a displaced father, told DevelopmentAid that people were risking their lives to find basic supplies.
“You can get shot for trying to cross a checkpoint to find food,” he said.
Al-Shamali explained that dozens had recently been injured during chaotic aid distributions in Rafah but that “there’s nothing available. Only fortified biscuits and peanut butter for kids. In some cases, surgeries are being done without anesthesia.”.
He added that “A 25-kilo bag of flour now costs $350” compared to just $8 before the war, confirming that the food shortage has been compounded by sharp inflation. Flour prices have increased more than fortyfold, and essential items such as baby formula and diapers are either unavailable or unaffordable. Markets are mostly empty, and black market activity is widespread.
In Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, Um Suhaib, a mother of four, told DevelopmentAid that she queues for hours at charity kitchens and often returns empty-handed.
“People fight over a bottle of water,” she said.
She recounted the story of two orphaned children in her neighborhood with the boy, attempting to bring food to his sister, being shot, and his sister since being seen digging through trash bins in search of food.
Residents state that aid distribution is sporadic and insufficient. In some areas that host over 150,000 displaced people, only a few thousand food parcels are delivered at a time, often triggering stampedes.
Al-Shamali said, “It’s not enough. People get crushed in the crowd. Some die trying to get a meal.”
