Gaza, May 11, 2025
Photo: ft.com
Food supplies are running critically low in Gaza as Israeli authorities continue to block humanitarian aid from entering the territory, putting millions of lives at risk.
Since March 2, when Israeli armed forces closed all entry points for humanitarian aid into Gaza, essential supplies including food, drinking water, and medicine have been unable to reach the approximately 2.4 million Gazans who are now facing starvation.
Fr. Silas Habib of the Greek Orthodox St. Porphyrios Church in Gaza described the dire situation to the World Council of Churches: “Already we have no wheat, and we will run out of all basic supplies in two weeks,” he said. “In addition, we are running out of gasoline, which we need to bring water out of the well.”
On May 4, the Humanitarian Country Team of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which includes heads of UN entities and NGOs working on humanitarian affairs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip under internationally agreed humanitarian principles, released a statement on the situation in Gaza, East Jerusalem, and Gaza City, highlighting the severity of the crisis.
“For nine weeks now, Israeli authorities have blocked all supplies from entering Gaza, no matter how vital to people’s survival,” the statement reads. “Bakeries have shut. Community kitchens have closed. Warehouses stand empty. Children have gone hungry.”
The statement further explains that Israeli officials have attempted to dismantle the existing aid distribution system managed by the United Nations and its humanitarian partners, proposing instead that aid be delivered through Israeli-controlled hubs under military conditions.
“The design of the plan presented to us will mean large parts of Gaza, including the less mobile and most vulnerable people, will continue to go without supplies,” according to the Humanitarian Country Team. “It contravenes fundamental humanitarian principles and appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic—as part of a military strategy.”
The UN and partner organizations remain committed to humanitarian principles and have unanimously refused to participate in any scheme that does not adhere to the global humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence, and neutrality.
“Our teams remain in Gaza, ready to again scale up the delivery of critical supplies and services: food, water, health, nutrition, protection and more. We have significant stocks ready to enter as soon as the blockade is lifted,” the statement continues.
The Humanitarian Country Team urges world leaders to use their influence to end the blockade immediately.
Fr. Habib concluded his statement with a plea: “I want the churches worldwide to pray for us so the war will end and peace prevails.”
The Humanitarian Country Team includes heads of UN entities and NGOs working on humanitarian affairs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip under internationally agreed humanitarian principles.
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