This Thursday, October 16, World Food Day, passed with thousands of trucks loaded with humanitarian aid still stranded at the Rafah crossing, on the Egyptian side of the border with Gaza. Despite the ceasefire in place between Israel and Palestinian factions, restrictions on the entry of supplies persist, aggravating the food and health crisis in the enclave.

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The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) denounced that Israel continues to block the entry of food, medicine, hygiene kits and shelter items that are stored in Egypt and Jordan. The organization reported that it has enough supplies to serve the entire Gazan population for three months, but that it has not received authorization to begin deliveries.

From the Rafah crossing, convoy drivers expressed frustration at the lack of logistical progress. “The children of Gaza need food and medicine,” said Mahmoud Mohamed, one of the transporters. Another driver, Mahmoud Mansour, noted that “the gap between what is allowed and what is necessary is still huge.”

According to the Egyptian Red Crescent, more than 6,000 trucks are on standby on the Egyptian side, while 170,000 metric tons of humanitarian aid remain ready for distribution. The organization reported that more than 35,000 volunteers have participated in the humanitarian effort since the start of the conflict.

The Israeli government has made the opening of the Rafah crossing conditional on the return of the bodies of deceased hostages by Hamas. Meanwhile, aid continues to be unable to enter, which has generated urgent calls from international agencies not to use hunger as a tool of political or military pressure.

UNRWA publicly called on the Israeli authorities to immediately lift the ban, stating that “there is no more time to lose” and that its teams are ready to distribute the supplies as soon as they receive the appropriate authorization

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