Gaza depends on UN and other global aid groups for food, medicine and basic services – Israel-Hamas war means nothing is getting in

By Topher L. McDougal, University of San Diego

International aid groups are warning that they cannot deliver food and other basic services to people in the Gaza Strip and that a “dire” humanitarian crisis is set to worsen.

International aid groups provide food and other means of support to about 63% of people in Gaza.

Israel stopped allowing deliveries of food, fuel and other supplies to Gaza’s 2.3 million residents on Oct. 10, 2023, and is reportedly preparing for a ground invasion.

I am a scholar of peace and conflict economics and a former World Bank consultant, including during the 2014 war between Hamas and Israel.

International aid groups now face the same problem in Gaza that local businesses and residents have encountered for about 16 years: a blockade that prevents civilians and items, like medicine from easily moving into or out of the enclosed area, roughly 25 miles long. That 16-year blockade did not apply to the food and fuel that groups brought in to Gaza.

Now, it does.

Gaza’s blockade and economy

Gaza is about the size of Philadelphia and requires trade with different businesses and countries in order to maintain and grow its economy.

But Gaza is heavily dependent on foreign aid.

This is partially the result of Israel setting up permanent air, land and sea blockades around Gaza in 2007, one year after Hamas rose to political power. Egypt, which borders Gaza on its southern end, also oversees one checkpoint that specifically limits people coming and going.

While Israel has granted permits to about 17,000 Gaza residents to enter and work in Israel, the food, fuel and medical supplies that people in Gaza use all first pass through Israel.

Read the full story https://theconversation.com/gaza-depends-on-un-and-other-global-aid-groups-for-food-medicine-and-basic-services-israel-hamas-war-means-nothing-is-getting-in-215514