US Claims Gaza Aid Surge, Palestinians and Humanitarian Organizations Confirm ‘Engineered Starvation’

The White House said that the flow of commercial goods and humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip has surged since the ceasefire took effect in early October. However, aid groups and Palestinians dispute this, saying Israel has “engineered starvation” in Gaza.

White House spokesperson Dylan Johnson told Al Jazeera on Sunday that nearly 15,000 trucks carrying commercial goods and humanitarian aid have entered Gaza since October 10, an average of 674 trucks daily.

Humanitarian workers “have reached more than one million people with household food parcels since October 10”, while meal production in Gaza has increased 82 percent since late September, he claimed.

“The United States is leading a historic effort to address the critical needs of Gazans right now,” Johnson said, insisting the administration of US President Donald Trump is committed to treating Palestinians “with dignity and respect”.

“There has been great progress, but there is still much to do. This is only the beginning,” he said.

What Aid Groups and Palestinians Are Saying?

The Gaza’s Government Media Office said on Thursday since the start of the ceasefire, only 28 percent of the agreed-upon number of aid trucks have been allowed to enter, totalling 4,453 vehicles, far below the promised 15,600, amounting to 171 trucks per day.

“These limited quantities fall far below the minimum humanitarian threshold,” the Office said, calling for the immediate entry of at least 600 trucks daily to provide essential supplies such as food, medicine, fuel, and cooking gas.

The Office also accused Israel of “engineered starvation,” saying Israel has banned more than 350 basic food items, including eggs, meat, cheese, vegetables, and nutritional supplements, while permitting low-value products such as soft drinks, chocolate, and crisps sold at inflated prices.

“This proves that the occupation is deliberately implementing a policy of food manipulation as a weapon against civilians,” the Office said.

The UN and its partners have been able to get 37,000 metric tonnes of aid, mostly food, into Gaza since the October 10 ceasefire, but much more is needed, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters on Friday.

“Despite significant progress on the humanitarian scale-up, people’s urgent needs are still immense, with impediments not being lifted quickly enough since the ceasefire,” Haq said, citing reports from the UN’s humanitarian service, OCHA.

Haq was critical that entry of humanitarian supplies into Gaza continues to be limited to only two crossings – the al-Karara (also known as Kissufim) and Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossings.

There is no direct access to northern Gaza from Israel or to southern Gaza from Egypt, while NGO staff are being denied access, he said.

The UN’s World Food Programme stressed all crossing points into the Gaza Strip should be opened to flood the famine-hit territory with aid, adding that no reason was given for why the northern crossings with Israel remained closed.

Chris Gunness, the former spokesperson for UNRWA, the Palestinian refugee agency, said Israel is committing a war crime by blocking aid to Gaza.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Gunness noted that tens of thousands of Palestinians – mainly children – remain at risk of malnutrition. He also said that if Israel doesn’t meet its obligation “to flood the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid”, then third-party countries must act.

“Israel has made it clear that it wants to commit a genocide against the Palestinians, it wants to ethnically cleanse them, and it wants to starve them,” he said.

The Norwegian Refugee Council confirmed that only 100 aid trucks are entering Gaza daily through the UN system as the NGO and other humanitarian organisations are “effectively barred” from bringing in desperately needed assistance.

“There may be aid coming in through governments like [the UAE and Egypt] that we don’t have oversight over, but we know the amount of aid that is entering is wholly insufficient for the tremendous amount of need in Gaza after two years of bombardment and destruction,” communication adviser Shaina Low told Al Jazeera.

“We have about $4m worth of aid sitting in warehouses in Egypt waiting to be deployed,” including shelter and hygiene supplies that will be critical for the approaching winter, she added.

“But each time we apply with the Israelis, we get rejected.”

Low said even basic tents are a rare commodity for hundreds of thousands of displaced people in war-battered Gaza.

“Many people do not even have tents,” she said. “The people who have tents in Gaza are the ones who are lucky.”

“We’re just calling for the entry of emergency shelter supplies like tents, like tarpaulins … which will provide the minimal amount of shelter for the winter,” said Low.

“We haven’t even been able to prepare or plan for the long term.”

The World Food Programme said last week only half the needed amount of food is coming in. Abeer Etefa, senior spokesperson for WFP, described the situation as a “race against time”.

“We need full access. We need everything to be moving fast,” she said. “The winter months are coming. People are still suffering from hunger, and the needs are overwhelming.”

“We’re coming into winter soon – rainwater and possible floods, as well as potential diseases because of the hundreds of tons of garbage near populated areas,” said Amjad al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian agencies that liaise with the UN.

He said only 25-30% of the amount of aid expected into Gaza had entered so far.

“The living conditions are unimaginable,” noted Low of the Norwegian Refugee Council. The NRC estimates that 1.5 million people need shelter in Gaza but large volumes of tents, tarpaulins and related aid are still waiting to come in, awaiting Israeli approvals, Low said.

Dr. Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Government Media Office in Gaza, told Quds News Network (QNN) that the items allowed into the Strip are often highly processed, high-calorie foods with low nutritional value. Basic staples such as fresh vegetables, fruits, eggs, dairy, meat, grains, and legumes remain restricted.

“These foods do not improve food security or public health. Instead, they deepen hunger and chronic malnutrition,” Dr. Al Thawabta said. He emphasized that children, women, and the elderly are the most affected. He described the policy as a form of “systematic starvation,” using food as a tool of political and humanitarian pressure.

He added that these actions violate international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit depriving civilians of essential food and medicine.

Dr. Al-Thawabta noted that the content of the trucks matters more than the number. Most contained non-essential goods like coffee, soft drinks, chocolate, and dry snacks. Critical items such as medicines, fuel, construction materials, and health supplies were severely restricted. Only 115 fuel trucks entered during this period, just 10% of the required 1,100. Only four trucks carried medical supplies.

“The Israeli policy selectively allows goods that do not support life or health, while blocking essential items. The market may appear active, but in reality, the blockade continues to suffocate civilians and intensify the humanitarian crisis,” Dr. Al-Thawabta said.

A continuing lack of fuel, including cooking gas, is also hampering nutrition efforts, and over 60% of Gazans are cooking using burning waste and wood, said OCHA, adding to health risks.

On Thursday, the Gaza Petroleum and Gas Authority confirmed that Israel has been blocking the entry of cooking gas trucks for the third consecutive day.

From November 3 to 5, not a single gas truck was allowed in, and in the days before that, only two or three trucks entered daily, it added.

The recent ceasefire includes a term requiring Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. Despite this, essential goods still face heavy delays. Residents report that the blockade continues to limit life-saving food and supplies.

Last August, the Integrated Food Phase Classification (IPC) officially announced that Gaza is subjected to an Israeli-made famine. By the end of last month, the total number of deaths from malnutrition in Gaza had risen to 447, including 147 children.