“The siege on Gaza is the silent killer of children, of older people,” said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA.
“Families – whole families, seven or eight people – are resorting to sharing one can of beans or peas,” she told journalists in Geneva. “Imagine not having anything to feed your children. Children in Gaza are going to bed starving.”
Today, thousands of trucks carrying relief supplies continue to be denied entry to Gaza. “We have just over 5,000 trucks in several parts of the region with lifesaving supplies that are ready to come in,”Ms. Touma continued.
“This decision is crippling the humanitarian efforts…and threatening the lives and survival of civilians in Gaza, who are also going through heavy bombardment day in, day out.”
Rafah levelled
Destruction to the southern city of Rafah has left it “obliterated”, UNRWA said. Formerly the largest entry point for aid into the enclave via Egypt, aerial videos purportedly of Rafah show buildings levelled as far as the eye can see.
“Rafah is nothing like the city it used to be…In every direction there is only destruction,” the UN agency said.
Forced displacement orders have been in place for 97 per cent of the city, uprooting around 150,000 people.
Almost 12 months ago, the Israeli military moved in displacing 1.4 million people, leaving homes, health facilities and shelters damaged or destroyed.
Starting from scratch
Across Gaza, more than 90 per cent of the population have been displaced “not once, not twice, some people have been displaced 12 times or 13 times…so they have to start from scratch.”
Before the war erupted in October 2023, Gazans relied on 500 trucks a day to deliver the food and other basic goods that they needed. But no humanitarian or commercial supplies have entered since 2 March.
This is by far the longest ban on aid moving into the Strip since the start of the war in October 2023, following deadly Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel that killed some 1,250 people and left more than 250 taken hostage.
The blockade has emptied warehouses of food, medical supplies, shelter materials and safe water – fuelling a black market “where prices have increased from 10 to 20, sometimes 40 times…You cannot give anything to your children and you’re seeing your children starving”, Ms. Touma said.
According to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) food prices rose 1,400 per cent increase in recent weeks compared to the ceasefire period from 19 January to 18 March 2025.
Last Friday, the UN agency delivered its last remaining stocks to community kitchens that provide hot meals of lentil soup and rice. The kitchens are expected to fully run out of food within days while another 16 closed over the weekend. In addition, all 25 WFP-supported bakeries have now closed.
“We’re likely to see more community kitchens closing down for the simple reason that they need supplies,” Ms. Touma explained.
Daily challenges for Gazans include finding food and fuel to cook, because of a lack of cooking gas. “Families are resorting to burning plastic to cook their meals,” UNRWA’s Ms. Touma said.
