Humanitarian aid during the Gaza war

[18][19] On 18 October, Israel announced it would allow food, water, and medicine to be delivered to a "safe zone" in the west Khan Younis in southern Gaza, distributed by the United Nations.[57] A joint statement by the heads of UNICEF, WHO, and the World Food Programme stated the limited quantity of aid arriving in Gaza was unable to prevent the "deadly combination of hunger, malnutrition, and disease".[136] Avril Benoit, the executive director of Doctors Without Borders, stated the pier was a "glaring distraction from the real problem: Israel’s indiscriminate and disproportionate military campaign and punishing siege".[137] Sigrid Kaag and the director of the UN Office for Project Services stated, "For aid delivery at scale, there is no meaningful substitute to the many land routes and entry points from Israel into Gaza.[139] In early April 2024, following the World Central Kitchen drone strikes,[140] the Israeli war cabinet announced that they would allow more aid into Gaza, including the opening of the Erez border crossing.[179] On 10 June, the World Food Programme stated it was pausing use of the temporary pier following the Nuseirat refugee camp massacre in order to assess the security situation.[208] Mordechai Kahana, the Israeli-American CEO of Global Delivery Company, stated that he was in talks with the Israeli government for a $200 million plan to provide security and humanitarian aid to enclosed areas for Palestinians.The US president and chief executive of Save the Children, Janti Soeripto explained the convoluted regulations to reporters causing items to be turned back, like sanitary pads due to a nail clipper included in the hygiene kit, or sleeping bags because they had zippers.[236] An investigation found that Israel was blocking cancer medications, sleeping bags, drinking water purification tablets, and maternity kits from entering Gaza, leading the Save the Children US president to state she had "never seen anything like the level of barriers being put in place to hamper humanitarian assistance".'"[241] In an interview with the New Yorker, US Senator Chris Van Hollen stated, "Administration officials have recognized that the Netanyahu government has put up unacceptable barriers to the delivery of humanitarian assistance into Gaza".[247] In April 2024, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition stated a scheduled aid trip to Gaza had been delayed by an administrative roadblock "initiated by Israel in an attempt to prevent our departure."[248] A USAID internal assessment reportedly found Israel "does not currently demonstrate necessary compliance" with a requirement that countries not impede "the transport of delivery of United States humanitarian assistance".[249] In July 2024, 13 human rights organizations, including Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children and the Norwegian Refugee Council, stated Israel was blocking humanitarian aid.[287][288] On 28 October, The New York Times reported that Hamas had stockpiled food, water, medicine and sanitary products in underground caches, in amounts that would allow it to continue fighting for several months without resupply.[297][298] On September 13 Israeli Channel 12 news played alleged intercepted recordings purporting to show Hamas operatives discussing how to disperse overflowing Gaza aid that they had seized.[299] Channel 4 News and research group Earshot reported on the IDF publishing alleged intercepted calls between Hamas militants admitting to purported crimes that were forged.[351] The United Nations called for an investigation on 1 March into the killing of humanitarian aid seekers, stating it had "recorded at least 14 incidents involving shooting and shelling of people gathered to receive desperately needed supplies".[384] The Israeli Welfare Ministry paused visa renewals to humanitarian aid workers in February 2024, stating it couldn't investigate applicants' potential ties to armed groups."[392] Mohamed Elmasry, an analyst at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, stated of the US beginning airdrops: "They want to be able to be able to say: We told Israel not enough aid was going in and we even did these air drops – so we weren’t complicit in this genocide".[395] Saul Takahashi, a professor at Osaka Jogakuin University, stated if the US or EU cared about Palestinians, "They would not pretend like they are Hollywood action heroes airlifting supplies into Berlin, but they would stop the endless flow of weapons to Israel"."[400] The editorial board of the Financial Times wrote in early-March 2024, "More than any other issue, the lack of aid illustrates the impotence of the US and its western allies... As the occupying force, it is Israel’s responsibility to ensure there is sufficient food for the hungry."[402] During a call with Netanyahu on 15 February 2024, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak "highlighted the scale of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and urged Israel to fully open the Kerem Shalom crossing and allow the maritime delivery of international aid through Ashdod port".[405] During a trip by Benny Gantz to the UK, foreign minister David Cameron stated that Israel needed to change the amount of aid entering the Gaza Strip.[414] New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters called on Israel to take "all necessary and effective steps to ensure, without delay, the unhindered provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance.""[424] According to a Doctors Without Borders video shared by Amnesty International head Agnès Callamard: "This brutal annihilation of an entire population health system stretches beyond what humanitarian aid can fix."[426] On 26 February 2024, UNRWA stated that the failure to deliver more humanitarian aid into Gaza was a "man-made disaster" caused by Israel's "security constraints and temporary closures at both crossings".[428] The spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jeremy Laurence, stated, "Border crossings must be fully opened and the necessary steps must be taken to ensure the free and safe movement of aid convoys to civilians wherever they are".[429] In October 2024, during an interview on Amanpour & Company, the UNICEF spokesperson James Elder described the situation in Gaza as "everything that the international community ever feared, but worse somehow: no aid and more attacks on civilian areas".[441] A group of 25 humanitarian organizations issued a joint statement, saying, "States cannot hide behind airdrops and efforts to open a maritime corridor to create the illusion that they are doing enough to support the needs in Gaza.[445] In late-August 2024, an Israeli airstrike killed four humanitarian aid workers in the Gaza Strip, leading World Food Programme director Cindy McCain to state, "This is totally unacceptable and must change immediately.