The Edge of Erasure – Gaza Humanitarian Access Snapshot #12

The people of Gaza continue to endure the devastating consequences of Israel’s indiscriminate bombing campaigns, which have compounded more than 19 months of brutal destruction. The most recent total siege imposed by Israeli authorities on March 2 stripped over two million people of access to food, water, fuel, and medicine, deepening an already catastrophic man-made humanitarian crisis. Across the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), annexation is accelerating in the illegally occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, through violent military raids, settlement expansion, intensified demolitions, and mass forced displacements, further entrenching Israel’s unlawful control. These escalating violations are not isolated; they are systematic and risk the erasure of Palestinians.

Nearly three months have passed since Israeli authorities imposed another total siege on Gaza on March 2. On May 19, the Israeli cabinet approved a decision to allow “basic” food into Gaza. This is merely a drop in an ocean of needs. Conditions imposed by Israeli authorities continue to prevent large-scale humanitarian aid delivery. Of the small amounts of aid that have been allowed to enter Gaza, very little has reached families.

“We have distributed food parcels and hygiene kits before, but it’s no longer enough. People are asking us for toilet blocks and clean water, and we simply have no supplies left to give,” said a humanitarian worker in Deir al-Balah. “The trucks are stuck in Egypt and Jordan. We get daily calls from mothers who haven’t bathed their children in a week.”

In the face of such systematic devastation – widespread injuries and illness combined with acute malnutrition, dehydration, poor sanitation, and the growing threat of waterborne disease, and virtually no sanitation – deaths from these intersecting conditions will soon accelerate. It will not be prevented by token and piecemeal deliveries of food parcels under any militarized supply distribution scheme. Only a comprehensive, multi-sectoral response at scale can even start to address the overwhelming, man-made humanitarian crisis.

A female community member in Gaza says, “We were forced to cut our clothes and use them as sanitary pads, until we no longer had any clothes. We replaced the diapers for our children with rags and nylon, which caused them to suffer from skin rashes and fungi that ate away at our children’s bodies, resulting in many infections.”

Forty-six international and Palestinian NGOs participated in a survey, sharing their experiences of delivering humanitarian aid and services from March 26 to May 9. Of those, 40 operate in Gaza, 29 in the West Bank, and 23 have operations across the entire Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). While the results do not capture every NGO operating in the OPT, they reflect the deteriorating operating environment and the range of obstacles to delivering aid.

“Nutritional suffering in Gaza is not just about numbers or reports. It's a daily pain we witness in the eyes of children and their mothers… and children who cannot get even one full meal a day, and mothers [who are] forced to split one piece of bread among five kids. People walk for hours just to reach food distribution points, and many go back empty-handed because there isn't enough. We see children with wasted bodies and swollen bellies from malnutrition,” stated another humanitarian worker in Gaza. “Yet there are no hospitals to treat them, no medicines, and barely any therapeutic foods. Animal protein is almost nonexistent, infant formula is unavailable, and basic nutritional supplements have become scarce.”

Key Findings:

Of the 40 surveyed organizations working in Gaza…

• 93% reported they have exhausted or nearly exhausted their aid stocks inside, while miles of aid are blocked from entering Gaza from outside.
• Two-thirds reported being unable to reach and deliver services to communities in need
• One-third reported staff injuries or deaths due to attacks by Israeli forces in Gaza

Of the 29 surveyed organizations working in the West Bank…

• 93% faced increased movement restrictions in the West Bank, with settler attacks and military raids escalating across northern governorates, impacting their ability to reach communities in need.
• 38% reported having suspended or reduced their operations in the West Bank
• 48% reported being unable to reach communities in parts of the West Bank.

Another Humanitarian worker in the occupied West Bank affirms, “I often feel like I have to choose between my safety and my work. Just last month, settlers blocked our way to a training session and cursed at us. It’s exhausting and unfair.”

For more details, refer to the full report of Gaza Humanitarian Snapshot 12.

Spokespersons are available for interviews upon media request.