Lifesaving Gaza Aid Resumes After 11-Week Blockade

Aid deliveries have resumed in Gaza after an 11-week blockade, with humanitarian agencies retrieving the first truckloads of food and medicine in months, sparking cautious optimism amid a worsening hunger crisis.

On Thursday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) confirmed that flour supplies had finally reached its warehouses in Gaza, where all 25 of its UN-supported bakeries were forced to shut down weeks ago due to a lack of wheat and fuel. “Our teams are working non-stop to get bakeries running again,” the agency said.

The breakthrough came as 198 trucks carrying wheat flour, nutrition items, and essential medicines entered through the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza. The movement marked the first large-scale delivery since 2 March, when Israel sealed the enclave off to all commercial and humanitarian shipments.

“Today will be crucial. Truckloads of lifesaving aid are finally on the move again,” said UN Humanitarian Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, announcing that aid teams had retrieved about 90 truckloads of supplies overnight for immediate distribution.

However, the UN warned that major hurdles remain. Fletcher cited persistent risks of looting, delayed coordination approvals, and Israeli-designated routes that are “not viable for cargo movement”.

The blockade had exacerbated an already catastrophic food shortage. The UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported that at least 57 children have died from the effects of malnutrition—figures local health authorities fear are underestimates.

Food security experts, partnering with the UN, have warned that unless access to aid is maintained, nearly 71,000 children under five in Gaza will suffer acute malnutrition in the next 11 months.

Video footage from the WFP showed urgent activity as crews offloaded sacks of flour under floodlights. Inside a storage facility, industrial mixers churned dough in preparation to restart bread production.

Despite the progress, the WFP emphasised that current supplies are insufficient. “It’s nowhere near enough to support everyone in need. We need more trucks, more food, in now.”

Nineteen months of relentless Israeli bombardment and a spiralling humanitarian emergency have left one in five Gazans on the brink of starvation. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stressed that more aid must be allowed in to prevent famine.

OCHA also reported that no hygiene items or fuel have been permitted into Gaza, further complicating relief efforts. The agency is working with Israeli authorities to establish more practical routes for cargo and liaising with local community leaders to prevent looting and ensure safe aid delivery.

Meanwhile, the situation on the ground remains dire. Dozens were killed in airstrikes on Tuesday, and health facilities issued urgent calls for blood donations. Eighty per cent of Gaza is now either under displacement orders or inside Israeli-militarised zones, forcing thousands to flee repeatedly under fire.

“Many newly displaced people have fled with nothing,” OCHA noted. “The constant movement of civilians, paired with severe supply shortages, is putting unbearable pressure on humanitarian operations.”

Despite Thursday’s progress, UN officials and aid workers continue to call for sustained and unimpeded access to deliver essential goods to Gaza’s besieged population.