Central to the international pressure on Israel for a ceasefire with Hamas are claims of widespread starvation and even accusations that Israel is deliberately using hunger as a weapon. But The Press Service of Israel’s (TPS-IL) closer examination of the humanitarian aid pipeline found that a combination of United Nations policies, Hamas looting and black market profiteering prevents much aid from reaching Gaza civilians and inflates the prices of items that do reach market shelves.
Most damningly, according to the UN’s own numbers, a staggering 85 per cent of the aid entering the Gaza Strip by truck since May 19 has been stolen. “Surely this must be Israeli propaganda, & don’t call me Shirley!!”
Before the war, around 150–300 trucks entered Gaza daily, though only a fraction carried food. Data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) shows that in 2022, an average of 292 trucks crossed daily, with just 73 of them carrying food — around 25 per cent. Despite this, there were no signs of famine. Public health indicators such as infant mortality and life expectancy matched those in Jordan and Judea and Samaria.
The report also refuted flawed assumptions about local food production. While Amnesty International claimed that local agriculture provided 44 per cent of Gaza’s food needs, the report argued that this number was based on financial expenditure, not caloric intake.
In reality, local production accounted for no more than 12 per cent of caloric supply. The majority of calories came from imported grains, oils and food aid — largely delivered by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the World Food Programme.
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Israel
suspended aid shipmentstemporarily in March 2025 due to Hamas’s systematic looting, but resumed deliveries in May. By the end of May, 170 trucks were entering the Strip each day. As of July 27, all aid crossings have reopened, and additional airdrops are being carried out. The Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF),
launched in May, now supports alternative aid distribution networks.
According to official Israeli sources, humanitarian aid currently flows through two main channels. The first includes direct food packages — primarily shelf-stable items such as canned vegetables, lentils and nutritional supplements — distributed by international organizations through secure hubs.
Food is entering the Strip, but Hamas and other bad actors are looting it — and reselling it at prices beyond the reach of most Gazans
nationalpost.com
The second channel involves community-level solutions such as bakeries and communal kitchens, operated by the World Food Programme (WFP) and non-governmental organizations like World Central Kitchen, using vetted local partners to deliver cooked meals.
As of July 24, the number of trucks at the Kerem Shalom border crossing waiting for pickup by international relief organizations was reportedly more than 800. In an email response to questions from TPS-IL, a UN spokesperson attributed the delay to strict Israeli security protocols. “Kerem Shalom isn’t a walk-up warehouse,” the spokesperson said.
“For 11 weeks, the Israeli authorities blocked the entry of any items — regardless of how critical they were for civilians’ survival. So, images of supplies piling up inside closed, militarized compounds in fact show what aid workers have not been facilitated in collecting and delivering,” she wrote.
But legal expert Anne Herzberg blames the UN for the necessity of time-consuming inspections. She told TPS-IL that the UN knew that Hamas was using the aid convoys to smuggle weapons but turned a blind eye to the problem. UNRWA and a blind eye? That just doesn’t seem plausible after they last investigated themselves.
Herzberg is the legal advisor to NGO-Monitor, a Jerusalem-based non-profit that monitors the activities of non-governmental organizations, so this must be corrupt and false information. “ Had they been more proactive in trying to block weapons smuggling and aid diversion, they wouldn’t need any inspections,” she insisted.
Yes or No, according to whom?
Hmmm…where do the Carney qualifiers fit into that timeframe? Before or after that vote?
What’s the address of the Canadian Embassy in Palestine? (There is one in the West Bank, but strangely not one ever in Gaza?) I’ll have to come back to the days worth of videos later on when time permits.