Israeli food aid into Gaza. The facts

Last year, the UN World Food Program published statistics stating that to feed the population of 2.2 million people – the figure is closer to 1.8 million- would require the delivery of 4,287 tons of food per week.

As the Israeli war to eradicate the Hamas terror regime in Gaza progressed increasingly dire warnings of starvation and famine began to spread. And Israel was blamed for restricting the flow of aid into the Gaza Strip.

Is this true? Let’s look at the figures and compare them to the United Nations own requirements in Gaza.

The United Nations World Food Program issued statistics in 2023 that claimed that 2.2 Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip needed to be supplied with 3,287 trucks of food a week.  Putting aside that others claim the Gaza demographics at between 1.8 to two million people, and accepting the UN figure, Gaza needs 4,287 tons of food a week. Factoring in the fact that the war has gone on for six months, this would raise the total amount of food required in Gaza for half a year to a total of 102,888 tons.

COGAT is the Israeli coordinating arm of the Israeli Government’s activities in the territories coordinating with defense and government officials on civilian policy within Judea & Samaria, often with humanitarian needs including for civilians in the Gaza Strip and even bringing Syrian patients to be treated in Israeli hospitals.

According to COGAT figures, since the start of the war Israel has overseen the entry into Gaza of 14,786 trucks loaded with 313,970 tons of food as of 15 April 2024.

That is over three times the amount of food quoted by the United Nations.

It must be noted that in recent days, the UN took down the document quoting their own statistics.

Israel has, for months, been pleading that we have been providing access over and above any other country, particularly Egypt. Israel has increased its crossings in recent days to four access points.

Add to this the fact that for months there are dozens of bakeries producing two million loaves of bread daily, plus cakes and other delicacies, sold on the markets that have continued to operate in Gaza outside the urban areas in which Hamas have insisted to take on IDF forces rather than surrender.

As a final nail in the coffin of the accusation that Israel is starving the Palestinians, on 2  April, it was reported that the Popular Resistance Committee, a coalition of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, announced price drops for food in Gaza.

“Gaza merchants said an average family can now buy products for a hearty meal with 100 shekels ($27) compared to 200 shekels ($54) just a few days ago.”

The problem of aid into Gaza is well known to the main actors involved who are in denial.

It is not in the delivery, but in the distribution of aid, where the problem lies, and the biggest guilty party is a United Nations that has been so deeply ingrained with Hamas for decades that they are too ashamed to admit their guilt both in the UNRWA education/indoctrination program that takes place in the schools and summer camps, not only in Gaza but also under the Palestinian Authority, but in the humanitarian service to the population that is managed and operated by hundreds of Hamas operatives.

There has to be an internationally agreed solution to the distribution of aid, but the vast majority of that aid is entering Gaza via Israel and in adequate quantities.

Barry Shaw,

Israel Institute for Strategic Studies.