As Israel launched its full-scale assault on Gaza City last month, Khitam Ayyad was among the many who fled their homes, heading barefoot and without belongings to an area in southern Gaza designated as a ‘humanitarian zone’ by the Israeli military.
The military had promised that those fleeing the intense fighting in the north would receive tents, food, and medical care upon arrival. However, Ms. Ayyad’s experience in Khan Younis, one of these supposed humanitarian areas, revealed a different reality: it was severely overcrowded with desperate people receiving minimal assistance.
“We are exposed to the sun and the heat,” she recounted, adding that there was no space for shelter and a dire lack of proper food or water.
Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza City, which began on September 16, is aimed at dismantling what it describes as one of Hamas’s last remaining strongholds in the region.
Prior to the operation, the military had stated that humanitarian facilities in southern Gaza were prepared for the influx of people expected to move from the north. This week, the military reported that approximately 780,000 people had evacuated Gaza City since the initial order was issued on September 9.
However, this massive influx has severely strained humanitarian services, which aid groups insist were already inadequate even before thousands more arrived. Olga Cherevko, a spokeswoman for the United Nations’ humanitarian office working in a designated humanitarian zone, described the scene: “hundreds of people just sitting on the side of the road looking shellshocked, without anything.”
On Monday, a proposal backed by President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel aimed to end the conflict, which began with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. The plan promised “full aid” to Gaza immediately upon implementation, but Hamas’s acceptance of the deal remained uncertain.
The Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating aid to Gaza, COGAT, maintained that southern humanitarian facilities were prepared for the new arrivals. In a statement on September 25, COGAT asserted, “Accordingly, the transfer of food, medical equipment and shelter supplies has been increased. Steps have been taken in the fields of water and medical response in the southern Gaza Strip.”
Despite these assurances, two weeks into the offensive, little evidence of this promised infrastructure was visible, according to a New York Times photographer’s visit to the humanitarian zone and interviews with Palestinians and aid organizations. They reported that existing facilities were far from sufficient.
“The hospitals are completely overflowing,” Ms. Cherevko stated. “The water production is at some of the lowest levels that we’ve ever seen. There’s all kinds of diseases.”
Since the ground offensive began in Gaza City, aid agencies report that efforts to mitigate the worsening humanitarian crisis across Gaza have been thrown into disarray. In the northern part of the territory, where hundreds of thousands of people are still sheltering, the delivery of essential food and aid has been severely disrupted.
The United Nations’ humanitarian office noted that the Israeli military closed the Zikim crossing on September 12, days before the Gaza City operation, effectively cutting off a crucial entry point for aid and goods. When questioned about the closure, the Israeli military responded that the entry of aid trucks through Zikim was “subject to operational considerations.”
The United Nations reported that Israeli authorities have either denied or impeded about half of its recent attempts to transport aid from southern to northern Gaza. This, Ms. Cherevko explained, has severely crippled the work of community kitchens in the north, reducing their meal preparation capacity to about a third of previous levels.
The Israeli military countered in a statement that aid deliveries from southern to northern Gaza are “facilitated through internal coordination” with aid groups and that the process “continues on an ongoing basis.”
Beyond the challenges of aid distribution, Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza City has also devastated the region’s healthcare infrastructure. On Wednesday, the Red Cross announced a temporary suspension of operations and staff relocation out of the city. This followed a similar move by Doctors Without Borders, which reported that Israeli forces had “encircled” their facilities. By the weekend, the United Nations confirmed that four hospitals in the north had become unusable due to ongoing fighting over the past month.
Israel’s conduct in the war and its impact on civilians have drawn widespread international criticism, leaving the country increasingly isolated. Last month, a U.N. commission investigating the conflict accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians, an allegation Israel vehemently denies. Furthermore, in August, a U.N.-backed panel of food experts officially declared Gaza City and its surrounding areas to be in a state of famine, with at least half a million people facing acute malnutrition, starvation, and death. Israel has rejected these findings, questioning the panel’s methodology.
Israeli officials claim that sufficient food has been allowed into Gaza, but they argue that it is often stolen or that aid agencies face difficulties in distributing it. The United Nations and other aid organizations, however, contend that Israel frequently denies or delays requests to pick up supplies at the border and transport them safely into Gaza, among other significant hurdles. The persistent lack of security throughout Gaza has also made it increasingly difficult for aid agencies to reach those in need.
UNICEF spokeswoman Tess Ingram reported that before the Gaza City offensive, UNICEF delivered specialized treatment for malnourished children to northern Gaza twice a week. Since the offensive began, only one such delivery has been made. Last week, a United Nations report detailed how a shipment of malnutrition treatment, enough for 2,700 children, was successfully brought into Gaza City but was subsequently stolen by armed men.
The United Nations estimates that 73 percent of aid entering Gaza in September was stolen from its trucks by desperate civilians or armed gangs. Much of this pilfered aid is then sold at inflated prices in local markets across the territory. In Gaza City, some markets remained open during the early days of the Israeli ground offensive as vendors attempted to sell off their stock before fleeing. However, residents now report that many markets are either closed or completely empty.
Amani al-Hessi, a 40-year-old journalist for Al Madina, an Arabic-language newspaper based in Israel, who is sheltering in a heavily damaged house in Gaza City, confirmed the dire situation. She stated that there was nowhere left to purchase food in her area. “I went yesterday to what used to be the market in Shati, but no one was selling a thing there,” she said, referring to one of Gaza City’s neighborhoods. “We have food enough for one more week at best.”
Aid agencies are raising concerns that the Israeli military appeared unprepared for the massive displacement of people that its Gaza City offensive would trigger. “Is there food and water in al-Mawasi? Yes,” Ms. Ingram, the UNICEF spokeswoman, acknowledged, referring to one of the designated humanitarian zones in the south. “Is it sufficient for the people who are currently here? No. Will it be sufficient if hundreds of thousands of more people come? Definitely not.”
Bassem al-Qedra, 43, a former taxi driver whose car was destroyed in the war, recounted sleeping on the street for three days after fleeing Gaza City to Khan Younis with his children. He eventually found an empty patch of sand and paid nearly $100 to have a tent pitched for his family. “No water, no food, no money,” Mr. al-Qedra lamented. “No one could help.”