Last month, as Israel launched its full-scale assault on Gaza City, Khitam Ayyad was forced to abandon her home, fleeing barefoot and empty-handed. Her destination was a supposed “humanitarian zone” in southern Gaza, designated by the Israeli military.
The promise from the military was clear: tents, food, and essential medical care would await those escaping the intense fighting in the north.
However, upon reaching Khan Younis, one of these designated safe areas, Ms. Ayyad found not refuge, but an overwhelming scene of desperation and overcrowding, with minimal assistance available.
“We’re completely exposed to the relentless sun and heat,” she recounted, describing a landscape where there was no room to build shelter and crucial supplies like food and water were dangerously scarce.
The Israeli military maintains that its ground offensive, which commenced on September 16th to seize control of Gaza City, aims to dismantle one of the final Hamas strongholds within the territory.
Prior to the offensive, the military had asserted that southern Gaza’s humanitarian infrastructure was adequately prepared to handle the anticipated surge of people relocating from the north.
This week, military reports confirmed that an astonishing 780,000 people have departed Gaza City since the evacuation order was first issued on September 9th.
This immense influx of residents into the southern areas has pushed already fragile humanitarian services past their breaking point, services that aid organizations noted were insufficient even before this mass arrival.
Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the United Nations’ humanitarian office operating in one of these zones, described a scene of utter despair: “Hundreds of people are simply sitting on the side of the road, visibly shell-shocked and with absolutely nothing.”
Meanwhile, a proposal to end the conflict, which began with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, received support from President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Monday. The plan promised “full aid” to Gaza “immediately” upon its implementation, though Hamas’s acceptance of the deal remained uncertain.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating aid to Gaza, reiterated on September 25th that southern Gaza’s humanitarian facilities were indeed ready for the new arrivals. They stated, “Accordingly, the transfer of food, medical equipment and shelter supplies has been increased,” adding that, “Steps have been taken in the fields of water and medical response in the southern Gaza Strip.”
Yet, two weeks into the offensive, evidence of such prepared infrastructure was sparse. A New York Times photographer’s visit to the humanitarian zone, coupled with interviews with Palestinians and aid groups, revealed that the existing facilities were woefully inadequate.
“Hospitals are completely overwhelmed,” Ms. Cherevko emphasized. “Water production has plummeted to unprecedented lows, and a frightening array of diseases is rapidly spreading.”
Since the onset of the ground offensive in Gaza City, aid agencies report that efforts to mitigate the escalating humanitarian crisis across Gaza have descended into utter chaos.
In the north, where hundreds of thousands of people are still sheltering in Gaza City, the delivery of essential food and aid has been severely hampered, according to various aid organizations.
The United Nations’ humanitarian office highlighted that the Israeli military closed the Zikim crossing on September 12th, mere days before the Gaza City operation began. This action effectively severed a critical entry point for aid and goods.
In response to inquiries about the closure, the Israeli military stated that the entry of aid trucks via Zikim was “subject to operational considerations.”
The United Nations further reported that Israeli authorities had obstructed or denied roughly half of its recent attempts to transport aid from southern to northern Gaza. Ms. Cherevko stated this significantly hindered community kitchens in the north, limiting them to preparing only about a third of their usual meal volume.
In contrast, the Israeli military affirmed in a statement that aid deliveries between southern and northern Gaza were “facilitated through internal coordination” with aid groups and were “continuing on an ongoing basis.”
Adding to the crisis, Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza City has severely crippled the region’s healthcare system.
The Red Cross announced Wednesday it would suspend operations and withdraw staff from the city, following a similar decision by Doctors Without Borders, which reported its facilities were “encircled” by Israeli forces. Over the weekend, the United Nations confirmed that recent fighting had rendered four hospitals in northern Gaza completely unusable.
The international community has widely criticized Israel’s wartime conduct and its impact on civilians, leading to the country’s increasing isolation.
A U.N. commission investigating the conflict last month controversially asserted that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians, an allegation vehemently denied by Israel.
Further compounding the humanitarian catastrophe, an August report by a U.N.-backed panel of food experts declared Gaza City and its environs to be officially under famine, with a staggering half-million people facing starvation, acute malnutrition, and death. Israel has refuted these findings and challenged the panel’s methodology.
While Israeli officials claim sufficient food enters Gaza, they attribute distribution failures to theft or aid agencies’ inability to manage it. The United Nations and other groups, however, contend that Israel often denies or delays requests for safe passage of supplies from the border into Gaza, alongside other significant obstacles.
The pervasive insecurity throughout Gaza has created immense challenges for aid agencies attempting to reach those in need.
UNICEF spokeswoman Tess Ingram revealed that before the Gaza City offensive, their organization delivered specialized malnutrition treatment to northern Gaza twice weekly. Since the offensive began, only one such delivery has been made. Compounding this, a United Nations report last week detailed how a shipment of malnutrition treatment, enough for 2,700 children, was successfully brought into Gaza City only to be subsequently stolen by armed individuals.
A staggering 73 percent of aid entering Gaza in September was reportedly looted from UN trucks, either by desperate civilians or armed gangs. Much of this stolen aid then resurfaces in local markets, sold at exorbitant prices.
During the initial phase of the Israeli ground offensive in Gaza City, a few markets remained operational as vendors hastily tried to sell their goods before fleeing. However, residents now report that most markets are either shuttered or entirely stripped bare.
Amani al-Hessi, a 40-year-old journalist for Al Madina, an Arabic-language newspaper in Israel, currently sheltering in a severely damaged house in Gaza City, stated that there are no longer any places to purchase food in her neighborhood.
“Yesterday, I visited what used to be the market in Shati, but it was completely deserted; no one was selling anything,” she lamented, referring to a Gaza City neighborhood. “At best, we have enough food to last one more week.”
Aid agencies suggest that the Israeli military seemed inadequately prepared for the sheer scale of the population exodus that its Gaza City offensive would trigger.
“Is there food and water in Al-Mawasi? Yes,” confirmed UNICEF spokeswoman Ms. Ingram, referring to a designated humanitarian zone in the south. “Is it sufficient for the people currently here? No. Will it be sufficient if hundreds of thousands more arrive? Absolutely not.”
Bassem al-Qedra, 43, shared his harrowing experience: after fleeing Gaza City, he and his children spent three nights sleeping on the streets of Khan Younis. He eventually located a barren patch of sand and paid nearly $100 to have a tent erected for his family.
“No water, no food, no money,” stated Mr. al-Qedra, a former taxi driver whose car was destroyed in the conflict. “There was simply no one who could offer assistance.”