As Israel’s full-scale assault on Gaza City commenced last month, Khitam Ayyad, like countless others, fled her home barefoot and without her belongings. Her destination was an area in southern Gaza that the Israeli military had designated as a ‘humanitarian zone’, promising tents, food, and medical care for those escaping the intense fighting in the north.
However, upon reaching the southern city of Khan Younis, one of these designated humanitarian zones, Ms. Ayyad encountered a reality far different from the promises. She described a chaotic, overcrowded scene with desperate people receiving minimal assistance.
“We are exposed to the sun and the heat,” she recounted, highlighting the absence of shelter, proper food, or clean water. There was simply no space for her to set up even a basic refuge.
The Israeli military had stated that its ground offensive, which began on September 16, aimed to dismantle one of the last remaining Hamas strongholds in Gaza. Prior to the operation, the military had assured that the humanitarian infrastructure in southern Gaza was adequately prepared for the anticipated influx of people from the north.
This week, military reports indicated that 780,000 people had evacuated Gaza City since the initial order on September 9.
This massive displacement has severely overburdened humanitarian services, which aid groups already considered insufficient before the arrival of hundreds of thousands more individuals.
Olga Cherevko, a spokeswoman for the United Nations’ humanitarian office, working within a designated humanitarian zone, described the scene: “hundreds of people just sitting on the side of the road looking shellshocked, without anything.”
Earlier this week, a proposal to end the war, ignited by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in October 2023, was backed by President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. The plan outlined the immediate delivery of ‘full aid’ to Gaza once it took effect, though Hamas’s acceptance of the deal remained uncertain.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency coordinating aid to Gaza, 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.”
However, two weeks into the offensive, a New York Times photographer’s visit to the humanitarian zone, alongside interviews with Palestinians and aid groups, revealed little evidence of this promised infrastructure. The facilities were described as far from adequate.
“The hospitals are completely overflowing,” Ms. Cherevko lamented. “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 in Gaza City began, aid agencies report that efforts to mitigate the escalating humanitarian crisis across Gaza have descended into disarray.
In northern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people remain sheltered in Gaza City, the delivery of essential food and aid has been severely interrupted, according to aid agencies.
The United Nations’ humanitarian office reported 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.
In response to inquiries about the closure, the Israeli military stated that the entry of aid trucks through Zikim was “subject to operational considerations.”
The Israeli military’s conduct of the war and its impact on civilians have drawn extensive international criticism, leading to the country’s isolation on the global stage.
Last month, a U.N. commission investigating the conflict accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians, an allegation Israel has denied.
In August, a U.N.-backed panel of food experts declared that Gaza City and its surrounding areas were officially experiencing famine, with at least half a million people facing severe starvation, acute malnutrition, and a high risk of death. Israel has contested these findings and criticized the panel’s methodology.
While Israeli officials assert they permit sufficient food into Gaza, they contend that aid is often stolen or that agencies struggle with distribution. The United Nations and other relief organizations, however, state that Israel frequently denies or delays requests to safely collect and transport supplies from the border into Gaza, among other significant challenges.
The persistent lack of security throughout Gaza has also made it exceedingly difficult for aid agencies to reach those in need.
Before the Gaza City offensive, UNICEF regularly delivered specialized treatment for malnourished children to northern Gaza twice weekly. However, since the offensive began, only one such delivery has been made, according to Tess Ingram, a UNICEF spokeswoman. Furthermore, the United Nations reported last week that a shipment of malnutrition treatment, sufficient for 2,700 children, successfully entered Gaza City only to be stolen by armed individuals.
The United Nations also reported that 73 percent of aid entering Gaza in September was stolen from its trucks by desperate civilians or armed gangs. Some of this pilfered aid is subsequently sold at inflated prices in local markets across the territory.
In the initial days of the Israeli ground offensive in Gaza City, some markets remained open as vendors attempted to sell off their remaining stock before fleeing. However, residents now report that many markets are either closed or completely depleted.
Amani al-Hessi, a 40-year-old journalist for the Israeli-based Arabic newspaper Al Madina, who was sheltering in a heavily damaged house in Gaza City, confirmed that there was no longer anywhere in her area to purchase food.
“I went yesterday to what used to be the market in Shati, but no one was selling a thing there,” she explained, referring to a Gaza City neighborhood. “We have food enough for one more week at best.”
Aid agencies suggest that the Israeli military appeared unprepared for the immense exodus of people triggered by its Gaza City offensive.
“Is there food and water in al-Mawasi? Yes,” stated Ms. Ingram, the UNICEF spokeswoman, 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 with his children for three days after fleeing Gaza City to Khan Younis. He eventually found a barren patch of sand and paid nearly $100 for someone to erect a tent for his family.
“No water, no food, no money,” Mr. al-Qedra lamented. “No one could help.”