🔗 Share this article

Even if the border entry point with Egypt becomes operational this week, humanitarian organizations encounter substantial challenges delivering supplies to the northern region, the area hardest impacted by hunger, according to experts.

Infrastructure Issues

Primary highways are practically impassable due to extensive devastation across the conflict-affected area – or are still occupied by Israeli forces. Any truck that stops working is likely to be instantly looted.

Zikim, the primary access route to the northern region, destroyed during multiple years of fighting, has been inactive for multiple weeks, and government representatives have notified NGOs in Gaza that there are no immediate plans to activate the crossing, per reports from aid workers.

Destruction in Northern Gaza

The northern urban center was the objective of a significant armed campaign launched in August that was still under way when the peace agreement was agreed upon recently.

Damage in the northern area has been extensive, with complete communities including urban centers and adjacent communities in ruins as well as many of the outlying areas of Gaza City.

"Any operation of a border point into Gaza is positive, but we need to make sure we can help civilians where they are," stated a senior director from an international NGO.

Relief Conditions

Observers said many of the approximately 300,000 people who have returned to the north from the crowded shelter regions where they had been sheltering during the Israeli offensive were now "staying" among the debris of their homes, often without any housing and with limited food or water.

A spokesperson from an international organization said the damage in the northern territories was "shocking".

"There is neighborhood after neighborhood, structure after structure ... there is urgent requirement for clean water. It's pretty harrowing. We need all the crossings operational," the official, who was in the northern city recently, added.

Limited Entry

An organization head based in the northern city said the requirements in what used to be the territory's thriving business and community focal point were "immense".

"There is positive expectation and hope but there needs to be immediate enhancement on the crossings. There has been no any significant change on the ground yet," the representative said.

"There remains a small quantity of aid [and] we are just beginning to comprehend the level of devastation. So many streets are just full of rubble ... there is almost no home that is undamaged. There is damage and live explosives everywhere."

Recent Changes

On Saturday, humanitarian organizations said limited amounts of necessary propane reached Gaza for the first instance in many weeks, along with deliveries of flour, cereal and fresh vegetables. The additional resources sent market costs falling.

At a mid-region location, a local resident said there had been noticeable change since the peace agreement.

"The markets are stocked with supplies, fresh goods, and fruits, although the prices are still high and not attainable for the entire population," the person stated.

Cold Season Requirements

"Our most important needs currently, especially with the arrival of the cold season, are to have a tent to protect us from the cold and cold-weather clothing because the markets do not have enough clothes for us or, if they are available, they are scarce and very expensive."

Multiple internationally-backed bakeries in central and southern Gaza have restarted operations since the ceasefire.

Aid Distribution

Trucks were stated to have come through the humanitarian corridor via the eastern border to Gaza during the week, though exact numbers were unclear.

Israel's news organization stated that recent humanitarian shipments would include food, medical supplies, petroleum products, fuel for cooking and tools to repair vital infrastructure.

"Relief supplies keeps coming into the conflict region through the Kerem Shalom crossing and additional routes after Israeli security inspection," an government spokesperson said.

Distribution Complications

But monitoring the number of trucks could be deceptive, cautioned a professional from a humanitarian organization. "It's crucial to understand what is in the trucks and how full they are for it to be a truly significant metric," the expert added.

Commercial operators are dispatching fleets of vehicles containing sweets, soft drinks and treats, which have minimal health benefits, while urgent medical support for children or individuals who have lacked proper sustenance for an extended period are unavailable.

Medical Situation

Within the northern urban center, only seven medical centers are operating, compared with 45 in July.

Various groups have millions of dollars of humanitarian goods stored around Gaza waiting to go in. A UN agency working with Palestinians across the territory for a long time has extended provisions of sustenance for everyone in Gaza prepared to be transported.

"We maintain the supplies, the instruments and the expertise ... we simply must have the entry," said a relief official, just returning from Gaza.

Diplomatic Factors

An international initiative outlines that "full" assistance should reach Gaza and be distributed through international organizations and the Red Crescent, without obstruction from both armed factions or national security.

This likely prohibits the controversial authority-approved aid group which commenced activities in earlier this year, causing chaotic scenes and numerous casualties as large groups of people gathered around its distribution sites.

Relief representatives in Gaza {told|informed