Oxfam partners are trying to get food, clean water, and medicine to desperate families. Here’s the latest, and what you can do to help.
Getting humanitarian aid into Gaza is a complicated mess—but it shouldn’t be.
Six months after a peace deal was agreed to in Gaza, Oxfam and other aid groups remain ready to scale up to deliver more food, clean water, and medicine to millions of Palestinians in need. Despite overwhelming needs, the Israeli government is still allowing just a fraction of the humanitarian aid needed into Gaza.
"Needs in Gaza exceed far beyond the aid and reconstruction materials Israel is allowing in," said Monther Shoblaq, Director General of the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, an Oxfam partner. “The situation will worsen if Israel’s collective punishment and illegal blockade continues.”
Oxfam is calling for unhindered access to vital aid in Gaza. We stand ready to scale up the delivery of humanitarian aid once access is granted.
Gaza’s urgent need for increased aid delivery
Palestinians in Gaza remain in desperate need of humanitarian aid as violence continues. The most pressing needs include food and healthcare and shelter, as well as water, sanitation and hygiene services (WASH) including menstrual products and waste management services.
- The latest global hunger report showed that 1.6 million people in Gaza are facing severe hunger.
- Rainstorms and recent airstrikes have destroyed and damaged shelters. Most people in Gaza continue to live in dire conditions and lack adequate access to basic things like drinking water, soap, lighting, and safe cooking fuel.
- According to the World Food Programme, Gaza saw sharp spikes in food and cooking gas prices in early March after Israeli authorities temporarily closed all border crossings citing security concerns linked to the escalation of conflict in the Middle East.
- Though prices have since stabilized, the cost of living has essentially doubled since the start of the regional war.
What is the current situation on aid entering Gaza?
The government of Israel has continued to severely limit humanitarian aid and maintained its arbitrary, opaque, and politicized system for humanitarian access in Gaza.
The peace deal agreed to last October led to a temporary increase in the volume of commercial goods and humanitarian aid entering Gaza, but the amount is still far below what is needed to meet urgent needs. These volumes again dropped significantly at the end of February, when Israel re-closed Gaza’s border crossings following the start of the joint U.S.-Israel air campaign in Iran.
For a fifth consecutive week, aid workers have relied on only one border crossing to replenish their stocks. Many restrictions remain on the types of items that may be brought into Gaza, but some humanitarian organizations continue to operate in parts of the Gaza Strip at levels far short of capacity and need.
- As of March 29th, UN partners assisted more than 240,000 households families with monthly food parcel distributions—at most covering only 50 percent of their daily caloric needs for about 10 days.
- These partners continue to prepare and deliver some 1.5 million meals through 140 kitchens across Gaza. But cooking gas shortages now undermine their operation.
- In recent weeks, roughly 1,400 children between the ages of six months and five years old facing acute malnutrition were admitted for malnutrition treatment.
What is Oxfam doing to help aid get into Gaza?
Oxfam and other UN agencies are doing everything we can, through partners, to deliver life-saving aid. Oxfam has worked closely with our partners in Gaza to reach more than 1.4 million people with humanitarian assistance. Since October 2023, our water, sanitation, and hygiene programs have reached over 800,000 people.
Since the peace deal was agreed to, Oxfam has continued to source materials within Gaza in order to scale up its work to assist partner organizations, people displaced by the conflict, and those on the move and choosing to return to their homes. This includes the installation of 600 latrines last year in southern Gaza, a major accomplishment.
With your support, Oxfam and our local partners are focusing on a range of emergency interventions including:
- Food
- Clean water
- Access to hygiene items, including menstrual products
- Rehabilitation of water and sanitation systems and wells
- Solid waste management
- Training and supplies for home gardens to help people grow vegetables
- Support for survivors of gender-based violence
The peace deal promised unimpeded humanitarian assistance, and we urgently need full access for all qualified humanitarian organizations.
"Nothing other than complete access to Gaza to deliver aid at scale can alleviate the conditions that people have been forced to live in," said Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel policy lead.
