Advertising

Aid arrives but falls short of Gazans' needs amid renewed Israeli strikes

Middle East

The UN said Wednesday that it had started handing out supplies from around 90 truckloads of aid into Gaza. This marks the first delivery since an Israeli blockade began in early March. As famine looms and international pressure mounts, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel may consider a temporary ceasefire to secure hostage releases but vowed to continue its military campaign for "total control" of Gaza. 

One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.

A view of an aid truck entering from Israel into Gaza, on the road to the Kerem Shalom crossing near the Israeli-Gaza border, May 21, 2025.
A view of an aid truck entering from Israel into Gaza, on the road to the Kerem Shalom crossing near the Israeli-Gaza border, May 21, 2025. © Amir Cohen, Reuters

The UN confirmed Wednesday that it had collected and begun dispatching around 90 truckloads of aid into Gaza, marking the first aid arrival in the besieged Palestinian territory since early March.

Three days after Israel announced it would allow in limited aid, the United Nations on Wednesday "collected around 90 truckloads of goods from the Kerem Shalom crossing and dispatched them into Gaza," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in a statement.

Israel had previously announced the entry of the UN humanitarian trucks -- loaded with flour, baby food, medical supplies and other provisions -- but none of the supplies had left the loading zone at the Kerem Shalom crossing, where they must be reloaded onto other trucks in the Gaza Strip.

Read moreIsrael says aid trucks entered Gaza, UN sees no sign of distribution

Dujarric had said earlier Wednesday this was due to Israeli authorities only allowing UN teams "to go through one area that was highly congested, that we felt was insecure and where we felt looting was highly likely to take place, given the prolonged deprivation in Gaza."

Nevertheless, he expressed hope that the first trucks will be able to bring the goods to UN warehouses before being distributed to the Gaza population, which is under severe threat of famine.

Watch more'Nowhere is safe in Gaza, nowhere at all'

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said Monday that the trucks allowed in were "a drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed."

During the 42-day ceasefire at the beginning of the year, 4,000 aid trucks entered Gaza each week, according to the UN.

Prior to the war, which began in retaliation to Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, about 500 trucks of humanitarian aid entered Gaza on a daily basis.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)