Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), Cindy McCain, requested increased humanitarian access to Gaza from Israel earlier this week. The appeal was made following her discussions with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi regarding the food crisis in the region. The crisis has worsened since an attack on October 7, after which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) implemented a blockade in Gaza.
The blockade method adopted by Israel to put pressure on Hamas has snuffed out access to power and wifi, impeded access to water, and severely curtailed the import of food into the region. Humanitarian organizations such as WFP have been assembling aid packages for distribution in Gaza, but these often get held up at the Gaza-Egypt border, a consequence of Israel’s sanctions.
The blockade has caused the diets of Palestinians to become almost exclusively bread-based as reported by journalists on scene. According to a report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), only one wheat-flour mill continues to operate in Gaza. Besides the unavailability of food, residents also face threats from airstrikes when lining up for bread at bakeries.
The food crisis grows more convoluted as over 1.7 million people have become internally displaced. Ensuring these individuals receive food aid represents a significant logistical challenge. Current reserves of rice, vegetable oil, and other essential items will deplete in one to three days, according to the WFP.
The WFP’s current strategy for aiding Palestinians includes providing foodstuffs, relocating food to refugees residing with host families in other countries, and offering cash-based transfers so that families can purchase food where available. Despite these efforts, the WFP emphasizes that food supply to the region must significantly increase to meet local needs.
Western allies of Israel and Israel itself have committed to applying more sanctions on Hamas. The aim stated is to prevent Hamas from replenishing its artillery for future attacks. However, critics point out the sanctions’ indiscriminate effects which may constitute genocide under international law. They argue that by deliberately causing conditions that could lead to the partial or total physical destruction of a group in Gaza, through the blocking of food and water, Israel may be violating Article 2(c) of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.