🔗 Share this article

Even if the Rafah crossing at the Egyptian border becomes operational this week, humanitarian organizations confront substantial difficulties providing assistance to northern Gaza, the area hardest impacted by food shortages, analysts state.

Infrastructure Problems

Key roads are practically impassable due to widespread damage across the conflict-affected area – or continue to be controlled by military units. Any truck that stops working is likely to be immediately stripped.

The primary crossing, the primary access route to the northern territories, damaged by 24 months of fighting, has been inactive for several weeks, and government representatives have told aid groups in Gaza that there are no immediate plans to open the entry location, according to aid workers.

Devastation in Gaza City

Gaza City was the target of a major Israeli offensive begun in August that was still under way when the ceasefire deal was signed recently.

Damage in the north has been widespread, with entire towns including Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in devastated as well as many of the surrounding regions of the urban center.

"Any activation of a border point into Gaza is positive, but we need to guarantee we can help civilians where they are," commented a senior director from a relief agency.

Aid Conditions

Witnesses said many of the approximately 300,000 people who have returned to the northern region from the overcrowded coastal zone where they had been sheltering during the military operations were now "living" among the debris of their homes, often without any shelter and with limited supplies or resources.

An official from a humanitarian body said the devastation in Gaza City was "shocking".

"We see street after street, building after building ... there is urgent requirement for water. The situation is dire. We must have every border point operational," the spokesperson, who was in Gaza City in recent days, added.

Restricted Entry

A community leader working from the urban center said the necessities in what used to be the area's bustling commercial and community focal point were "immense".

"We see hope and optimism but there needs to be rapid progress on the crossings. We haven't seen substantial progress on the situation yet," the official said.

"We are still getting a very limited amount of assistance [and] we are now commencing to understand the extent of devastation. Numerous roads are overwhelmed by debris ... there is almost no home that is secure. There is damage and unexploded bombs throughout the area."

Recent Changes

Recently, humanitarian organizations said small quantities of vital cooking gas entered Gaza for the first time in many weeks, along with consignments of wheat, cereal and produce. The new supplies sent commercial prices tumbling.

Within a central community, a civilian said there had been certain progress since the ceasefire.

"The markets are containing food, fresh goods, and produce, although the prices are still high and not accessible for all people," the person said.

Cold Season Requirements

"The primary requirements currently, particularly given the coming of the cold season, are to have a temporary housing to keep us safe from the cold weather and cold-weather clothing because the stores do not have sufficient clothing for us or, if they exist, they are very few and very expensive."

Multiple organization-assisted bakeries in mid and southern regions have begun working again since the peace agreement.

Support Delivery

Transport were stated to have entered the humanitarian corridor from Israel to Gaza during recent days, though exact numbers were unclear.

The nation's media outlet stated that Wednesday's assistance transports would include edible goods, medical supplies, fuel, propane and materials to repair crucial facilities.

"Relief supplies remains flowing to the conflict region through the humanitarian corridor and additional routes after security checks," an government spokesperson said.

Delivery Complications

But tracking the quantity of vehicles could be misleading, advised an expert from an international NGO. "We must determine the materials within the vehicles and their capacity levels for it to be a really meaningful indicator," the expert said.

Private companies are dispatching fleets of transports carrying sweets, fizzy drinks and snacks, which have minimal health benefits, while urgent medical support for children or people who have gone without sufficient nutrition for two years are limited.

Treatment Conditions

In Gaza City, only a handful of healthcare facilities are operating, compared with many in earlier this year.

Various groups have substantial resources of humanitarian goods stockpiled in the region waiting to go in. A UN agency working with Palestinians across the territory for a long time has multiple months of supplies of sustenance for the entire population prepared to be distributed.

"We maintain the resources, the instruments and the expertise ... we only require the permission," said a relief official, who recently came back from Gaza.

Governmental Considerations

An international initiative details that "comprehensive" assistance should be delivered to Gaza and be provided through humanitarian bodies and relief organizations, without interference from either armed factions or state authorities.

This appears to exclude the controversial government-supported aid group which commenced activities in earlier this year, leading to disorderly situations and hundreds of deaths as numerous individuals congregated around its distribution sites.

Relief representatives in Gaza {told|informed