Shortage of supplies blights daily life in Gaza
By Nathan Morley
Israel is preparing to open the Rafah crossing to allow Gaza residents into Egypt, officials said Wednesday.
No specific time has been announced, but the opening is expected to permit travel for medical and other purposes. Officials said the move is intended to demonstrate progress on the cease‑fire agreement.
In other developments, a U.N. official says large stocks of aid remain blocked from entering Gaza.
Adnan Abu Hasna, media adviser to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, said the agency has food, medicine and winter shelter supplies — including hundreds of thousands of tents, tarpaulins, blankets and clothing — but Israeli restrictions have prevented delivery.
He said many tents now in use are worn out and offer little protection from wind or rain. UNRWA has waited six months for clearance to bring in the supplies, but Israel has allowed only a fraction, despite what Abu Hasna called a “critical humanitarian situation” affecting nearly 1.5 million Palestinians.
Conditions remain catastrophic, he said, with about 9,400 children suffering acute malnutrition, a collapsed health system and contaminated water sources, now worsened by winter rains and flooding.
Last week, the UN said Israel’s war in Gaza had created a “human‑made abyss,” and rebuilding could cost more than $70 billion over decades.
The U.N. trade and development agency said in a report that military operations have “significantly undermined every pillar of survival” and left Gaza’s 2.3 million people facing “extreme, multidimensional impoverishment.”
The report said Gaza’s economy shrank 87% in 2023 and 2024, driving GDP per capita down to $161, among the lowest in the world.
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