Over two months, just three trucks carrying food and water have reached North Gaza Governorate, where families scavenge through rubbish for scraps, Oxfam reports. While 25 trucks were granted entry by Israel, most were obstructed or delayed by the Israeli occupation military, leaving countless Palestinian civilians without aid.
Since October, Oxfam and other humanitarian organisations have been unable to deliver consistent aid to north Gaza as Israel’s intensified siege of Jabalia, Beit Lahia, and Beit Hanoun blocks access. Thousands remain cut off without food or water, with trapped families making desperate calls for help.
One convoy of 11 trucks was stopped at Jabalia, where supplies were seized and redirected to a militarised zone inaccessible to Palestinian civilians. Another convoy of 14 trucks saw only three reach Mahdia Al-Shawa school in Beit Hanoun. Hours after distribution, Israeli forces attacked the school, forcing families to flee and shelled the building the next day.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) recently warned of a strong likelihood that famine is already occurring in northern Gaza, with famine risks spreading across the entire Strip. Families are resorting to unimaginable measures to survive, exposing themselves to disease and injury from sharp debris and unexploded bombs.
Gaza now has the highest number of child amputees in the world as its healthcare system collapses, lacking critical supplies like anesthetics.
Oxfam has condemned Israel’s ongoing blockade, warning that these actions violate international law. Aid organisations continue to call for unrestricted access as Gaza’s humanitarian crisis spirals further into catastrophe.
Oxfam warned of an “apocalyptic” situation, with famine likely underway in northern Gaza. Sally Abi-Khalil, Oxfam’s regional director, condemned the international community’s inaction, saying: “The absolute desperation of having no food or shelter for your family in the biting cold of winter. It is abhorrent that despite international law being so publicly violated by Israel and starvation being used relentlessly as a weapon of war, world leaders continue to do nothing.”
“Gaza has been widely destroyed and the entire population is suffering. The public sector has collapsed and the humanitarian system is on its knees. We plead with the entire international community – stop this, now. You have the diplomatic and economic levers to make Israel stop. Every day that passes without a ceasefire is a death sentence for hundreds more civilians.”
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The Palestinian Civil Defence reports 2,700 deaths in North Gaza since October, with half of the bodies unrecovered amid relentless shelling. Over 130,000 have been displaced, most of them women and children now sheltering in overcrowded, freezing conditions in Gaza City.
Aid delivery remains severely hampered as critical crossings are barely functional. Winter weather will worsen conditions for over 1.6 million people living in makeshift shelters, with half a million in flood-prone areas. The UN reports that only 23 per cent of displaced Palestinians have received materials to shield them from cold and rain, leaving over 900,000 at risk of exposure.
Food prices have skyrocketed, forcing families into dire situations. One Palestinian man, who evacuated from Al-Maghazi refugee camp, shared: “Adults tell the kids not to play so they don’t get dizzy. One pack of biscuits is all we have for 15 grandchildren. We need shelter but a simple plastic tarpaulin costs $180. We’re doing everything we can, but it’s not enough.”
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