Why is so little aid getting into Gaza?

Displaced Palestinian children are seen at a temporary shelter in west of Gaza City, on Dec. 22, 2025. Rizek Abdeljawad / Keystone

Aid to Gaza since the ceasefire two months ago has increased but is still far from enough, say UN organisations and NGOs. On January 1, Israel banned 37 humanitarian agencies from operating in Gaza.

What was planned in the ceasefire agreement and how much aid is getting in?

Israel committed to allowing 600 trucks per day into Gaza – the same number that reached the territory daily during the previous ceasefire last January. UN organisations and NGOs say aid has increased but is still trickling in.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the British broadcaster BBC at the end of October that the average number of trucks entering Gaza daily was between 200 and 300. In the first week of December, an average of 140 aid trucks per day from UN convoys crossed the border into Gaza, say UN organisations.

The UN-supported IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification), a global hunger monitor, said in December that the famine declared in August in Gaza has now ended, but aid organisations say malnutrition is still widespread, as are health complications from undernourishment.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), only 65% of Gaza’s population received food assistance in November.

The UN Children’s Fund UNICEF reported that two-thirds of children under the age of five ate food from only one or two of the eight recommended food groups in October, mainly grains, bread, or flour.

Combined with limited health services, inadequate water supplies, and poor sanitation, UNICEF says that all 320,000 children under the age of five in the area are still at risk of acute malnutrition.

COGAT, the Israeli military body which controls Gaza’s border crossings, has dismissed claims of deliberate aid restrictions as “inconsistent with facts on the ground, and the ongoing co-ordination taking place daily”. It says that between 600 and 800 lorries carrying humanitarian supplies enter Gaza daily.

On January 1, Israel said 37 humanitarian agencies supplying aid in Gaza had not met a deadline to meet “security and transparency standards”, and would be banned from the territory.

The international NGOs, which had been ordered to disclose detailed information on their Palestinian staff, will now be required to cease operations by March 1.

How is aid getting into Gaza?

Aid comes into Gaza on land through checkpoints either via Israel or Egypt. Throughout the war Israel controlled the crossings by closing them – totally or partially – and limiting the aid passing through.

At the time the ceasefire was signed, only two border crossings were open at the south of the Gaza Strip.

“For effective delivery, all border crossings would have to be open constantly. That is one of the biggest obstacles to aid deliveries at the moment,” UNICEF spokeswoman Tess Ingram told Swissinfo.

Under pressure to allow more aid into Gaza, COGAT announced in mid-November that it would open another crossing in the north. However, UN organisations and NGOs say that although these three crossings are now theoretically open, only one of the crossings in the south is open each day. “On the day one crossing is open, the other is closed,” Ingram said.

Rafah, which is the only exit point for Palestinians wanting to leave Gaza and one of the most important for the delivery of humanitarian aid, remains completely closed for aid deliveries.

Though the ceasefire stipulates that it should be completely open, Israel has made this conditional on Hamas handing over the remaining bodies of Israeli hostages.

On December 3, Israel announced that it would unilaterally open the Rafah crossing for Palestinians who want to leave the Gaza Strip for medical treatment. So far, Egypt has refused to cooperate, insisting that the border crossing should be open in both directions.

Checks remain lengthy

All goods that UN and aid organisations want to bring into the Gaza Strip are subject to strict checks by Israeli authorities. The process of organising delivery to the Gaza Strip can take weeks or months, an NGO employee who wishes to remain anonymous told Swissinfo.

Organisations must first draw up a list of goods they want to bring into Gaza. “We do that before we even buy the goods,” says the NGO employee. “Then they have to draw up a second list for the trucks that will transport the goods to Gaza, which also has to be approved.”

Israeli authorities prohibit the import of goods which they classify as “dual-use” – i.e. which could be used for both civilian and military purposes – as well as goods they do not recognise as humanitarian aid.

According to OCHA, around 10% of requests for aid deliveries were rejected for this reason in October 2025. Among the rejected goods are items such as frozen meat, pesticides, vehicles and building materials. Ingram from UNICEF says that for months it has been impossible for her organisation to bring school supplies into Gaza because Israel does not classify them as “essential”. 

Trucks are then checked again at the border crossing – and can be rejected.

“Sometimes goods are rejected if, for example, the packaging is a different size than specified on the list,” says Ingram.

If an item on a truck is rejected, it is not allowed to cross the border – instead, it must be reloaded and reinspected.

All NGOs operating in Gaza must be registered in Israel

In March last year, the Israeli government passed new guidelines for NGOs stipulating that they cannot work or be associated with individuals who call for a boycott of Israel or who demand criminal prosecution of Israeli soldiers. All NGOs have to re-register their organisations even if they previously had a permit.

In October, 10% of aid was rejected because the organisations involved were not registered in Israel.

In addition, the Israeli authorities require organisations to provide lists of personal information about their employees, especially if they are Palestinian. This is something NGOs are reluctant to do as they say it would compromise security of their staff. “We can’t do that,” says the NGO employee who spoke to Swissinfo. “We don’t give the names of our employees to either side in the conflict.”

The NGO employee who spoke about the difficulties in delivering aid wished to remain anonymous. Because of the tedious registration process, his organisation, like others, has become reluctant to publicly criticise the Israeli government.

In May 2025, 55 aid organisations issued a joint statement warning that the registration process was jeopardising humanitarian work. “These measures are not routine procedures. They are an expression of a serious escalation in restrictions on humanitarian work and civil space,” they wrote.

Edited by Virginie Mangin/livm/ds