Thousands of famished people waiting for hours in 90-degree heat to secure bags of flour that run out after 10 minutes – this is a typical scene at the four aid distribution centers remaining in Gaza. The cause of this desperation isn’t shortages per se, because the World Food Programme has tons of food waiting to be delivered to malnourished Palestinians.
Instead, the problem is Israel’s months-long blockade of aid, which more than 100 humanitarian organizations have stated is causing “chaos, starvation, and death”. And though Israeli authorities began allowing a trickle of convoys to resume deliveries over the weekend, the face-saving gesture is too little for the one in three Gazans who haven’t eaten in days, and too late for the dozens who have already starved to death.
