OCHA: Supplies entering Gaza not enough to meet people’s needs

05 August 2025

OCHA says that people in Gaza continue to struggle to survive.

With starvation on the rise, the volumes of supplies that are entering Gaza remain insufficient to meet people’s needs. The UN and its humanitarian partners also continue to face many impediments preventing them from bringing in aid at scale and distributing it to communities.

Partners working on food assistance warn that massive food shortages continue to impact people’s chances for survival.

As malnutrition levels are rising, children are more likely to have weakened immune systems, hindering their development and growth far into the future.

Last Thursday, 71 kitchens prepared and delivered more than 270,000 hot meals across Gaza. These included 10,000 meals delivered to health facilities, most of which are struggling to operate as mass casualties, widespread destruction and shortages of basic necessities continue to overwhelm the healthcare system.

The number of meals being provided is far below the minimum required to reach more than 2 million people in Gaza. There is a need for an urgent scale-up of supplies, as well as an environment that allows humanitarians to reach people in need safely, rapidly and efficiently.

Health partners say that some quantities of medicine have managed to reach Gaza in recent days. Medicine shortages place an additional strain on healthcare workers who continue to work under immense pressure and with very limited resources.

The World Health Organization (WHO) noted that the number of people diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome – a rare, potentially deadly condition in which the body’s immune system attacks the nerves – has reached 46 cases and two deaths in July, with 38 per cent requiring intensive treatment. This syndrome can be caused by a compromised immune system, poor nutrition and hygiene-related infections. WHO is working with the Health Ministry to continue surveillance of cases and address the gaps related to diagnostics and treatment.

Yesterday, the UN was able to bring three fuel tankers to Gaza city. The fuel was offloaded in a UN Office for Project Services-managed fuel station and will be used to power the most critical health, water and sanitation and emergency telecommunication facilities.

OCHA once again stresses that much more fuel is needed daily to run life-saving and emergency operations. Current levels of fuel are only allowing the UN and its humanitarian partners to function at the bare minimum.

The UN and its partners working on water, sanitation and hygiene underscore that access to clean water remains limited, putting people’s health and wellbeing at risk.

Ninety-six per cent of households across Gaza surveyed by partners in July face moderate to severe challenges in accessing clean water –to drink, bathe their children or wash dishes.