OCHA Update: Desperation mounts amid critical shortages in Gaza

11 June 2025

OCHA continues to receive reports from the Gaza Strip of people being killed and injured while trying to access food. OCHA reiterates in the strongest terms possible that no one should be forced to risk their lives to receive aid, as people across Gaza are at risk of famine.

Meanwhile, OCHA warns that the shortage of accessible fuel could force more health, water and sanitation facilities to shut down. This could affect the most basic of programmes. Vaccines, for one, require fuel for cold chain systems.

The collapse of telecommunications services, internet connectivity and emergency communication systems is again a real threat. This would cripple life-saving coordination and prevent affected communities from receiving critical information.

Yet humanitarians’ attempts to access available stocks of fuel in Rafah continue to be rejected. Between 13 April and 9 June, 29 out of 35 attempts were denied by the Israeli authorities. This morning’s mission was also denied.

Humanitarians also continue to face severe constraints on their ability to carry out other critical work – with mission denials and delays – as well as insecurity and other impediments – hampering their movements.

Yesterday, at least 12 out of 24 attempts to coordinate humanitarian movements inside Gaza were denied by the Israeli authorities, including new attempts to truck potable water to vulnerable people who remain in northern Gaza, retrieve critical fuel and nutrition supplies from Rafah, and repair vital roads in the south.

OCHA calls once again for an enabling environment for aid operations in Gaza, including safe, rapid and unfettered access, so that humanitarians can address the immense needs of more than 2 million people. International humanitarian law is crystal clear: If the population is inadequately supplied with the essentials for their survival, Israel must agree to humanitarian relief and facilitate it by all the means at its disposal.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners working on health continue to sound the alarm over shrinking access to the remaining healthcare facilities in Gaza, particularly Al Amal and Al Nasser hospitals in Khan Younis. Al Amal Hospital, while still partially functioning, is unable to accept new patients due to hostilities nearby and because of its location inside an area under displacement orders. WHO reiterates that healthcare facilities must never be militarized and must always be protected.

Yesterday, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process ad interim, Sigrid Kaag, together with the Deputy Special Coordinator and UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sarah Poole, visited Gaza city, where they met with partners to discuss the challenges they are facing, as well as the UN’s ongoing engagement at all levels to advocate for a meaningful scale-up of humanitarian support and access in Gaza.