Thursday Briefing: Where is Gaza’s Aid?

The U.N. said it had enough food at or near Gaza’s border to feed its 2.2 million people. Yet as many as 1.1 million people could face deadly levels of hunger by mid-July.

Aid workers say they face challenges at every point of the delivery process, through Israel’s security checkpoints and into an active war zone.

Land delivery is the most efficient and cost-effective route, experts say. But only two entry points are regularly open, and both are in the south. Trucks loaded at warehouses in Egypt face multiple security checkpoints, have to travel dozens of miles and must make multiple stops, which can take three weeks.

Aid agencies, citing Israeli restrictions, security issues and poor road conditions, have largely stopped deliveries to northern Gaza.

Military operations can hinder deliveries, and convoys frequently face violence. The graphic above shows places where death and destruction have afflicted aid deliveries.