The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has raised the alarm over the deterioration of vital humanitarian aid stuck at Gaza’s sealed borders, as hunger spreads rapidly among the besieged population. With over 3,000 trucks carrying life-saving supplies stranded due to Israeli restrictions, the agency warns that food and medicine are now rotting while children go to sleep starving.

UNRWA described the situation as the worst humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza since October 2023. No aid — humanitarian or commercial — has entered the territory for more than seven weeks, marking the longest blockade since the current assault began. As the siege tightens, Gaza’s 2.4 million residents are enduring an engineered famine, with more than 1.1 million children suffering from daily hunger.

The Government Media Office in Gaza has also reported a surge in cases of severe malnutrition, especially among infants. More than 65,000 such cases have been recorded at overwhelmed hospitals, where staff are running out of supplies and hope. The Office reiterated its urgent plea to open a humanitarian corridor, stating that Palestinians are "on the brink of mass death."

Since March 2, Israeli authorities have closed all three crossings into Gaza, halting the entry of both aid and fuel, and intensifying what many human rights advocates are calling a deliberate policy of starvation. As the blockade enters its eighth week, aid that could have saved lives is now spoiling, symbolising the international community’s failure to stop the slow, relentless suffocation of Gaza.