Humanitarian relief into the Gaza Strip remains severely restricted, with thousands of aid trucks still unable to enter the enclave despite a ceasefire agreement that promised a significant surge in deliveries. According to a senior spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), some 6,000 trucks laden with supplies remain stalled at border gates awaiting access. These would have been sufficient to feed the territory’s population for around six months, in addition to hundreds of thousands of tents and other winter-relief materials.

In the latest update, the Gaza Government Media Office stated that only 986 trucks, out of a pledged 6,600 by the evening of Monday, 20 October 2025, have been admitted since the truce came into force. Meanwhile, of those truck-loads recorded, just 14 were carrying cooking gas and 28 contained diesel intended to power bakeries, hospitals and generators. The agency emphasises that 95% of Gaza’s residents rely entirely on humanitarian aid and lack the means to procure basic goods themselves.

Under the ceasefire terms, the occupying authority had committed to permitting up to 600 aid trucks per day, yet the actual daily average since the agreement commenced is reportedly no more than 89 - a fraction of what is required. This shortfall is framed by relief agencies not as an oversight, but as part of a sustained policy of blockade, preventing essential supplies from reaching a population caught between ongoing devastation and the onset of winter.

Despite assurances of coordination by local authorities to work with international relief organisations, the current delivery rate falls dramatically short of the “minimum requirements for a dignified life”. Agencies warn that without an immediate and sustained flow of food, medical goods, relief materials, fuel and cooking gas, the humanitarian situation will deteriorate further.