Quds News reports: The head of the Palestinian NGOs Network, Amjad al-Shawa, said Israel continues to defy international law and ignore global calls to allow unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza. He warned that what enters the besieged enclave is “far below the level of the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.”
Al-Shawa told Al Jazeera that Israel still blocks UNRWA and dozens of international organizations from bringing aid into Gaza, despite a ruling by the International Court of Justice requiring the free flow of humanitarian supplies without restriction.
He said only around 200 trucks enter Gaza daily, half of them carrying flour for bakeries. The remaining quantities are “far below the minimum needed” to meet basic needs. The aid, he added, is limited to a few items that fail to match the scale of destruction or people’s suffering.
Al-Shawa said Gaza’s healthcare system has reached a dangerous stage, with a severe shortage of medicines and medical equipment. Only 10% of medical needs have entered the territory, leaving thousands of children and pregnant women at risk of serious health complications.
He also highlighted the lack of shelter supplies. Gaza needs more than 300,000 tents, but only a few thousand have arrived, many of which are worn out and cannot withstand rain or cold as winter approaches.
“The aid that reaches Gaza goes directly to the most vulnerable families,” he said. “But it remains insufficient. Almost everyone in Gaza now depends on humanitarian assistance after a full year of Israeli bombardment and siege.”
Al-Shawa said humanitarian groups demand the complete lifting of restrictions on aid entry without quotas or limits. He noted that Gaza needs at least 1,000 aid trucks a day to cover the minimum humanitarian requirements.
He warned of the danger of war remnants scattered across areas from which the Israeli army withdrew. Israel, he said, blocks international teams and equipment needed to remove explosives, unlike what happens in other conflict zones.
He stated that Israel of is targeting international agencies like UNRWA through new registration systems and bureaucratic barriers that hinder their work. UNRWA, which provides up to 50% of Gaza’s essential services, has had its schools, clinics, and staff repeatedly targeted by Israeli forces, al-Shawa said.
He added that thousands of aid trucks belonging to UNRWA and other organizations remain stuck at crossings, loaded with food, medicine, and tents that Israel refuses to allow in, worsening the humanitarian disaster.
Al-Shawa said local teams alone cannot handle the scale of devastation. He estimated that 90% of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged, with 60 million tons of rubble now covering the strip. “The destruction is beyond words,” he said.
He stressed that rebuilding essential services and clearing the ruins require fully opening all crossings and allowing in heavy machinery and international crews.
Currently, only Karem Abu Salem and Kissufim crossings operate at limited capacity. Israel still bans the exit of wounded and sick people for treatment abroad, leaving around 18,000 patients in urgent need of medical care.
Al-Shawa called the ongoing siege and aid obstruction a “serious challenge to the international community.” He urged immediate and effective global action to enforce international rulings and ensure the continuous, unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza’s more than two million residents.
