Israel capitalises on global distraction with Iran war to intensify Gaza starvation

Trucks carrying food after entering the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing, drive through Khan Yunis, 1 February 2026

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reports on 16 March 2026:

Israel continues to use starvation as a weapon in its ongoing genocide against civilians in the Gaza Strip, contributing to their destruction. This policy depletes essential means of survival and forcibly drives displacement by tightly controlling the quantity and type of food and goods allowed into the enclave, as well as restricting humanitarian and commercial supplies, worsening the humanitarian crisis and risking renewed widespread famine.

Israel is exploiting the international community’s focus on the war it and the United States have launched on Iran to tighten the siege on the Gaza Strip and continue using starvation in a manner that deepens the humanitarian catastrophe and reinforces the destructive impact of the ongoing genocide against civilians. Israel fully closed the crossings with the Strip during the early days of the war, later reopening only one crossing while reducing the number of trucks permitted to enter.

On 28 February, Israel closed all crossings with the Gaza Strip, suspended the entry of aid, fuel, and goods, and halted coordination of humanitarian missions in areas where Israeli forces remain deployed or nearby, as well as medical evacuations, the return of residents from abroad, and the work of humanitarian personnel.

Since the reopening of Kerem Shalom, Israeli authorities have allowed only a few dozen trucks to enter Gaza through the end of last week, still falling short by about 30 trucks per day compared to the daily average permitted before the war with Iran

Additionally, on 3 March, Israeli authorities reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing for limited quantities of fuel and aid shipments arriving via Egypt and Israel, while aid transfers from the West Bank and Jordan remained suspended until 5 March. Some commercial imports were also allowed to resume through the same crossing, but in reduced quantities compared with the previous period, which had already accounted for only about 40 per cent of the agreed volumes under the ceasefire arrangement

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