Yesterday’s aid deliveries only a ‘drop in the ocean’ of what is needed in Gaza, UN warns
The UN’s aid chief, Tom Fletcher, has been interviewed by the BBC’s Today programme. Here are the main takeaways from what he said:
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Yesterday’s aid deliveries were a “start” but represented a “drop in the ocean” of what the civilian population of Gaza needs.
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During the 42-day ceasefire (that came into effect after Donald Trump re-entered the White House in January) 600-700 aid trucks were getting into Gaza each day (Israel says Gaza got 120 trucks yesterday).
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The next few days “are really make or break” and much more aid needs to be delivered and delivered much more quickly.
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The UN and its partners can reach everyone in Gaza in the next couple of weeks with life-saving aid if its teams are granted access at border crossings, are given the security permits they need to operate and are not otherwise blocked.
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They got “quite a bit of food in” yesterday but “lots of that got looted” as it went across the border.
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The humanitarian pauses implemented by Israel may “last a week or so”, which is clearly insufficient as we are seeing a “21st century atrocity” unfolding in front of our eyes.
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There needs to be a sustained period of weeks or months to stop starvation and ultimately a ceasefire is needed.
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Hundreds of thousands of people are “desperately hungry” inside Gaza – so most of the lorries yesterday “were hit by desperate individual civilians, starving”.
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“The flour was taken off those lorries… so what we do is we work with local communities, community kitchens, so that what we can get through then gets distributed to those who most need it and importantly that the armed groups, including Hamas, don’t get it”.
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Fletcher wishes the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – an Israeli-backed delivery group – would distribute aid in a “more principled, humanitarian way”. He said the UN could deliver aid in a way that doesn’t harm civilians and deliver aid at a greater scale.
“The next few days are make or break.”
Israel has begun to allow more aid into Gaza, amidst warnings malnutrition has reached ‘alarming levels’.
Tom Fletcher, the UN’s aid chief, tells #R4Today recent aid deliveries have been a ‘drop in the ocean’.
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) July 28, 2025
Key events
Israel imposed a total aid blockade for 11 weeks starting in March (ostensibly to put pressure on Hamas to release hostages), and the trickle of food, fuel and medical supplies allowed in since May has not relieved extreme hunger.
Israel has been widely accused of using food as a political weapon and of flagrantly breaking international law by collectively punishing the civilian population by its aid blockade.
Yesterday’s aid deliveries only a ‘drop in the ocean’ of what is needed in Gaza, UN warns
The UN’s aid chief, Tom Fletcher, has been interviewed by the BBC’s Today programme. Here are the main takeaways from what he said:
-
Yesterday’s aid deliveries were a “start” but represented a “drop in the ocean” of what the civilian population of Gaza needs.
-
During the 42-day ceasefire (that came into effect after Donald Trump re-entered the White House in January) 600-700 aid trucks were getting into Gaza each day (Israel says Gaza got 120 trucks yesterday).
-
The next few days “are really make or break” and much more aid needs to be delivered and delivered much more quickly.
-
The UN and its partners can reach everyone in Gaza in the next couple of weeks with life-saving aid if its teams are granted access at border crossings, are given the security permits they need to operate and are not otherwise blocked.
-
They got “quite a bit of food in” yesterday but “lots of that got looted” as it went across the border.
-
The humanitarian pauses implemented by Israel may “last a week or so”, which is clearly insufficient as we are seeing a “21st century atrocity” unfolding in front of our eyes.
-
There needs to be a sustained period of weeks or months to stop starvation and ultimately a ceasefire is needed.
-
Hundreds of thousands of people are “desperately hungry” inside Gaza – so most of the lorries yesterday “were hit by desperate individual civilians, starving”.
-
“The flour was taken off those lorries… so what we do is we work with local communities, community kitchens, so that what we can get through then gets distributed to those who most need it and importantly that the armed groups, including Hamas, don’t get it”.
-
Fletcher wishes the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – an Israeli-backed delivery group – would distribute aid in a “more principled, humanitarian way”. He said the UN could deliver aid in a way that doesn’t harm civilians and deliver aid at a greater scale.
“The next few days are make or break.”
Israel has begun to allow more aid into Gaza, amidst warnings malnutrition has reached ‘alarming levels’.
Tom Fletcher, the UN’s aid chief, tells #R4Today recent aid deliveries have been a ‘drop in the ocean’.
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) July 28, 2025
Israel says Gaza got 120 trucks of aid on first day of ‘military pause’
Israel said on Monday that more than 120 truckloads of food aid were distributed by the UN and aid agencies in Gaza yesterday.
“Over 120 trucks were collected and distributed yesterday by the UN and international organisations,” said Cogat, the Israeli authority responsible for coordinating humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
“An additional 180 trucks entered Gaza and are now awaiting collection and distribution, along with hundreds of others still queued for UN pickup,” Cogat added in a post on X.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned malnutrition in Gaza has reached “alarming levels” across the territory, with rates on a “dangerous trajectory” after aid air drops resumed over the weekend.
Of 74 malnutrition-related deaths in 2025, 63 occurred in July – including 24 children under five, the WHO said, adding that nearly one in five children under five in Gaza City is now “acutely malnourished”.
“The crisis remains entirely preventable. Deliberate blocking and delay of large-scale food, health, and humanitarian aid has cost many lives,” the WHO said in a press release.
Echoing the WHO’s concerns, the World Food Programme (WFP) said 90,000 women and children were in urgent need of treatment for malnutrition and that one in three people were going without food for days.
Israel’s new 10-hour military pause in parts of Gaza begins but UN warns measures are not enough to ‘stave off famine’
We are continuing our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza. Stick with us throughout the day as we provide the latest updates.
Responding to a global outcry provoked by reports and images of widespread starvation and malnutrition in Gaza, the Israeli military said yesterday that it had began a “tactical pause” in the densely populated areas of Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Muwasi to “increase the scale of humanitarian aid” into the strip.
It said the pause would be repeated every day from 10am to 8pm local time until further notice. Today is due to bring the second of these pauses.
Soon after the first humanitarian pause began yesterday, Israel carried out an airstrike on a building in Gaza City, killing a woman and her four children.
Israel allowed a limited amount of airdrops into Gaza to resume over the weekend but charities have warned the amount is totally inadequate for the population’s needs. Israel, Jordan and the UAE all parachuted aid into the territory that has been devasted by relentless Israeli bombardments.
Israel has said humanitarian corridors would be established to facilitate the entry of UN aid trucks into Gaza, though the number of trucks that will be allowed in was not specified.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher welcomed Israel’s pledge to start daily humanitarian pauses, but said much more has to be done to alleviate the health crisis engulfing the territory.
In a statement published yesterday, he said:
We welcome Israel’s decision to support a one-week scale-up of aid, including lifting customs barriers on food, medicine and fuel from Egypt and the reported designation of secure routes for UN humanitarian convoys.
Some movement restrictions appear to have been eased today, with initial reports indicating that over 100 truckloads were collected.
This is progress, but vast amounts of aid are needed to stave off famine and a catastrophic health crisis.