Gaza finally welcomes more aid. It needs a flood.

Outside a warehouse in southern Gaza, one day this week, a small crowd of men and boys waited their turn for a bit of the humanitarian aid Gaza has to offer – sick, Starving, Freeze Gaza – in dire need of it. They left with bags of flour and cardboard boxes of food, many of them dragging their precious cargo behind them in two-wheeled shopping carts.

It was an organized scene that has become rare in the region since the war began more than 15 months ago. Israeli Restrictions On aid, the security breakdown that allowed Looting on a large scale Aid trucks and other obstacles have combined to limit the access of food, water, tents, medicine and fuel to civilians amid the Israeli siege on the Strip.

In the week since the ceasefire deal After the fighting in Gaza stopped, Palestinians in Gaza and relief officials say more shipments of food and other much-needed items are flowing in. The question now is how to maintain the level of aid they say Gaza needs, despite many logistical challenges and doubts about how long the truce will last.

Jonathan Whittall, interim head of the United Nations humanitarian office in Gaza, said in a press conference on Thursday that the United Nations transferred as much food to Gaza in three days this week as it did throughout the month of October.

UN agencies and other relief organizations are distributing medical supplies and fuel to run hospitals and water wells, among other types of assistance, and helping to repair critical infrastructure. The tents are scheduled to enter soon, and bakeries are expected to begin providing bread by Friday, according to the United Nations.

Since the ceasefire began, Hamas government civilian police officers have reappeared, which appears to have restored some security and order to the Strip. an offer Hamas controlHowever, this may complicate the prospects for a lasting peace in Gaza.

The Coordination Unit for Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli government agency that oversees policy in Gaza and the West Bank, did not respond to a request for comment, but This was stated in a post on social media The Israeli army announced on Friday that 4,200 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip during the past week after inspecting them.

Throughout the war, Israel said so Do not limit aid to Gaza She blamed humanitarian agencies for failing to distribute the supplies they brought into the enclave after screening them.

In all, between 600 and 900 trucks carrying aid have been arriving in Gaza every day since the ceasefire took effect on January 19, dwarfing the several dozen trucks that have been entering daily in recent months.

By Tuesday, Kholoud Al-Shenna, 43, and her family received a bag of flour from the World Food Programme, the first in two months.

It was welcome. “But we are still missing the basics,” Ms. Al-Shenna said. “My children haven’t eaten fresh vegetables for so long that they’ve almost forgotten what they taste like. How are we supposed to survive on just flour?”

Improvements were coming on this front as well. Before the war, Gaza was supplied with a mix of donated aid and goods for sale. Small quantities of fresh produce, meat and other imported foodstuffs continued to be sold in markets as far as Israel Forbidden Most trade articles late last year, arguing that Hamas was profiting from the trade. Some commercial goods have entered Gaza this week, according to aid workers, bringing fresh vegetables and even chocolate bars to markets at lower prices than shoppers have seen in months.

Distributing aid once it enters Gaza remains a work in progress. Many roads have turned into ruins after 15 months of war, although Gaza’s municipalities have begun removing the rubble. Unexploded ordnance remains scattered in the enclave, making its distribution and repair dangerous.

About 500 trucks carrying a mix of aid and commercial goods entered Gaza daily before the war. The ceasefire agreement stipulates the entry of 600 trucks per day, which aid officials say they will be hard-pressed to handle on their own.

“It cannot be delivered solely through the United Nations, in any case,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Refugees. UNRWAthe main lifeline for Palestinian refugees, he said days before the ceasefire came into effect.

UNRWA’s precarious status poses another potential obstacle: While UN officials say the agency is essential to relief efforts because it forms the backbone of Gaza’s supply chains and services, Israel may Go to block The agency was accused of providing protection to Hamas militants. Relief officials say there is nothing comparable to replace it.

The biggest challenge of all is the sheer scale of the emergency. Although aid may be flowing now, aid officials said, Gaza is so short of aid that it will need a deluge of supplies just to stabilize the population and prevent further deaths, let alone eventual reconstruction.

Officials say Gaza will also need educational, psychological services and other supports to begin to recover.

Bob Kitchen, vice president for emergencies, said the number of trucks recently entering Gaza “is still just a drop in the ocean compared to the amount of aid needed to make up for what has been a massive scarcity over the past year and a half.” At the International Rescue Committee

Some obstacles yield gradually. Israel’s apparent desire to increase aid has solved what aid officials and governments that have donated aid say is the biggest obstacle to Gaza getting what it needs. Israel has said its goal is to prevent Hamas from resupplying aid shipments, and has imposed strict inspections on aid entering Gaza and restricted its movement once it is in Gaza, often delaying or stopping deliveries altogether.

Aid workers no longer need to ask permission from the Israeli army to move around Gaza, except from south to north, which speeds up the process. Before the ceasefire, many trucks designated to transport aid to warehouses around the Strip remained immobilized due to a lack of fuel; Now enters the fuel.

Israel still prevents agencies from bringing in a long list of items that aid officials say are vital to the emergency response, with the exception of Israel It is considered “dual use” This means that it could also be used by Hamas for military purposes. This included everything from scissors to tent materials.

However, some of these restrictions have been lifted, aid officials say, and talks are ongoing about lifting more.

Another problem that has plagued aid distribution in Gaza for months is looting, which has led to much of the aid intended for civilians being diverted.

The situation in Gaza deteriorated after the Israeli army invaded the city of Rafah in southern Gaza last May, seeking to expel Hamas from what Israel said was one of its last strongholds. Hamas security forces fled, and organized gangs – without anyone stopping them – began to intercept aid trucks after they crossed into Gaza.

International aid workers accused Israel of ignoring the problem and allowing thieves to operate with impunity. The United Nations does not allow Israeli soldiers to protect aid convoys, fearing that this would jeopardize its neutrality, and its officials have called on Israel to allow the Gaza police, under the authority of Hamas, to secure their convoys.

Israel, which seeks to destroy Hamas in Gaza, accused Hamas of stealing aid and said the police were part of its apparatus. Ultimately, security conditions collapsed so badly that many aid organizations kept their deliveries at the Gaza border rather than risk the dangerous route into Gaza.

However, there are fears that organized looting will continue after the ceasefire is withdrawn. Police are once again patrolling most parts of Gaza. While some people are still pulling boxes from trucks — scenes described by aid officials and witnessed by a New York Times reporter — it is now on a much smaller scale.

Palestinians in Gaza say that with aid more widely available, people will have less incentive to loot.

“I have noticed a clear improvement – ​​more people are receiving food parcels today,” said Rami Abu Sharkh, 44, an accountant from Gaza City who was displaced to southern Gaza. “I hope this continues until theft is completely eradicated.”

Farnaz Fasihi He contributed reporting from New York.