### Humanitarian Crisis Deepens as Aid to Gaza Remains Blocked

AMMAN, Jordan - Tens of thousands of boxes filled with food lie untouched in the main warehouse of UNRWA, the United Nations agency aiding Palestinian refugees. These boxes, stacked high and packed with essential supplies, are intended to stave off malnutrition in Gaza, but Israeli restrictions have kept them from reaching their destination since March.

Jonathan Fowler, a spokesperson for UNRWA, warns that some of the food, including 200,000 metric tons of flour, is nearing its expiration date in July. While some of these supplies may be rerouted to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, much of it faces the grim prospect of being dumped.

The stored food includes a variety of items like Turkish chickpeas, lentils, and canned fish, all designed to provide balanced meals for up to 200,000 people over a month. However, these supplies are deteriorating in warehouses and on trucks stuck at Israeli border crossings.

Israel has launched a new mechanism to deliver limited aid to southern Gaza, but has barred deliveries from Jordan and Egypt. This restriction hampers the efforts of multiple aid organizations, increasing the strain on their resources and forcing them to pay costly storage fees.

Accusations from Israel that Hamas is diverting aid have been refuted by international aid officials, including Cindy McCain of the World Food Program, who assert there is no evidence of such abuses. Aid groups say their distribution systems within Gaza have been reliable and effective for years.

However, the newly-formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is now controlling much of the distribution, and their operations have faced widespread criticism. Jake Wood, the initial head of GHF, resigned citing the foundation's failure to adhere to humanitarian principles.

The impact on the ground is severe. Sean Carroll, president of ANERA, claims that more than 10 million meals are languishing in trucks at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, causing a precipitous drop in their daily meal distributions from up to 150,000 to merely a couple of thousand.

UNRWA and other medical facilities in Gaza report critical shortages in basic medical supplies due to the blockade. Rachel Norris from Doctors Without Borders described the dire situation where essential items like antiseptics, gauze, and painkillers are in critically short supply, affecting patient care severely.

The Israeli military agency managing Gaza border access denies having specific details on the restrictions, while a U.S. State Department spokesperson labelled reports of Israeli bans on Jordanian and Egyptian aid as "absolutely false." Despite these assurances, aid organizations continue to face monumental challenges in delivering desperately needed resources to Gaza.