The humanitarian picture in Gaza is deteriorating rapidly despite the ongoing ceasefire, with UN agencies warning that only a fraction of the aid required for survival is being allowed into the enclave as winter storms approach.

Humanitarian workers say the current flow does not come close to meeting the needs of more than two million people who have endured months of conflict, displacement and infrastructure collapse. UNRWA officials stressed that logistical bottlenecks, Israeli restrictions and destroyed roads continue to impede the movement of essential supplies, leaving large parts of northern and central Gaza in desperate shortage.

Aid groups had expected conditions to improve under the ceasefire arrangement that mandates expanded humanitarian access. Instead, the volume of daily deliveries remains significantly below pre-war levels, creating a widening gap between demand and available support. Food, medical supplies, clean water, fuel and winterised shelter materials are in critically low supply, with heavy rainfall in recent days worsening living conditions for families sheltering in tents and damaged buildings.

Officials describe scenes of overcrowded shelters, flooded displacement camps and rising cases of respiratory illness as temperatures drop. Aid convoys report long delays at border crossings, restricted inspection hours and unpredictable authorisation procedures that slow down distribution at a time when speed is essential.

UNRWA has warned that without urgent scale-up, Gaza will face a severe humanitarian emergency in the coming weeks, even under ceasefire conditions. The agency accused Israel of undermining relief operations by imposing tight controls on fuel access and blocking key items deemed “dual-use,” despite repeated appeals from international partners.

Israel maintains that UN agencies must improve tracking and distribution to ensure materials do not fall into militant hands, a position humanitarian groups say ignores the gravity of civilian needs and the operational realities on the ground.

As winter advances, the gap between what is promised and what is delivered is becoming the defining challenge for Gaza’s recovery. Relief experts say that unless border access is dramatically expanded and conditions stabilise, the region will enter the cold season with one of the most under-resourced humanitarian responses in recent memory.