The Gaza Strip has entered a “worst case” food crisis, with its population now facing famine, according to a July 29 Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) alert. Responding to growing international outrage over the emergency, two days earlier, Israel said it was reopening humanitarian aid corridors—allowing international organizations to resume convoys—while the Israeli Defense Force announced a daily “tactical pause” on operations in densely-populated Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, and Mawasi to facilitate aid distribution.
However, it is unclear how effective these moves will be; aid agencies continue to highlight the restricted flow of food trucks across the border. Some countries have started airdrops to bypass the border controls. Yet each airdrop carries less than half as much food as a single truck and can cost seven times as much. The efficient flow of food trucks—which cross at two points along the Egyptian border—is now crucial to relieving the crisis.
Dining and Cooking