A recently published academic paper found that while Israel is providing sufficient food as humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war has put Gaza civilians at risk of food shortages.
This was the conclusion of a group of researchers from institutions across Israel, including Tel Aviv University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sheba Medical Center, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, and the Ministry of Health.
The non-peer reviewed working paper, titled “Nutrition assessment of food aid delivered to Gaza by land and air during the 2024 war”, is a nutritional assessment of food aid to Gaza, analysing the quantity of aid and its “adaptation to the needs of the population”.
Food insecurity in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war
Israel has imposed significant restrictions on the admission of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, but many experts and policymakers fear that Israel’s war against Hamas is creating a humanitarian crisis among Gaza’s civilians.
To examine the level of food insecurity in Gaza and whether Israel is granting sufficient food aid, the authors conducted a study following the criteria of the Sphere Humanitarian Guidelines on Food Security, Nutrition and Food Aid, which state that everyone has the right to adequate food, including “the availability of food in sufficient quantity and quality to meet individual dietary needs” and “that such food is available in a sustainable manner.”
The Sphere Guidelines state that both states and non-state actors are responsible for implementing this obligation (the right to food) and that failure to implement these obligations is considered a violation of international law.
How much food was allowed in Gaza?
To conduct the assessment, the researchers obtained a register of all food aid delivered to the Gaza Strip by air and land between January and April 2024 from Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Gaza Strip (COGAT).
Unlike data published by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), COGAT’s data includes the total weight and composition of each shipment, and it also uses data from multiple domestic and private sources.
According to the methodology described in the report, all food delivered by truck or airdrop was classified, quantified and assessed in terms of its nutritional content. Researchers then determined the energy, protein, fat and iron content of every shipment and calculated a per capita daily supply depending on the size of Gaza’s population.
These findings were cross-compared with Sphere standards for populations in conflict areas.
According to the assessment, in the first quarter of 2024, 14,916 trucks carrying 227,854 tons and 95 airdrops carrying 3,694 tons of food entered Gaza, translating into an average of 3,729 food trucks per month.
During the quarter, food shipment weight increased 57% and food variety also increased.
The food groups that saw increases were fruits (2,851%), vegetables (2,657%), nuts and seeds (1,435%), dairy and eggs (934%), potatoes (662%), and poultry, fish and meat (97%).
The average nutritional value per person was 3,374 kcal, protein 101 g (12.1% of energy), fat 80.6 g (21.5% of energy), and iron 25.2 mg. The amounts of energy, protein, and fat exceed the Sphere recommendations. Iron is below the Sphere standard.
Comparing the Sphere guidelines’ recommendations with the reported findings, Sphere recommends 2,100 kcal per day, while the average food aid per capita in the Gaza Strip is reported to be 3,374 kcal. Sphere recommends that 10% of total intake should come from protein, while aid in the Gaza Strip was found to average 12.1%.
Aid supplies in Gaza were found to contain 25.2 mg of iron per day, lower than the recommended 32 mg per day.
The study found that even if one takes into account a 30% food loss (aid that is stolen, not delivered, or left unusable for long periods of time), the theoretical nutritional requirement for a healthy age-group population in Gaza would be 2,711 kcal, still exceeding the benchmark.
As for iron deficiency, the report acknowledges that this can lead to anemia, which is already common in Gaza. “Anemia is a condition in which the body does not have enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen to the tissues. It can be caused by a deficiency of iron and other micronutrients,” the World Bank said.
Anemia is a major public health problem in Gaza, according to sources including the World Health Organization and the World Bank, which reported in 2020 that “more than half of pregnant women and more than half of children aged 6 to 23 months were anemic.” This report was released before the war.
As a result, the report calls on the Nutrition and Food Security Cluster to “encourage humanitarian organizations to increase donations of iron-rich foods.”
Despite these, the report concludes: “The quantity and quality of food aid delivered to Gaza has improved steadily since January 2024, providing sufficient energy, protein and fat to meet the population’s needs.”
Challenges in aid distribution
According to an IDF aid schedule for the last week of May, aid from Israel was delivered via the Ministry of Defense land checkpoints Kerem Shalom and Erez checkpoints. The report also takes into account aid transported from Israel to Egypt via the Nitzana checkpoint, and from there to the Rafah checkpoint between Egypt and Gaza.
Israeli government guidelines state that there are “no restrictions on the admission of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, provided that prior coordination with Israeli authorities and security checks are met.”
In March 2024, the IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee (FRC)) projected a famine outbreak in Gaza between March 2024 and May 2024.
Regarding this prediction, the Israeli report suggests that if a famine were to occur in Gaza, it would likely be caused not just by Israeli aid itself, but by problems in aid distribution within Gaza.
The report said that once aid arrives in Gaza it will be subject to a variety of factors, including “theft, looting, and hoarding of food and other supplies by Hamas and other groups,” which could limit Israel’s ability to ensure Gaza’s population is fed.
Additionally, Hamas attacks on IDF forces guarding aid checkpoints, humanitarian areas, or humanitarian corridors could reduce the amount of aid reaching civilians. According to the report, the Kerem Shalom checkpoint was hit by three mortar barrages on May 8 and 16 rocket attacks on May 5 and 7. The northern pier and humanitarian corridor endured fire throughout May. The study does not take into account aid entering through the U.S.-built offshore pier that was sunk last week.
“Distribution of supplies alone is not enough,” the report concludes, adding that “sustained collaborative efforts are needed to ensure equitable distribution of and access to humanitarian assistance for the population.”
The report recommended that aid to Gaza must be monitored “from the border to consumption.”
“A vital project like this requires collaboration between Israelis, Palestinians, international organizations, medical workers and researchers to ensure the nutritional security of Gaza’s residents.”
