Tuesday Update: Assessing the Impact of Israel’s Plan to Provide Basic Food Assitance in Gaza

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Good morning.

As Israel intensifies its assault on Gaza, bombarding the already besieged strip with relentless airstrikes and expanding its ground operations to ‘take control of all areas‘, the international community has urged Israel to open the border for aid. Countries including France, the UK and Canada have threatened action against Israel if it does not stop its assault on Gaza, which were described as ‘disproportionate’ and ‘intolerable’.

After 11 weeks of a total blockade on all goods, the territory is suffering from an acute shortage of essentials including food, medicine and fuel. So far, 57 children have reportedly died from the effects of malnutrition during this period.

Benjamin Netanyahu finally responded to mounting pressure on Monday, but only to permit a ‘minimal’ amount of aid aimed at preventing famine “both from a practical and a diplomatic standpoint”. The Israeli PM’s announcement came with a significant caveat: food deliveries will go on until Israel’s military and private companies have established militarised hubs to distribute aid under a US-backed plan that the UN has rejected.

For today’s newsletter, I spoke with ClĂ©mence Lagouardat, Oxfam’s response lead in Gaza, who returned last month from six weeks on the ground about the latest developments in Israel’s aid response. That’s after the headlines.

Five big stories

1. Europe | Keir Starmer has vowed his EU reset deal will deliver cheaper food and energy for British people, heralding a “win-win” as he sealed the high-stakes agreement with concessions on youth visas and fishing.

2. Russia | Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have held a rare phone call, which the US leader described as ‘excellent’, but the Kremlin refused to agree to an immediate ceasefire in the war with Ukraine despite pressure from Washington and European allies.

3. UK news | The personal data of hundreds of thousands of legal aid applicants in England and Wales dating back to 2010, including criminal records and financial details, has been accessed and downloaded in a ‘significant’ cyber-attack.

4. Welfare | At least ¬357m in carer’s allowance benefit was paid out in error over the past six years because of official failures, resulting in debt and misery being inflicted on tens of thousands of people.

5. NHS | A senior doctor has been accused of wrongly failing to escalate the care of a 13-year-old girl whose death led to the adoption of Martha’s rule, which gives the right to a second medical opinion in hospitals.

In depth: ‘This is not the solution for what the people in Gaza are facing’

In the last two months, Israeli strikes and ground operations have reportedly killed more than 3,000 people and displaced 400,000 others. On Sunday, the Israeli military announced plans to intensify attacks with ‘extensive ground operations’ across northern and southern Gaza, aiming to seize ‘operational control’ of large areas of the territory.

That same day, at least 144 people were killed in airstrikes. The escalation came amid the second day of indirect ceasefire negotiations in Doha.

How has the situation deteriorated?

When Lagouardat arrived in Gaza, about two weeks into the blockade, there was still access to a stockpile of goods. However, stocks quickly became ‘depleted’ and people were using up their ‘last remaining lifelines’ of supplies. “Cooking gas was one of the first things to disappear from the market, meaning that people needed to buy wood. But when wood also became scarce, and with prices increasing, people had to resort to burning waste,” Lagourdat says. Everything follows the same trend, she explains: supplies dwindle, prices skyrocket, most cannot afford supplies while those who can afford it stockpile, increasing the speed at which key commodities and items disappear from the market, and eventually supplies vanish altogether.

”Every day, we see people bartering whatever they have,” Salma Altaweel, a support manager with the Norweigan Refugee Council, says via a translator. “You see people on social media offering one kilogram of rice for baby formula or nappies. People can’t afford to buy virtually anything. The market is almost empty and so people have to rely on what others might have at hand.”

Will Israel’s announcement make a difference?

Lagourdat describes Israel’s announcement that it will allow a ‘basic amount of food’ to enter Gaza after two and a half months of a blockade as a ‘tactical distraction.’

She believes ‘the number of trucks that they are mentioning at the moment is extremely low and will not solve the situation that we are facing on the ground — it is going to be partial. This is not the solution for what the people in Gaza are facing.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/20/tuesday-briefing-what-israels-new-aid-response-of-basic-food-will-and-wont-deliver