The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns in the strongest terms the continued Israeli policy of siege and obstruction of the sustained and large-scale entry of relief aid into the Gaza Strip, despite two weeks having passed since the ceasefire entered into force. PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate and effective action and to exert pressure on the Israeli authorities to compel them to reopen all Gaza crossings and allow the unrestricted and non-selective flow of humanitarian relief to meet the urgent and basic needs of the war-stricken population.
Amid the ongoing collective punishment and deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid, PCHR welcomes the latest advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which urges Israel to agree and facilitate the relief schemes in the Gaza Strip—particularly those provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)—and not to impede such relief.
PCHR stresses that this opinion reflects an international consensus rejecting Israel’s attempts to terminate UNRWA’s mandate, which constitutes the backbone of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, at a time when the Strip is in dire need of intensified and immediate humanitarian response efforts.
According to PCHR’s follow-up, since the ceasefire entered into force on 10 October 2025, Israel has allowed the entry of only around 100 aid trucks to date, 1 while the Gaza Strip requires approximately 600 aid trucks per day to meet the enormous humanitarian needs resulting from two years of Israel’s genocidal war.
Thousands of aid trucks remain piled up at Gaza’s border crossings, awaiting Israeli approval to enter. Among them are 6,000 UNRWA trucks carrying food supplies sufficient for Gaza’s population for six months, in addition to hundreds of tents and shelter supplies urgently needed as winter approaches.2 This comes while around 96% of Gaza’s population-approximately 2.1 million Palestinians- suffers from severe food insecurity.3
According to investigations and observations by PCHR’s field researchers, Gaza’s population continues to endure catastrophic living conditions, particularly those displaced in tents and shelters that lack the most basic necessities for a dignified life. Hundreds of thousands have been forcibly displaced from their homes since Israel launched its ground invasion of Gaza City and resumed the systematic destruction of houses and residential towers using missiles with large-scale explosive power and booby-trapped robots. This has led to the devastation of entire residential neighborhoods across the Gaza Strip, turning them into ruins estimated at around 61 million tons of debris.4
PCHR’s field researchers added that Gaza City is witnessing a significant depopulation due to the extensive Israeli destruction that has extended deep into large residential neighborhoods. As a result, thousands of families have refrained from returning and remain displaced in shelters across central and southern Gaza Strip, particularly amid the severe were destroyed. Moreover, the IOF continues to prevent residents from accessing their homes located in areas behind the so-called “yellow line,”5 which swallows up to more than half of the Gaza Strip’s area.
PCHR believes that the Israel’s ongoing policy of siege and control over the quantity and type of relief aid entering the Gaza Strip demonstrates their continued intent to deliberately impose life conditions on Palestinians in Gaza that are intended to destroy them, in whole or in part. Such conduct is expressly prohibited under Article II(c) of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
In light of the above, PCHR calls on the international community to fulfill its legal and moral obligations and to exert pressure on the Israeli authorities to allow the urgent, large-scale, and continuous entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. This must include essential medical, food, and humanitarian supplies; emergency shelter materials; equipment and machinery necessary for reopening roads and removing rubble; and the provision of water supplies. PCHR further demands the immediate lifting of all restrictions imposed on UNRWA, as it remains the backbone of humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip and possesses the capacity and mandate to effectively carry out its relief role and save thousands of lives affected by the war.
