In her gripping report [1] for The Media Line, Keren Setton explores how Gaza’s deepening humanitarian crisis has collided with Israel’s wartime strategy—and why a limited shift in policy may not be enough. For nearly three months, aid trucks were blocked from entering the Gaza Strip. This week, under mounting international pressure and fears of looming famine, Israel allowed a small number of trucks in. The delivery included staples like flour and baby formula—but it barely scratched the surface of what’s needed.
“Gaza is facing a catastrophic situation,” said Tania Hary, head of the Israeli NGO Gisha. With bakeries and kitchens shuttered, long food lines are the norm, and tragic scenes—like a fatal stampede outside a bakery—have become all too common.
Israel initially halted aid to pressure Hamas into releasing Israeli hostages, hoping public discontent would turn against the group. That hasn’t happened. “Hamas has only strengthened its hold the more the population doesn’t get what it needs,” said former Israeli adviser Lianne Pollak-David.
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Now, with US backing, Israel is advancing the “Morag Corridor” plan: a militarized aid distribution zone in southern Gaza protected by American security contractors. Israel frames it as a humanitarian gesture; critics say it’s designed more to centralize civilians than to truly meet their needs.
UN officials warn the strategy may force civilians into a cruel choice: “between displacement and death.”
While a trickle of aid is now moving again, both Hary and Pollak-David argue that using food as a bargaining chip has backfired—and that neither hostages nor military objectives have been achieved.
For a closer look at this complex crisis, read the full report [1] by Keren Setton.