Aid trucks enter Gaza, but no supplies distributed, says UN

The United Nations says no humanitarian aid has been distributed in Gaza, even though trucks have started to cross the border for the first time in 11 weeks.

Israeli officials said 93 trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday through the Kerem Shalom crossing.

The vehicles were carrying food, medical supplies, and baby formula. But the UN says the aid has not reached people in need.

Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said a UN team waited several hours for permission to access the area, but “unfortunately, they were not able to bring those supplies into our warehouse.”

The delay comes after Israel agreed on Sunday to allow a "basic amount of food" into Gaza.

Global experts have warned of an approaching famine in the territory.

International pressure on Israel has increased. The United Kingdom said it was suspending trade talks with Israel, calling its military escalation in Gaza "morally unjustifiable."

Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the situation as “intolerable.”

The European Union also signaled a shift, with its foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announcing a review of its trade agreement with Israel in response to the events in Gaza.

Dujarric said Israel had imposed conditions that made the process more difficult.

He explained that the UN was required to offload supplies on the Palestinian side of the crossing and then reload them after teams were cleared to enter from inside Gaza.

While calling the arrival of the trucks “a positive development,” Dujarric warned it was only “a drop in the ocean of what’s needed.”

According to UN estimates, 600 aid trucks a day are required to address the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Earlier, the UN's humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher told the BBC that "14,000 babies will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them."

When asked how he arrived at the figure, he said there were "strong teams on the ground" but gave no further details.

The UN's humanitarian coordination office later clarified that the figure came from a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.

It projected 14,100 cases of severe acute malnutrition among children under five in Gaza between April 2025 and March 2026.

Asked about the numbers during a news conference, UNOCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said, "We know for a fact that there are babies who are in urgent life-saving need of these supplements that need to come in because their mothers are unable to feed themselves."

"And if they do not get those, they will be in mortal danger," he said.

The health ministry in Gaza, which is run by Hamas, reported that 57 children have died from malnutrition over the last 11 weeks.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that Washington welcomed Israel’s move to let in some aid.

"We are pleased to see that aid is starting to flow in again," he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

When a Democrat lawmaker said the amount was still too small, Rubio replied, "I understand your point that it's not in sufficient amounts, but we were pleased to see that decision was made."

On Monday, the leaders of the UK, France, and Canada issued a joint statement calling on Israel to "stop its military operations" and "immediately allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza."

As part of the UK’s announcement, it also imposed sanctions on several Israeli settlers and related groups.

Israel began its military campaign in Gaza after Hamas carried out a deadly cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

Since then, Gaza’s health ministry says at least 53,475 people have been killed, including 3,340 since Israel resumed its offensive.