What is inside the GHF aid box being distributed in Gaza
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Israel denies Gaza famine claims, says aid is entering Strip but not being distributed
Senior Israeli security official says military has not identified famine in Gaza. But official says actions need to be taken to “stabilize the humanitarian situation” 950 trucks worth of supplies are waiting to be collected by the UN from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings. Official said on its own, the aid waiting at the crossings for collection was enough to supply the Strip’s food needs for two and a half weeks. UN has repeatedly claimed that COGAT has refused its requests for collection and distribution authorization, and that dangerous and complex conditions inside Gaza made aid distribution very difficult. The official said there were no issues with the aid reaching the crossings and entering Gaza, but the main bottleneck was the distribution itself. He said that Hamas was taking advantage of the humanitarian. situation in Gaza and carrying out a propaganda campaign as part of a pressure tactic amid the ongoing hostage. negotiations, he said. He also said that nearly all of the aid trucks heading to the aid organization were looted by Gazan mobs, not Hamas.
The official, speaking with reporters on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that recently there has been a significant drop in the amount of aid reaching Palestinians in the Strip, but blamed United Nations bodies for not collecting and distributing the food and supplies.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli military and Defense Ministry body responsible for coordinating aid deliveries to Gaza, said that some 950 trucks worth of supplies are waiting to be collected by the UN from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings.
The official said that, on its own, the aid currently waiting at the crossings for collection was enough to supply the Strip’s food needs for two and a half weeks.
“We have not identified starvation at this current point in time, but we understand that action is required to stabilize the humanitarian situation,” the official said, adding that there may be difficulties with accessibility to food in some areas, which he said was an issue that needs to be solved.
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The determination came following a “deep assessment” of the humanitarian situation in Gaza held by COGAT, he said.
???? WATCH: 950 trucks worth of aid, currently waiting in Gaza❗️for international organizations to pick up and distribute to Gazan civilians. This is after Israel facilitated the aid entry into Gaza. pic.twitter.com/aQTR7Sryhs — LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) July 22, 2025
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The official said that COGAT had sat down with UN officials to try and work out the deliveries of the mounting aid that has been allowed into Gaza but not distributed.
According to the official, there were no issues with the aid reaching the crossings and entering Gaza, but the main bottleneck was the distribution itself. During the recent meetings, the official said it was agreed that the UN would distribute 70-80 trucks on Tuesday, but in practice, only 30 were taken in.
The UN has repeatedly claimed that COGAT has refused its requests for collection and distribution authorization, and that dangerous and complex conditions inside Gaza made aid distribution very difficult.
According to the UN, Israel’s restrictions and permit rejections are the reason for the mounting stockpiles of aid at the crossings, as aid organizations are regularly barred from transferring aid to warehouses and distribution sites. Convoys that don’t coordinate their travel with Israeli authorities and do not have hard-to-obtain approvals come under deadly IDF fire.
The official said that the UN has made requests that COGAT cannot agree to concerning the deliveries, such as demanding that Hamas police escort the convoys, or that they be allowed to bring in communication devices that Israel fears could end up in the terror group’s hands.
Regarding the famine claims, the official said that Hamas was taking advantage of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and carrying out a propaganda campaign as part of a pressure tactic amid the ongoing hostage negotiations. “This is a cynical and timed move aimed at creating international pressure on Israel,” the official said.
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Hamas’s health ministry on Tuesday said that hospitals in Gaza had recorded 15 deaths, including four children, “due to famine and malnutrition” in the previous 24 hours, adding that it brought the total number of cases since the beginning of the war to 101, “including 80 children.”
The official said Israel can determine that there is no widespread famine in Gaza based on how much aid was reaching Gazans, saying, “We know the calorie value of each truck that enters, and how many people it is enough for.” The official said COGAT had also spoken with Palestinians involved in distributing the aid, and obtained other intelligence indicating there is no famine.
In the past two months, some 4,500 trucks of aid have entered Gaza, according to COGAT. Half of those trucks have headed to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution sites, and the other half were taken to warehouses belonging to the UN and other approved aid organizations. In the past month, an average of 71 trucks entered Gaza each day, COGAT said.
Still, the official said that nearly all of the aid trucks heading to the aid organization warehouses were looted by Gazan mobs, not Hamas.
#خاص هكذا سقطت جميع أكاذيب حماس
في مشهد يهزّ القلب من ظهر اليوم،
جنود جيش الدفاع يقفون بثبات…
وعلى بُعد أمتار – اعداد من سكان غزة يتسلمون المساعدات الإنسانية التي دخلت قطاع غزة. لم تُطلق رصاصة.
القرار كان واضحًا: لا تطلقوا النار
اما ردة فعل الفلسطينيين؟ لم تكن خوفًا… بل… pic.twitter.com/HQQPK7t0Tw — افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) July 20, 2025
Since the resumption of aid deliveries to Gaza on May 19, after a pause that started on March 2, Israel has established a new mechanism to prevent aid trucks from being taken over by Hamas, the official said.
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The mechanism only allows for international aid bodies that are registered with Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry to bring aid into Gaza, after rigorous security checks at the border crossings. The mechanism also places sanctions on aid groups and individuals who do not abide by Israel’s requirements.
The official said Hamas was trying to do everything it could to undermine the new aid mechanism, including the GHF distribution sites. International organizations have said that Israel’s refusal to name a viable governing alternative to Hamas has created a chaotic and desperate situation on the ground that has significantly marred aid distribution.
The US- and Israel-backed GHF system, which has been delivering aid in Gaza over the past two months under a mechanism aimed at diverting Hamas theft, has been plagued with problems.
The United Nations said Tuesday that more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces while trying to access food in Gaza since the GHF started aid distribution operations, apparently citing Hamas figures.
Israel has admitted to firing shots toward crowds of Palestinians approaching troops, but claims casualty figures are inflated, without presenting alternative tolls.
In addition to near-daily deadly shootings, it has forced Palestinians to walk long distances while crossing IDF lines to pick up aid. The GHF has also not been vetting the thousands of aid recipients picking up boxes of food, due to the utterly chaotic situation at distribution sites, so there is no way to confirm the humanitarian assistance is reaching its intended recipients. Hamas has come out strongly against the GHF, warning civilians not to cooperate with the organization.
On Monday, over two dozen Western countries called for Israel to immediately end the war in Gaza and criticized what they described as “inhumane killing” of Palestinians, saying it was “horrifying” that civilians were being killed while seeking aid.
‘The hardest time I have lived through’: BBC’s Gaza freelance journalists on struggle to feed families
‘I can barely do one story. I just feel dizzy’ – BBC’s Gaza freelance journalists tell of struggle for food. UN agencies have warned of man-made, mass starvation taking hold. They have blamed Israel, which controls all supplies entering the Palestinian territory, but it has denied responsibility. BBC News and the AFP, AP and Reuters news agencies are urging the Israeli authorities to allow journalists in and out of Gaza. The BBC has released a joint statement with other media organisations saying it is “desperately concerned” about the wellbeing of local freelance journalists that it works with in Gaza. Almost 200 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli forces during the war. In recent days, he’s so hungry that he’s started hitting his stomach with his hand to signal to us that he wants food. One journalist with four small children says they have taken drinking water with a little salt to try to suppress their hunger. One says he can sometimes buy a 50g biscuit for his daily meal but this costs 30ls ($9; £660)
2 days ago Share Save Yolande Knell Middle East correspondent, Jerusalem Share Save
Anadolu via Getty Images Journalists are facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering
Three trusted freelance Palestinian journalists whom the BBC relies on for its Gaza coverage have shared how they are now struggling to feed their families and often go two days or more without eating. All of the men have kept their cameras running, sending us vital footage, even on days when their close relatives have been killed, they have lost their homes, or have been fleeing from Israeli military advances with their families. One was previously badly wounded by shrapnel from an Israeli bombing while on assignment. But he says the current time is “the hardest time I have lived through since I was born. It’s a huge crisis of suffering and deprivation.” Global food security experts have not yet classified the situation in Gaza as a famine, but UN agencies have warned of man-made, mass starvation taking hold. They have blamed Israel, which controls all supplies entering the Palestinian territory, but it has denied responsibility.
Reuters For many months, local journalists have been the world’s eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza
We have agreed not to identify our colleagues by name out of consideration for their security. They tell us that not being able to provide for the youngest and most vulnerable of their loved ones is most difficult of all. “My son who has autism is unaware of what is going on around him. He doesn’t know that we are in a war and he doesn’t speak,” says one of our cameramen in Gaza City, who is a father of four. “In recent days, he’s so hungry that he’s started hitting his stomach with his hand to signal to us that he wants food.” Our youngest colleague, who is in southern Gaza, is the main breadwinner for his parents and siblings. “I am constantly wondering how to get food for my family,” he tells us. “My little sister, who’s 13, keeps on asking for food and water and we can’t get any for her. Any water we find will be contaminated.”
Reuters BBC News and the AFP, AP and Reuters news agencies are urging the Israeli authorities to allow journalists in and out of Gaza
The BBC has released a joint statement with other media organisations saying it is “desperately concerned” about the wellbeing of local freelance journalists that it works with in Gaza. “For many months, these independent journalists have been the world’s eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza. They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering,” says the statement by the BBC and AFP, AP and Reuters news agencies. The current conditions make telling the story of what is happening even more challenging.
“I feel tired and exhausted all the time, to the point of dizziness and falling to the ground,” says a veteran journalist who now works with us in Gaza City and is looking after his mother, sisters, and five children aged two to 16. He says he has lost 30kg (4st 7lbs) in 21 months of war. “I used to complete most news reports with great speed, but now I am slow in finishing them due to my poor health and psychological state,” he tells us. “Delirium and fatigue accompanies me.” “I can’t describe the feeling,” says our southern Gaza cameraman. “My stomach twists in knots, and I have a headache, add to that being emaciated and weak. I used to work from 07:00 until 22:00 but now I can barely do one story. I just feel dizzy.” Recently, he collapsed during filming but later resumed his work.
Reuters Almost 200 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli forces during the war
While food shortages have been a constant issue during the war, previously those receiving salaries from outside could still buy basic supplies albeit at exorbitant prices on local markets. Now even those markets are largely empty. “I’ve reached the point of taking food from the charity kitchen. In recent days, this has meant my kids have been eating one meal a day – just limited foodstuffs like lentils, rice and pasta,” says the Gaza City journalist with four small children. Two of the men say they have taken to drinking water with a little salt to try to suppress their hunger. One says he can sometimes buy a 50g biscuit for his daily meal but this costs 30 shekels ($9; £6.60). Getting hold of money is an ordeal in itself. It now involves using money merchants. “If I need cash, it’s mostly not available, but when it is, it’s accompanied by a withdrawal fee of 45%,” explains one Gaza City cameraman. “That means that if I go to withdraw $1,000, I will get only $550. The whole process is exhausting and any vendors nowadays demand cash.” “The difficulty is because of the closure of the banks. These money transfers are another form of suffering after our hunger,” our colleague in southern Gaza adds.
Reuters BBC News, AFP, AP and Reuters say it is essential that adequate food supplies reach the people of Gaza
Why we need to talk about periods, breasts and injuries in women’s sport
The Euros are reaching their conclusion in a massive summer across women’s sport. Scientists are researching the unique ways that elite sport affects the female body. How breasts alter the way you run, but the right sports bra could give you the edge. How the menstrual cycle could impact performance and what role period trackers could play. And why is there a higher risk of some injuries, and what can be done to avoid them? It’s a far cry from the era when professional female athletes told they were thought of simply as “mini-men”, says Prof Joanna Wakefield-Scurr, from the University of Portsmouth. But talking about its sporting impact is “still so taboo and it shouldn’t be, because we’re struggling with it”, says Team GB distance runner Calli Hauger-Thackery, who has represented Team GB at the Olympics. The menstrual cycle is caused by the rhythmic fluctuations of two hormones – progesterone and oestrogen – and can have an impact on athletic performance.
But away from the drama and excitement on the pitch, there is also a scientific revolution taking place.
Teams of scientists are researching the unique ways that elite sport affects the female body – how breasts alter the way you run, but the right sports bra could give you the edge; how the menstrual cycle could impact performance and what role period trackers could play; and why is there a higher risk of some injuries, and what can be done to avoid them?
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It’s a far cry from the era when professional female athletes told me they were thought of simply as “mini-men”.
Breast biomechanics
Cast your mind back to the iconic scene from the final of the last European Championships in 2022.
It was extra time at Wembley and Lioness Chloe Kelly scored the winning goal against Germany.
In the ensuing euphoria, she whipped off her England shirt showing the world her sports bra.
It was fitted by Prof Joanna Wakefield-Scurr, from the University of Portsmouth, who proudly goes by the nickname the Bra Professor.
England striker Chloe Kelly celebrates her goal during the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 final between England and Germany [Getty Images]
Here are her breast facts:
Breasts can bounce an average of 11,000 times in a football match
An average bounce is 8cm (3in) without appropriate support
They move with up to 5G of force (five times the force of gravity), comparable to the experience of a Formula 1 driver
Laboratory experiments – using motion sensors on the chest – have revealed how a shifting mass of breast tissue alters the movement of the rest of the body, and in turn, sporting performance.
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“For some women, their breasts can be really quite heavy and if that weight moves, it can change the movement of your torso, it can even change the amount of force that you exert on the ground,” Prof Wakefield-Scurr tells me.
The University of Portsmouth uses motion capture technology to monitor breast tissue movement during physical exercise [University of Portsmouth]
Compensating for bouncing breasts by restricting the movement of your upper body alters the positioning of the pelvis and shortens the length of each stride. That’s why sports bras are not just for comfort or fashion, but a piece of performance gear.
“We actually saw that low breast support meant a reduction in stride length of four centimetres,” Prof Wakefield-Scurr explains.
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“If you lost four centimetres every step in a marathon, it adds up to a mile.”
Sports bras also protect the delicate structures inside the breast, “if we stretch them, that’s permanent,” the professor says, so “it’s about prevention rather than cure”.
The menstrual cycle and its effect on performance
Calli Hauger-Thackery, Team GB distance runner [Calli Hauger-Thackery]
The menstrual cycle has a clear impact on the body – it can affect emotions, mood and sleep as well as cause fatigue, headache and cramps.
But Calli Hauger-Thackery, a distance runner who has represented Team GB at the Olympics, says talking about its sporting impact is “still so taboo and it shouldn’t be, because we’re struggling with it”.
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Calli says she always notices the difference in her body in the lead up to her period.
“I’m feeling really fatigued, heavy legs, I [feel like I’m] almost running through mud sometimes, everything’s more strained than it should be,” she says.
Calli finds she “lives” by her menstruation tracker, as being on her period is a source of anxiety “especially when I’ve got big races coming up”.
One of those big races was in April – the Boston Marathon – and Calli’s period was due. She finished in sixth place, and recalls that she “luckily got through” – but says she can’t help wondering if she could have done even better.
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The menstrual cycle is orchestrated by the rhythmic fluctuations of two hormones – oestrogen and progesterone. But how big an impact can that have on athletic performance?
“It’s very individual and there’s a lot of nuance here, it’s not quite as simple as saying the menstrual cycle affects performance,” says Prof Kirsty Elliott-Sale, who specialises in female endocrinology and exercise physiology at Manchester Metropolitan University.
“Competitions, personal bests, world records, everything has been set, won and lost on every day of the menstrual cycle,” she says.
This famously includes Paula Radcliffe, who broke the marathon world record while running through period cramps in Chicago in 2002.
Prof Kirsty Elliott-Sale from Manchester Metropolitan University [BBC]
Working out whether the menstrual cycle affects sporting ability requires an understanding of the physiological changes that hormones have throughout the body, the challenge of performing while experiencing symptoms, the psychological impact of the anxiety of competing during your period and perceptions about all of the above.
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Prof Elliott-Sale says there “isn’t a phase where you’re stronger or weaker”, or where “you’re going to win or you’re going to lose”, but in theory the hormones oestrogen and progesterone could alter parts of the body such as bone, muscle or heart.
“What we don’t yet understand is: Does that have a big enough effect to really impact performance?” she says.
The professor adds that it is “a very sensible conclusion” that poor sleep, fatigue and cramping would have a knock-on effect on performance, and that dread and anxiety were an “absolutely tangible thing” for athletes on their period who are performing in front of large crowds.
She has spoken to athletes who “sometimes even triple up with period pants” to avoid the risk of leaking and embarrassment, and “that’s a heavy mental burden”.
Katy Daley-McLean, England’s highest scoring rugby player [BBC]
Rugby union team, Sale Sharks Women have been working with Manchester Metropolitan University.
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I met Katy Daley-McLean, former England rugby captain and England all-time leading point scorer.
The team are having open discussions around periods to help them understand the impact that menstruation can have, and how to plan for it. This includes taking ibuprofen three days before, rather than thinking: “I can’t do anything about it,” Daley-McLean says.
“It’s through that knowledge and that information that we can talk about this, we can put plans in place, and we can change our behaviour to make you a better rugby player,” she says.
How to avoid injuries
One issue that has emerged as women’s sport has been given more attention is a difference in the susceptibility to some injuries.
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Most of the attention has been around the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) – a part of the knee that attaches the upper and lower parts of the leg together. Injuries can be brutal and take a year to recover from.
Not only is the risk three to eight times greater in women than men, depending on the sport, but they are becoming more common, says Dr Thomas Dos’Santos, a sports biomechanics researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University.
However, there is “no simple answer” to explain the greater risk in women, he says.
Partly it could be down to differences in anatomy. Bigger hips in women mean the top of the thigh bone starts from a wider position and this changes the angle it connects to the lower leg at the knee, potentially increasing risk.
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The ACL is also slightly smaller in women “so it’s a little bit weaker, potentially”, Dr Dos’Santos explains.
Dr Thomas Dos’Santos, Manchester Metropolitan University [BBC]
ACL injuries can happen at all stages of the menstrual cycle, but hormonal changes are also being investigated, including a study sponsored by Fifa, the governing body for world football.
High levels of oestrogen prior to ovulation could alter the properties of ligaments, making them a bit more stretchy so “there could be an increased risk of injury, theoretically,” he says.
But Dr Dos’Santos argues it’s important to think beyond pure anatomy as women still do not get the same quality of support and strength training as men.
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He compares it to ballet, where dancers do receive good quality training. “The [difference in] incidence rates is basically trivial between men and women,” Dr Dos’Santos says.
There is research into whether it is possible to minimise the risk of ACL injuries, by training female athletes to move in subtly different ways.
But there is a risk of lessening performance, and some techniques that put strain on the ACL – like dropping the shoulder to deceive a defender before bursting off in another direction – are the necessary moves in sports like football.
“We can’t wrap them up in cotton wool and say you should avoid playing sport,” Dr Dos’Santos says. “What we need to do is make sure that they’re strong enough to tolerate those loads, but it isn’t just as simple as some people saying we can 100% eradicate ACL injuries, we can’t.”
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No longer ‘mini-men’
Even though there are still many unanswered question, it is still a world of difference for Katy Daley-McLean at Sale Sharks Women.
When she got her first cap in 2007, she remembers that all the assumptions around how her body would perform were based on the data from male rugby players.
“We were literally treated as mini-men,” Daley-McLean recalls.
And now, she says, girls and women don’t feel like the outsiders in sport, which is not only improving performance at the elite level but helping to keep more women in sport.
“It’s awesome, it’s something to be celebrated because if you look at the stats, one of the biggest reasons young girls drop out of sport is body image, it’s around periods and not having a correct sports bra, which is so easily sorted.”
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Inside Health was produced by Gerry Holt
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UK working to get aid dropped into Gaza, Starmer says
UK working to get aid dropped into Gaza, Starmer says. More than a third of MPs signed a letter calling on the government to recognise a Palestinian state. Israel said it would allow foreign countries to deliver air supplies in the coming days amid mounting international concern about humanitarian conditions in the territory. UK has been involved in previous efforts to airdrop aid into Gaza – a method aid agencies have cautioned is an inefficient way to deliver supplies. The previous Conservative government struck a deal with Jordan to deliver aid by air in 2024. Five people were killed when at least one parachute failed to deploy and a parcel fell on them during an aid drop in March 2024. 12 people drowned when they went into the sea to retrieve food packages dropped from the sky. Israeli government has repeatedly said that there is no siege and Hamas blames the World Food Programme for malnutrition. Almost one in three people in Gaza are going going without food for days without eating, with 90,000 women and children in urgent need of treatment. The UN has described the move as a “distraction to inaction” by Israel.
Image source, MOD
Author, Euan O’Byrne Mulligan Role, BBC News
26 July 2025, 03:25 BST Updated 2 hours ago
Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK is working with Jordan on plans to drop aid into Gaza by air, after more than a third of MPs signed a letter calling on the government to recognise a Palestinian state.
A small team of British military planners and logisticians is being made available to help Jordan with getting aid into the territory.
On Friday, Israel said it would allow foreign countries to deliver air supplies in the coming days amid mounting international concern about humanitarian conditions in the territory.
Sir Keir also said the UK was “urgently accelerating efforts” to evacuate children who need critical medical assistance to the UK for treatment.
“News that Israel will allow countries to airdrop aid into Gaza has come far too late – but we will do everything we can to get aid in via this route,” the prime minister wrote in The Mirror.
It comes as he faces growing pressure to recognise a Palestinian state. On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron committed to recognising Palestinian statehood within months.
Some 220 MPs from nine political parties – more than half of them Labour – signed a joint letter which said such a move would send a “powerful” message and a vital step toward a two-state solution.
Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham and chair of the international development select committee, wrote the letter and coordinated its signing.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday that “the clock is really ticking” on the international community’s ability to recognise a Palestinian state.
“We really need to do it while there is the possibility of there being a state of Palestine… and that is not going to be there for much longer,” she said.
Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s foreign minister, has referred to plans to recognise a Palestinian state as a “prize for terror” following the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.
Image source, Reuters Image caption, International concern has risen this week with warnings that starvation has gripped Gaza
On Friday, Sir Keir said that recognising Palestinian statehood would have to be part of a “wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution”, while US President Donald Trump suggested Macron’s announcement “doesn’t matter” as he left the US for a visit to Scotland.
On aid, Sir Keir said the government would “pull every lever” to deliver food and life-saving support to Palestinians.
“This humanitarian catastrophe must end,” he added in a post on X.
Writing in the Mirror, the PM said the UK was “already working urgently with the Jordanian authorities to get British aid onto planes and into Gaza”.
But speaking to the Today programme, Champion described aid drops as “largely symbolic”, adding that there were scenes of “grotesque hunger games” when the international community last delivered air supplies into Gaza.
“It’s survival of the fittest when these are dropped.. what we need is Israel to make the decision to open every single border so that aid floods. That is the only way to stop this man-made famine,” she said.
Five people were killed when at least one parachute failed to deploy and a parcel fell on them during an aid drop in March 2024.
In a separate incident later that month, Gaza’s Hamas-run government media office said 12 people drowned when they went into the sea to retrieve food packages dropped from the sky.
The UK has been involved in previous efforts to airdrop aid into Gaza – a method aid agencies have cautioned is an inefficient way to deliver supplies.
The previous Conservative government struck a deal with Jordan to deliver aid by air in 2024. Tonnes of supplies including medicines, food and fuel were dropped into northern Gaza by parachute from Jordanian Air Force planes.
The same year the Royal Air Force began conducting air drops directly. The RAF went on to deliver over 100 tonnes of food over the course of 11 flights between March and May, according to the government.
Israeli media reported that the United Arab Emirates and Jordan would carry out the latest drops, but a senior Jordanian official told the BBC that its military was yet to receive permission from Israel to do so.
The UN has described the move as a “distraction to inaction” by the Israeli government.
Its food aid programme warned that almost one in three people in Gaza are going for days without eating.
“Malnutrition is surging with 90,000 women and children in urgent need of treatment,” the World Food Programme said in a statement.
Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies into the Palestinian territory, has repeatedly said that there is no siege and blames Hamas for cases of malnutrition.
Since the outbreak of war in Gaza, two children with serious health conditions have been brought to the UK for private medical treatment.
What is inside the GHF food box being distributed in Gaza
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been operating in Gaza since late May. It says that it has distributed 91 million meals, primarily in the form of food boxes. A typical box contains 42,500 calories, and that “each box feeds 5.5 people for 3.5 days” BBC has examined photos and other information shared by the GHF and spoken to aid experts who have raised concerns about the nutritional value of the boxes. The GHF did not respond to questions surrounding the advice it received about the contents of its aid boxes or whether it planned to address concerns raised by experts. The BBC has been unable to see these boxes first-hand since Israel has blocked international journalists from entering Gaza. More than two million Palestinians in Gaza are facing a starvation crisis, with deaths from malnutrition rising by the day.
12 hours ago Share Save Kevin Nguyen and Alex Murray BBC Verify Share Save
Reuters
More than two million Palestinians in Gaza are facing a starvation crisis, with deaths from malnutrition rising by the day, according to the United Nations. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a group backed by Israel and the US, has been operating in Gaza since late May. It says that it has distributed 91 million meals, primarily in the form of food boxes. While the BBC has been unable to see these boxes first-hand since Israel has blocked international journalists from entering Gaza, BBC Verify has examined photos and other information shared by the GHF and spoken to aid experts who have raised concerns about their nutritional value.
What’s in the boxes?
Videos have circulated online of Palestinians showing the contents of the boxes, but the GHF has only shared images of them this week. Two pictures posted on X show mostly dried food items that require water and fuel to cook, including pasta, chickpeas, lentils, and wheat flour. Also included is cooking oil, salt and tahini, or sesame paste.
The GHF has said these boxes also contain some ready-to-eat food, like halva bars – a popular snack made from blending tahini or sesame paste and sugar. The organisation has provided us with a table of what it describes as a “benchmark” list of items in each box, with a calorie breakdown. A typical box contains 42,500 calories, and that “each box feeds 5.5 people for 3.5 days”. according to the table.
It occasionally includes substitute items like tea, biscuits, and chocolate, and is also delivering potatoes and onions, but these are not included in the nutritional figures, the GHF has said.
‘Serious weaknesses’
An international aid development professor from the London School of Economics analysed the list provided by the GHF to BBC Verify and said that while it could deliver sufficient calories needed to survive, it had “serious weaknesses”. “In essence, this basket provides a full stomach but an empty diet,” Prof Stuart Gordon said. “The biggest flaw is what’s missing… This (is) very much a ‘first aid’ food basket, designed to stop the haemorrhaging effect that is acute hunger.” “A diet like this over weeks would lead to ‘hidden hunger’, increasing the risk of diseases like anaemia and scurvy” he said.
X: cogatonline The Israeli government has also released images of different items contained in a GHF box
Dr Andrew Seal, an associate professor of international nutrition at the University College London, said the food boxes were deficient in calcium, iron, zinc, and vitamins C, D, B12, and K. He added there was also a lack of foods to suit young children. “Prolonged consumption of these foods, even if they were made available in adequate amounts, would lead to a range of deficiencies and serious health problems,” he said. He added that unlike the GHF, agencies like the UN typically distribute food in bulk and supplement it with targeted nutrition for vulnerable groups. The World Food Programme (WFP) has said it also aims to deliver emergency supplies for young children and pregnant women. The GHF did not respond to BBC Verify’s questions surrounding the advice it received about the nutritional contents of its aid boxes or whether it planned to address concerns raised by experts.
TikTok/@user427554577 Gazans have posted video of the aid boxes they’ve received