Iran War Deepens Gaza Crisis
The ongoing conflict has made a dire humanitarian situation even worse, amid sharp restrictions on aid and repeated supply disruptions.
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Safaa al-Farmawi did not expect that a trip to collect food would cost her daughter’s life. The 35-year-old mother of seven lost her eldest daughter, Ghazal, 16, last June after she was shot while the two were trying to collect aid in Rafah— at a time when hunger was already tightening its grip across the Gaza Strip.
Today, al-Farmawi sits inside a worn tent in Khan Younis, where she lives with her six surviving children after being displaced more than six times since the war began. The tent offers little protection — in winter, rain seeps through its thin fabric, and in summer, the heat becomes almost unbearable.
And the ongoing Iran conflict has made a dire humanitarian situation even worse, amid sharp restrictions on aid and repeated disruptions to supply routes.
“Since the escalation linked to the Iran war began, basic food items like eggs have disappeared from the market,” al-Farmawi said. “And when they are available, they are extremely expensive.”
“If I want to buy anything, I have to stand in very long lines,” she continued. “There is a severe shortage of both aid and goods.”
The status of Gaza’s crossings has long been unstable. Following the October 2025 ceasefire, crossings were only partially reopened, with Kerem Abu Salem the main entry point for aid. Access remained heavily restricted and limited to specific categories of goods. The Rafah crossing, meanwhile, saw only limited reopening, primarily for the movement of people - particularly patients - rather than the entry of humanitarian supplies.
Immediately after the Iran war began, crossings into Gaza once again closed.
“During the first days of the escalation with Iran, no goods or aid entered Gaza at all,” explained Yusra Abu Sharkh, Gaza programme coordinator at the International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance (INARA).
After several days, Kerem Abu Salem was partially reopened to allow what was described as the gradual entry of aid. Yet access has remained highly restricted and inconsistent, with humanitarian agencies warning that the supplies allowed in fall far short of the population’s needs.
Rafah has continued to operate in a limited capacity, largely restricted to the movement of people, further increasing Gaza’s reliance on Kerem Abu Salem as the primary gateway for aid.
“The impact of the Iran war has been immediate on the ground, as reduced access and increased restrictions have intensified an already fragile humanitarian situation,” said Amjad al-Shawa, Director of the Palestinian NGO Network.
He noted that the number of trucks carrying aid and commercial goods entering Gaza dropped sharply in February and early March, falling by around 50 per cent compared with January.
“What entered Gaza was only about 200 trucks per day — less than one-third of what the population needs,” al-Shawa says.
This humanitarian crisis has been compounded by the destruction of Gaza’s economic and social infrastructure.
“Around 90 per cent of people in Gaza now rely on humanitarian assistance,” he said.
Even this limited flow of aid has become increasingly uncertain.
“There was already a severe deficit,” al-Shawa says. “Then the situation deteriorated further. On some days, only 80 trucks were allowed to enter.”
For families like al-Farmawi’s, these figures are not abstract. They translate directly into empty plates, rising debt, and a daily struggle to survive.
Al-Farmawi said that her children often go to sleep hungry.
“Sometimes I tell them that we will receive aid tomorrow just to calm them down,” she said. “But the next day comes, and there is nothing.”
As access to aid becomes more limited, the burden on families continues to grow. Al-Farmawi said that she has been forced to borrow money repeatedly just to buy basic food items, despite soaring prices.
“I have debts I cannot repay,” she said. “Everything is expensive, and there is no income.”
The crisis, humanitarian workers warn, is no longer just about the availability of food but also about its quality.
INARA’s Abu Sharkh explained that even when goods entered Gaza through commercial channels, they were not only often nutritionally inadequate but sold at prices far beyond what most families can afford.
With widespread unemployment and no stable income, many households are effectively excluded from the market altogether.
“We are talking about two million people who have endured prolonged hunger,” Abu Sharkh said. “Recovery is not easy, especially for children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and the elderly.”
In conversations with displaced families across Gaza, particularly during Ramadan, Abu Sharkh said she repeatedly heard the same reality: complete dependence on charity kitchens.
“Many families told us that without these kitchens, they would not have a main meal at all,” she said.
With shortages of supplies and fuel, some humanitarian organisations have warned they may be forced to scale back or suspend operations. Fuel scarcity, in particular, has become a critical constraint.
“The available fuel inside Gaza is not enough to sustain essential services,” Abu Sharkh said, noting that the impact extended across multiple sectors, from healthcare to water systems and food distribution.
“At INARA, we provide medical services to displaced families in northern Gaza who otherwise have little access to care,” she said. “Our work has been affected by the need to ration fuel and limit movement.”
Many organisations have already been forced to concentrate their operations in areas that are easier to reach, leaving some of the most vulnerable with even less support.
“Due to fuel shortages and movement restrictions, aid is increasingly limited to the nearest and most accessible areas,” she said.
The uncertainty surrounding border closures has also taken a psychological toll.
“There is widespread fear that crossings could close completely again,” Abu Sharkh said.
In one case that has stayed with her, Abu Sharkh recalls meeting a hearing-impaired mother of six whose husband was unable to work due to injury.
“She told us they have not eaten fruit for months,” Abu Sharkh said. “The struggle to secure food and water has exhausted her completely.”
Back in Khan Younis, al-Farmawi said that the accumulation of loss, hunger, and uncertainty was overwhelming.
“We are dying a hundred times every day,” she said. “Sometimes I envy those who were killed — at least they were relieved from this suffering.”
After everything she had endured, al-Farmawi said that her greatest fear had not changed.
“I am afraid of losing another child.”
