Hunger in Gaza Deepens as Longest Aid Blockade Puts Millions at Risk

April 30, 2025

Twenty months of conflict and two months of closed borders have pushed Gaza to the edge of collapse. No aid or commercial supplies are getting in, food supplies have been nearly depleted, and prices have soared over 500% since October 2023, fueling a surge in malnutrition. At least 60,000 children need treatment for acute malnutrition, and around 16,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are in urgent need of care. Across the Strip, families are facing unimaginable hardship as the deepening hunger crisis tightens its grip, worsened by ongoing displacement, a collapsed health system, and unrelenting violence. Every day, survival becomes harder, and hope grows more distant. 

Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, Chief Executive Officer of Mercy Corps, says:  

“Gaza is enduring the longest stretch without food aid since this war began, and the last remaining food sources inside the Strip are nearly gone. As ceasefire negotiations drag on with no resolution in sight, people are starving while aid sits just across the border. 

“Our teams report that people are surviving on as little as one meal a day, if that. Most community kitchens have shut down for lack of supplies. With fuel nearly impossible to access, most families are burning wood to cook whatever food scraps they can find. Parents are watching their children waste away, powerless to help. 

“Meanwhile, a severe cash shortage and exorbitant costs are pushing any remaining humanitarian operations within Gaza toward a cliff. For the organizations still managing to provide some small goods or services from within, delivering assistance now costs up to five times more than it did during the ceasefire. Every delivery demands more fuel, more challenging logistics, and more funding—while access shrinks and needs soar. 

“Without immediate reopening of borders, release of lifesaving supplies, and safe access for humanitarian organizations, Gaza’s food systems, healthcare and basic services will collapse entirely. Families have reached their breaking point. It is unacceptable that food and humanitarian aid continue to be tied to stalled political negotiations, with innocent civilians paying the price. Every moment without a ceasefire and with Israeli hostages still separated from their loved ones brings continued suffering.” 

Osama, a Mercy Corps team member in Gaza says: 

“With border crossings closed and no aid entering, nothing is coming in and nothing is handed out. The situation is extremely miserable and deteriorating rapidly, life is getting worse in every way. Food is largely unavailable; only some canned goods, legumes, and overpriced local vegetables remain.  People are surviving on whatever canned food or pasta they had stored, or paying unbearable prices for the little that's left. The collapse of food systems has left many families without even a single daily meal.” 

Since October 2023, Mercy Corps has reached over 350,000 people with emergency items—food baskets, hygiene and shelter kits--and nearly 190,000 people with emergency cash assistance. Mercy Corps is on standby to deliver lifesaving assistance to over 160,000 and to support millions more through humanitarian partners as soon as borders open.  

 

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