WFP food trucks keep moving inside Gaza as hunger deepens and restrictions persist

Here are the latest updates on WFP operations and food insecurity:

WFP Operations
•    Since 21 May, when border crossings re-opened to aid, WFP has offloaded 1,387 trucks with over 26,000 metric tons (MT) of life-saving food assistance to holding areas via the Kerem Shalom (south) and Zikim (north) border crossing points.
•    Trucks within Gaza are then required to come to these holding areas to pick-up the food for further transport into Gaza.
•    WFP teams inside Gaza have been able to collect over 22,000MT of this food aid from the holding areas. A total of 1,833 trucks have been dispatched to reach starving civilians inside Gaza.
•    Despite these efforts, the quantity of food aid delivered to date is still a tiny fraction of what a population of over two million people need to survive. Just to cover basic humanitarian food assistance needs, more than 62,000 MT is required every month.
•    Access to essential fresh and nutritious produce such as fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, and dairy products require commercial cargo to be reinstated into Gaza. 
•    The truck fleet used by WFP requires regular maintenance and bringing spare parts into Gaza remains a significant challenge.
•    As of 25 July 2025, there is now roughly 3,500 MT of WFP cargo (the equivalent of 300 trucks) ready to be collected from holding areas for collection and distribution inside Gaza.
o    Food aid awaiting collection in the border holding areas is consistently assessed to ensure that all food aid meets global safety and quality standards.
•    In the past week alone (19 July to 25 July) - WFP has dispatched 349 trucks carrying an estimated 4,200MT of vital food aid into Gaza.
•    During this same period (19 July to 25 July 2025):
o    WFP requested permission for 138 aid convoys to collect cargo from the holding area to be delivered to hungry families inside Gaza. Only 76 requests were approved – just over half
o    Once food aid is loaded, convoys are typically delayed, waiting up to 46 hours before receiving final permissions to travel along approved routes within Gaza. During these delays crowds of hungry people often anticipate the arrival of our trucks and gather along the expected transport routes which are too few.
o    Once released, it can take convoys up to 12 hours, on average, to complete their missions. 
o    Only two border crossing points have been cleared for WFP use. More dependable and safer convoy routes inside Gaza are needed to prevent crowds gathering along the limited routes.
o    So far, only 60 truck drivers have been vetted and approved by authorities to transport vital food assistance inside Gaza. More are urgently needed.

Security Risks to Humanitarian Convoys
•    Each delay to aid convoys entering Gaza means more starving people gathering along known routes hoping to intercept trucks transporting food assistance.
•    When aid trucks are held at checkpoints or re-routed multiple times, WFP teams and crowding civilians are exposed to significant risk: active hostilities, drone surveillance, sniper fire, and bombardments.
•    Deadly incidents near humanitarian convoys continue. Any violence involving civilians seeking humanitarian aid is completely unacceptable.
•    Israeli authorities have provided assurances that more trucks will be able to carry food aid into Gaza using more routes and border crossing points with faster clearances, dependable communications, and without armed forces nearby.
•    Since 23rd July, WFP has seens faster food convoy approvals and movements but requires a sustained commitment to avert the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

 
Food Needs Inside Gaza
•    The desperate need for food inside Gaza has reached astonishing levels. 
•    People are dying due to a lack of humanitarian assistance.
•    A recent WFP assessment found nearly one person in three is not eating for days at a time.
•    Some 470,000 people are enduring famine-like conditions (Catastrophic hunger - IPC Phase 5).
•    Malnutrition is surging and some 90,000 children and women urgently need treatment.
•    Food aid is the only real way for people to eat.

Requirements to Scale Operations
•    WFP stands ready to further scale up and deliver life-saving assistance directly to the most vulnerable families in need. For this, WFP reiterates its calls for:
•    At least 100 aid trucks per day to be allowed through northern, central and southern border points in a sustained and predictable manner.
•    Faster loading and dispatching of trucks from crossing points into Gaza. 
•    No armed presence nor shooting near convoy routes or civilian aid distribution points.
•    Uninterrupted connectivity to allow humanitarian organizations to coordinate effectively.
•    A sustained ceasefire that creates the necessary conditions for safe, scaled, and impactful humanitarian aid.
•    WFP has over 170,000 metric tons of food in or on its way to the region - enough to feed the entire population of 2.1 million people for almost three months.
•    We have experienced teams on the ground, and proven systems in place to respond at scale.
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The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

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