UN official says 20 aid trucks with food are waiting to enter Gaza

A three-month blockade has led to warnings of famine in Gaza. Picture: AP

A UN official has said 20 aid trucks carrying mostly food are expected to enter the Gaza Strip on Monday.

The delivery comes after a near three-month blockade and warnings by global experts of impeding famine.

Israel has said it will allow a limited amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza even as it launches “extensive” new ground operations there.

Everyone in Gaza is hungry.

Without immediate action, nearly a quarter of the population could be pushed into famine.

Food aid must be allowed into Gaza now to prevent a catastrophe.

— United Nations (@UN) May 19, 2025

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a “starvation crisis” in Gaza would jeopardise the new offensive – the largest since Israel in March ended the ceasefire – and that a “basic” amount of food would be allowed in.

In early March, Israel cut off all food, medicine and other supplies to the territory of over two million people to pressure Hamas over ceasefire terms.

Over the weekend, Israeli air strikes killed at least 103 people, including dozens of children, hospitals and medics said.

Trucks line up at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip (AP)

Defence minister Israel Katz said the offensive – dubbed Operation Gideon Chariots – was being led with “great force”.

Mr Netanyahu had vowed to escalate pressure with the aim of destroying the militant Hamas group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades.

The war in Gaza began on October 7 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 others.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.