Latest news on deadly attack in Rafah

Palestinians wait in line to receive food distributed by charities amid Israeli attacks in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on May 28. (Credit: Hasan Jdey/Anadolu/Getty Images)

According to a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, aid entering Gaza has decreased by 67% since 7 May, the day after Israel began its assault on Rafah.

“The volume of food and other aid entering Gaza, already insufficient to meet the growing needs, has decreased even further since 7 May, with only 58 trucks of humanitarian aid arriving in Gaza between 7 and 28 May, compared to a daily average of 176 aid trucks between 1 April and 6 May,” says the OCHA report published this Wednesday.

Since Israel launched an assault on the city on May 6 and took control of the Gaza side of the crossing, aid has been blocked and supplies are piling up in Egypt. Israel and Egypt blame each other for the blockade.

Rafah was previously the central artery through which aid reached Gaza.

OCHA also said that humanitarian workers face significant obstacles working in Gaza and that the ability of its nutrition partners to provide services has been hampered “despite the continued increase in detected cases of malnutrition”.

The report said that “85 percent of the children did not eat anything for the entire day at least once in the three days preceding the survey.”

“Insecurity and severe limitations, including restrictions on access to border areas and on movement between southern and northern Gaza, continue to create a non-permissive and unstable operating environment for humanitarian workers, preventing them from providing vital assistance to hundreds of thousands of people across Gaza.

OCHA also noted that no aid entered Gaza via the US-built ferry on 27 and 28 May after a section was damaged due to bad weather.

Israel previously said it had taken steps to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza after pressure from the United States. But UN officials have said progress has been slow.