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Photos: Published by Haaretz
Truck drivers wait next to their vehicles which are transporting humanitarian aid, before entering through the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip in northeastern Egypt on January 27, 2026, as the vital crossing to the Palestinian territory reopened. Credit: AFP.

Khadija Al-Kilani, 58, bakes traditional Eid cookies over a makeshift oven amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City on Wednesday. Credit: Jehad Alshrafi/AP

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli airstrike targeting a police vehicle in the central Gaza Strip, this week. Credit: Mahmoud Issa/ REUTERS
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Prices for basic food items are surging, and hospitals report shortages of medical supplies. The Rafah crossing reopened Thursday for the first time since the Iran war began, allowing patients in Gaza to leave for urgent treatment

by Nir Hasson for Haaretz
March 19, 2026

According to figures held by the American-run Civil Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, the number of trucks entering the Gaza Strip has fallen by 80 percent since the war against Iran began, as the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened for the first time on Thursday since the start of Israel's war with Iran for patients in need of medical treatment to evacuate.

Before the war, the average number of trucks entering the enclave weekly was 4,200. In the first week of the war, this number fell to only 590. In the second week, 1,137 trucks went in and between Sunday and Tuesday, fewer than 400 entered.

Reports from the Gaza Strip indicate a sharp surge in food prices due to shortages. The price of a sack of flour weighing 25 kilograms (55 lbs.), for example, has climbed to 100 shekels ($32), three times higher than before the war. The price of tomatoes rose from $1.5 per kg to $4. Products such as cooking oil and tinned goods have disappeared from shelves.

Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are also reporting shortages in medical supplies. The Gaza Health Ministry announced on Tuesday that the supply of power to Gaza's hospitals, which is based on generators, is at risk of collapsing due to a shortage in spare parts and oil required for their operation. The World Health Organization has also warned of growing shortages in medical supplies and medicines.

The IDF branch that oversees humanitarian aid and border crossings, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), told UNICEF, the United Nations' emergency fund for helping children and one of the most important humanitarian organizations operating in the Gaza Strip, that its shipments into Gaza have been suspended.

They said the reason was an attempt to smuggle smoking-related products found in shipments of medical supplies. According to the coordinator's announcement, searches of shipments coming from Egypt revealed bottles containing nicotine, hidden inside hygiene products.

UNICEF said it has launched an internal investigation and that it adheres to a zero-tolerance policy regarding the inclusion of undeclared items in its humanitarian shipments. Attempts to smuggle such items in shipments by humanitarian agencies indeed occur occasionally, UNICEF said.

The organization called on law enforcement agencies in the countries involved to improve their detection of illegal items, which would allow it to deal with this matter with the relevant contractors with which it works. It emphasized that the humanitarian aid it delivers saves the lives of children and families in Gaza. Any disruption could exacerbate the already dire situation of residents, the organization said.

According to a letter sent to UNICEF by the head of COGAT, Maj. Gen. Yoram Halevi, the suspension of shipments will remain in place until the results of the investigation are shared. "Hostile elements continue to exploit UNICEF's aid shipments for the purpose of smuggling tobacco products into the Gaza Strip," the letter stated.

According to the Israeli Forum of Experts and Civil Society for Humanitarian Aid to Gaza Coordinator Lihi Levian Joffe, the decrease in the volume of aid is preventing aid organizations on the ground from supporting residents. She emphasized that Israel's prevention of medical evacuations from Gaza violates international law.

"This is a critical humanitarian need, as hospitals in the Strip do not always have the equipment or specialists required for some of the sick or wounded," she said. "Israel can take the moral action and allow the consistent entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip."

The Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt opened on Thursday, which had been closed since the beginning of the war. As thousands wait for urgent evacuation, the closure prevented those requiring medical help from leaving the enclave, as well as those outside of Gaza from returning. The opening is intended to enable medical evacuation and the return of residents.

COGAT said in response: "Given the security situation and the required limitations needed for the protection of human lives, adaptations have been made to the operation of border crossings. This has led to a change in the number of trucks entering through these crossings. It should be emphasized that the entry of humanitarian aid continues in coordination with the UN and other international organizations, on the basis of requirements they bring up, with their requests receiving priority. Within this framework, hundreds of trucks are allowed to enter every day, after carful security scrutiny."

"It should be stressed that throughout the cease-fire period, significant amounts of aid have entered Gaza, including food in quantities that are four-times higher than the required quantities as calculated on the basis of UN methodologies," the agency added. "Thus, there are sufficient available quantities of food in the Gaza Strip for a long duration."