The New Humanitarian report –

At least 261 aid workers have been killed in Gaza.

The core issues that have prevented effective aid delivery throughout the now more than nine-month-long war – the lack of open crossing points, and the extreme danger to aid operations and aid workers (unpredictability on all fronts) – have not been solved.

Effect on medical system
For more than two months after the Rafah offensive began, aid bound for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was held up waiting to enter Gaza.
The organisation had 75 tonnes of medical supplies ready, including two 100-bed field hospitals – but nothing was getting through; “not even paracetamol”, said Dounia Dekhili, MSF’s emergency coordinator for Gaza. MSF finally received seven trucks in mid-July, she added.
The delay has forced medical staff to ration: Instead of changing a wounded patient’s dressings every other day, for example, they are now stretching to every three or four days, which is causing an increase in infections.

Aid workers say Israeli authorities appear to be prioritising commercial goods entering Gaza, which are often sold at “sky-high” prices. The profitability of commercial convoys, and their willingness to pay protection money to prevent looting, has allowed traders to increasingly edge out aid agencies for access to trucks and fuel.