Only 73 aid trucks entered Gaza on Friday as people starve

Just 73 humanitarian aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Friday, far below the minimum daily requirement to sustain life amid Israel's ongoing blockade, the government media office in the enclave said Saturday.

In a statement, the office said most of the trucks were looted due to a security vacuum deliberately created by Israeli forces, which it described as part of a broader policy of "engineered chaos and starvation."

Authorities say that a minimum of 600 aid and fuel trucks must enter the enclave every day to meet urgent needs across the health, food, and service sectors, all of which have collapsed in the war.

"We condemn the continued closure of border crossings and the deliberate starvation campaign," the office said, holding Israel and its allies "fully responsible" for the worsening humanitarian catastrophe.

The office demanded the immediate reopening of all crossings and the urgent entry of sufficient food, fuel, and infant formula.

Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza for 18 years, and since March 2 has shut down all crossings, worsening humanitarian conditions in the enclave. Its army has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the territory since October 2023.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.