On Saturday morning, Palestinians in Gaza poured into the streets and crowded every market across the war-torn Strip, rushing to stock up on food. These were the first hours of the US-Israeli assault on Iran.
Abu Ahmed Sada told Quds News Network that people were scrambling to buy sugar, flour, cooking oil, and yeast.
“The shelves emptied quickly as people grabbed whatever food supplies and goods they could find.”
When asked why residents were stockpiling, Sada explained, “The Israeli-made famine haunts the people of Gaza. After the genocidal war, we fear anything linked to Israel. The return of famine is what terrifies us most, more than the bombardment itself.”
Sada’s concern is justified, as Gaza has not been spared from Israeli targeting amid the assault on Iran.
Here’s a look at what Israel has done in Gaza since the start of the US-Israeli assault on Iran:
Closing all crossings
Israel closed the crossings into the war-torn Gaza Strip on Saturday, vital for delivering humanitarian aid and allowing patients in need of medical evacuation to travel, despite already severe restrictions on assistance entering the enclave after two years of genocide.
The closures included the Rafah crossing, between Gaza and Egypt, which was only reopened at the beginning of February to allow a trickle of Palestinians to cross for the first time in months, including patients in need of urgent medical care.
Human Rights Watch stated in a February report that Israeli restrictions on aid had continued to cause shortages of medicines, reconstruction equipment, food, and water inside the strip.
Israel’s COGAT claimed in its statement on the closures of the Gaza crossings that enough food had been delivered to Gaza since the beginning of the ceasefire to provide four times the need of the population, without providing evidence. It said "the existing stock is expected to suffice for an extended period.
It also announced that rotations of humanitarian staff into Gaza would be postponed, raising concerns among aid groups already struggling to maintain operations.
Recently, Ismail Ibrahim al-Thawabta, director general of the Gaza Government Media Office, said the Gaza Strip “faces indicators of a worsening humanitarian crisis if restrictions on aid continue. Responsibility for preventing this crisis lies with the occupying power, which is limiting humanitarian supplies in clear violation of international humanitarian law and its obligations towards the civilian population.”
Despite the ceasefire which took effect in October, Israel has continued to severely restrict the access of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The ceasefire stipulated that “full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip”. However, the reality on the ground remains very different.
According to the Gaza Government Media Office, from October 10, 2025 to February 10, 2026 only 31,178 trucks entered Gaza out of 72,000, averaging 260 trucks per day. That is only 43 percent of the trucks allocated.
According to truck drivers, aid deliveries are facing significant delays, with Israeli inspections taking much longer than expected.
In addition, Israel has blocked essential and nutritious food items, including meat, dairy, and vegetables, crucial for a balanced diet. Instead, non-nutritious foodstuffs are being allowed, such as snacks, chocolate, crisps, and soft drinks.
Also, the Israeli occupation government said it will ban 37 aid groups from war-torn Gaza, the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem on March 1, a move described as having potentially devastating consequences for Palestinians.
The vast majority of Gaza’s more than 2 million residents rely on aid groups for food, water, healthcare, shelter and other essentials after Israel’s more than two-year war destroyed much of the territory.
Israeli occupation authorities said late on Monday that they would reopen the Karem Abu Salem crossing to allow for the “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the territory. That crossing sits at the intersection of the Gaza Strip boundary with the Israeli and Egyptian borders and was also shut on Saturday.
And despite the blockade on aid, people in Gaza rushed to bare markets to stock up on food.
As the occupying power in Gaza, Israel has a legal responsibility to ensure there is sufficient food for civilians. That obligation is not affected by the war with Iran, said Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
“Community kitchens are already closing, and prices for basic goods have started to rise,” he said in a post on X. “Even amid a widening regional war, international humanitarian law still requires Israel to facilitate relief for civilians under its control.”
UN-backed experts said in December that nearly four in five Palestinians in Gaza faced acute food insecurity.
“I don’t have enough money to buy and store food before prices increase, as some others have done,” said Madline Madi, a 30-year-old mother of three.
“I do not want to live through a famine again or find myself unable to provide food for my children for days.”
An erratic system of Israeli controls and the destruction of warehouses means there are not enough food supplies inside Gaza to cushion the impact of border crossings, said Bahaa Al-Amawi, secretary of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of North Gaza.
“Since the beginning of the ceasefire, there has been no strategic stockpile, and we are unable to establish one under the current conditions,” he said.
“This means that as soon as a closure is announced, it triggers a psychological crisis for many citizens due to their previous experience with famine, alongside a real commercial crisis caused by the absence of stock reserves. The market reacts quickly.”
Daily killings, fuel running out
Officials in Gaza raised the alarm this week, saying the enclave is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply, as Israel also blocked fuel from entering the Strip.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to violate the ceasefire through the continuation of attacks by air, artillery and direct shootings, killing Palestinians. At least six people have been killed since Saturday in Israeli attacks across the enclave.
Madi said that while global focus is on the assault on Iran, Israel continues to "commit war crimes in Gaza and the world remains indifferent, adding, “We are like we don’t exist to them.”
