Catholic Relief Services urges Israel to let its humanitarian aid teams into Gaza

WASHINGTON — Catholic Relief Services is calling on Israel to resume allowing its humanitarian aid teams access to the Palestinian Gaza Strip to deliver food and other supplies to civilians as a partial blockade continues.

Israel imposed a full blockade on humanitarian assistance into Gaza in early March just before it launched new military offenses on the territory. Starting this month, Israel began allowing limited amounts of aid into Gaza, but CRS and other humanitarian organizations – as well as the United Nations – have said the limited aid is insufficient.

“CRS’ priority is the well-being of innocent civilians in Gaza, especially the vulnerable who continue to suffer most,” the organization said in a May 26 statement.

“Our teams on the ground are ready to deliver humanitarian assistance through appropriate modalities to civilians in need throughout the Gaza Strip,” the statement added. “We advocate for unimpeded humanitarian access and the entry of humanitarian supplies at scale. CRS is committed to our operational independence, to neutrality and impartiality, and to the safety and dignity of those we serve.”

The statement referenced Pope Leo XIV’s call for people to use dialogue to solve problems and advance the common good. In his first general audience, Leo also called the war “increasingly worrying and painful” and urged “the entry of decent humanitarian aid” and an end to hostilities, saying the “heartbreaking price is paid by children, the elderly, and the sick.”

CRS’ statement added that the group is “ready to discuss appropriate additional measures to ensure aid accountability” but warned “the innocent people in Gaza cannot wait” and “food and other supplies must be allowed in immediately through existing mechanisms.”

“CRS calls urgently for an end to the war, the return of the hostages, and full facilitation of accountable humanitarian response throughout the Gaza Strip,” the statement continued.

Cindy McCain, the executive director of the U.N. World Food Programme, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the people of Gaza “are extremely food insecure and could be on the verge of famine” if even the partial blockade continues.

According to McCain, the U.N. was getting about 600 humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza every day during the temporary ceasefire, which was halted in March. With Israel permitting limited humanitarian aid to enter this month, she said the U.N. has only been able to get about 100 aid trucks into the territory daily.

“We need to get in, and we need to get in at scale, not just a few dribbles of the trucks right now; as I said, it’s a drop in the bucket,” McCain said.

As part of its effort to scale back the full blockade on humanitarian aid, Israel is now allowing an American- and Israeli-backed organization, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, to deliver limited aid to Gaza. However, the U.N., CRS, and other humanitarian groups are not currently working with GHF and have expressed concerns about its operations.

Palestinian health officials reported this week that more than 54,000 people have died in Gaza since the start of the war in late 2023.