United Nations humanitarian officials warned on Monday that lifesaving aid operations in Gaza are being systematically crippled by a complex web of restrictions and denials.

Despite the ceasefire in effect since October 2025, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that aid missions face constant obstacles that threaten to reverse recent gains in staving off famine.

UN Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in New York that even though logistics teams recently managed to transport nearly 1,900 pallets of food, shelter, and medical supplies, the broader operation is struggling.

Shipments from Jordan are currently restricted to a single route that requires multiple offloading and reloading points, causing major delays.

Furthermore, goods entering from Egypt via the Kerem Shalom crossing face a "high return rate," with less than 60 per cent of consignments successfully offloaded between 4 and 10 February.

The situation inside the Strip is equally precarious, as humanitarian movements requiring coordination with Israeli authorities continue to be blocked.

Of nearly 50 such movements coordinated between 6 and 11 February, only about half were fully facilitated. Five missions were denied outright, while 11 were approved but met with significant delays or other impediments that left some only partially completed.

"And just today, we had two more denials," Dujarric added, noting that "teams on the ground are engaging with the authorities to clarify the constraints and seek their resolution so that our operations can move forward."

While the UN has managed to scale up some responses, including the removal of solid waste from Gaza City and the delivery of learning materials to 48,000 children, officials stressed that the current level of access is nowhere near sufficient.

Humanitarian partners emphasized that unless restrictions on essential construction materials and equipment are lifted, providing durable housing for the 1.5 million displaced people living in temporary sites will remain impossible.