--- title: World Food Programme Halts Deliveries to Northern Gaza description: The World Food Programme said it's pausing deliveries because conditions were not being met to allow for the safe distribution of aid. canonical: https://time.com/6717792/world-food-programme-halts-aid-gaza/ author: Anna Gordon article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-02-21T15:31:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T17:10:22.499Z article:section: World og:title: World Food Programme Halts Deliveries to Northern Gaza og:description: The World Food Programme said it's pausing deliveries because conditions were not being met to allow for the safe distribution of aid. og:url: https://time.com/6717792/world-food-programme-halts-aid-gaza/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte68e91cc6f662d75/698a48b8929fad2de9bfb181/GettyImages-1914146160.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Humanitarian Aid Enters Gaza at Kerem Shalom Border Crossing og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: World Food Programme Halts Deliveries to Northern Gaza twitter:description: The World Food Programme said it's pausing deliveries because conditions were not being met to allow for the safe distribution of aid. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte68e91cc6f662d75/698a48b8929fad2de9bfb181/GettyImages-1914146160.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # World Food Programme Halts Deliveries to Northern Gaza Amid Unsafe Conditions by [Anna Gordon](/author/anna-gordon/) ## Anna Gordon Gordon was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Feb 21, 2024 3:31 PM CUT  A truck carrying food aid supplies from the World Food Programme non-governmental organistation (NGO) enters into Gaza, drives through the Kerem Shalom Crossing on the Israel-Gaza border, in Kerem Shalom, Israel, on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. A truck carrying food aid supplies from the World Food Programme non-governmental organistation (NGO) enters into Gaza, drives through the Kerem Shalom Crossing on the Israel-Gaza border, in Kerem Shalom, Israel, on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024.Kobi Wolf—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Anna Gordon](/author/anna-gordon/) ## Anna Gordon Gordon was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Feb 21, 2024 3:31 PM CUT The World Food Programme announced on Tuesday that it will be temporarily halting aid deliveries to [northern Gaza](https://time.com/6696636/us-backs-gaza-ceasefire-at-un/ "undefined"), where hundreds of thousands of people depend on theorganization’s assistance for lifesaving nutrition. The World Food Programme (WFP) said in [a statement](https://www.wfp.org/news/un-food-agency-pauses-deliveries-north-gaza "undefined") that it's pausing deliveries because **c**onditions were not being met to allow for the safe distribution of aid. On Sunday, an aid truck was surrounded by crowds of hungry people, and many individuals attempted to climb on board the food trucks and the trucks faced gunfire, according to WFP. On Monday, another truck attempting to deliver aid faced “complete chaos and violence due to the collapse of civil order.” Multiple trucks were looted and a truck driver was badly beaten, and what limited supplies were able to be delivered were handed out "amidst high tension and explosive anger," the statement said. “The latest reports confirm Gaza’s precipitous slide into hunger and disease. Food and safe water have become incredibly scarce and diseases are rife, compromising women and children’s nutrition and immunity and resulting in a surge of acute malnutrition. People are already dying from hunger-related causes,” the World Food Programme said. "A large-scale expansion of the flow of assistance to northern Gaza is urgently needed to avoid disaster." Approximately 300,000 people in the area depend on the aid, according to [an UNRWA official](https://twitter.com/UNLazzarini/status/1755586807876485227 "undefined"). The World Food Programme said it will try to "resume deliveries in a responsible manner as soon as possible." In October, [Israel](https://time.com/6696541/israel-middle-east-peace-plan-essay/ "undefined") ordered 1.1 million residents of [northern Gaza](https://time.com/6696660/prince-william-gaza/ "undefined") to evacuate. Most residents complied with the order, but several hundred thousand either chose to stay or were unable to arrange for safe transport out of the area. Israeli forces have since taken control of the region, and aid deliveries have been sparse depending upon approval from the Israeli military. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6717792/world-food-programme-halts-aid-gaza/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6717792/world-food-programme-halts-aid-gaza/"},"headline":"World Food Programme Halts Deliveries to Northern Gaza Amid Unsafe Conditions","datePublished":"2024-02-21T15:31:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T17:10:22.499Z","description":"The World Food Programme said it's pausing deliveries because conditions were not being met to allow for the safe distribution of aid.","url":"https://time.com/6717792/world-food-programme-halts-aid-gaza/","keywords":["Israel-Hamas War","News","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte68e91cc6f662d75/698a48b8929fad2de9bfb181/GettyImages-1914146160.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Anna Gordon","jobTitle":"Gordon was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau.","url":"https://time.com/author/anna-gordon/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte68e91cc6f662d75/698a48b8929fad2de9bfb181/GettyImages-1914146160.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Humanitarian Aid Enters Gaza at Kerem Shalom Border Crossing","caption":"Humanitarian Aid Enters Gaza at Kerem Shalom Border Crossing","creditText":"Kobi Wolf—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/israel-hamas-war/","name":"Israel-Hamas War"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6717792/world-food-programme-halts-aid-gaza/","name":"World Food Programme Halts Deliveries to Northern Gaza Amid Unsafe Conditions"}}]}] ```