Israel expels Gazan workers back to war-torn enclave

Dozens of Palestinian workers in Israel returned to besieged Gaza on Friday following an Israeli government decision to expel Gazan laborers from the country.

The workers were among the Gazans who were in Israel early last month, when Hamas launched a brutal assault on the country, killing 1,400 people and kidnapping more than 200. Israel retaliated with an unrelenting bombing campaign on Gaza.

Prior to the October 7 attacks, about 18,000 Gazans had permits to cross into Israel and work, where they could earn significantly more than in Gaza.

“Israel is severing all contact with Gaza. There will be no more Palestinian workers from Gaza. Those workers from Gaza who were in Israel on the day of the outbreak of the war will be returned to Gaza,” the government press office said Thursday.

Men of all ages could be seen entering Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel on Friday, in CNN footage filmed inside the war-torn territory. Some prayed or kissed the ground, some greeted friends and family, and some told of alleged mistreatment in Israel.

“What happened to us never happened to any human being before,” one of the men told CNN. “They suspended our permissions. We tried to go to the West Bank. They detained us and put us in places we never knew where we were.”

CNN has reached out to the Israeli government for a response to the allegations.

The cabinet also said it would deduct funds that are designated for Gaza, including funding from the Palestinian Authority – a separate government body with limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank – that would go to the strip.

Over the past few years, Israel began issuing thousands of work permits for Gazans to cross into Israel as part of an economic incentive strategy Israeli authorities had hoped would encourage Gazans to distance themselves from Hamas. The enclave is home to more than two million people, most of them refugees.

Gazans in the West Bank told CNN last month that getting a work permit for Israel allowed them to become vital breadwinners. Many are the only members of their families to have a job and the salaries they earn in Israel are multiple times higher than anything they’d be able to get in Gaza.

Following Hamas’ terror attacks, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) shut all access to the enclave and many Gazans working in Israel became stuck.

Ismail Abd Almagid, who is from Gaza but had a permit to work in Israel, has been staying in a refugee camp in the West Bank. Ivana Kottasova/CNN

“I always wanted this permit because the situation in Gaza is very dire. The financial situation, the debt … the economy is zero. There’s no work opportunities,” Ismail Abd Almagid told CNN last month, adding that he had been unemployed until he got the permit.

Unemployment levels in Gaza are among the highest in the world, with nearly half of the population out of work, according to 2022 UN data. More than than 80% of the population lives in poverty.

“For at least the last decade and a half, the socioeconomic situation in Gaza has been in steady decline,” UNRWA, the UN’s main aid agency in the enclave, said in August.

For nearly 17 years, Gaza has been almost totally cut off from the rest of the world, with severe restrictions on the movement of goods and people.

The 140-square-mile enclave is ruled by Hamas but blockaded by Israel and Egypt, since 2007, and relies heavily on imported fuel and electricity to run all its services.

In response to Hamas’ terror attacks, Israel imposed a “complete siege” on the enclave and stopped all food, water, medicine, and fuel supplies from entering Gaza, deepening a humanitarian crisis.

Israeli airstrikes have killed over 9,000 people, half of them children, and injured about 22,000 others, according to figures released Thursday by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, which draws from sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave.

Pictures of Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas are displayed with balloons as part of an installation in Jerusalem on November 2. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters Palestinians take humanitarian aid from a truck near the Rafah border crossing in Gaza on November 2. Hatem Ali/AP An Israeli artillery unit fires during a military drill in Golan Heights, Israel near the border with Lebanon on November 2. Jalaa Merey/AFP/Getty Images Palestinians with dual citizenship show their passports while seeking permission to leave Gaza at the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, on November 1. Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg/Getty Images A man sits on debris as Palestinians conduct a search and rescue operation after the second bombardment to the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza City, on Wednesday, November 1. Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images Palestinian families take shelter in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency refugee camp in Khan Younis, Gaza, on November 1. Abed Zagout/Anadolu/Getty Images Relatives react during the funeral of an Israeli soldier in Jerusalem, on November 1. Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images An Israeli Apache helicopter fires flares over Gaza, seen from Sderot, Israel, on November 1. Atef Safadi/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Palestinians move through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, on November 1. Injured Palestinians and foreign nationals from Gaza have started crossing the border into Egypt, officials and Egyptian media said, in the first sanctioned exodus from the besieged enclave in weeks. Hatem Ali/AP Friends and family mourn Yosef Vahav, 65, who was killed following Hamas' infiltration from Gaza, at his funeral in Beit Guvrin, Israel on Tuesday, October 31. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters Palestinians search for casualties at the site of Israeli strikes on Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza on October 31. Anas al-Shareef/Reuters Israeli army vehicles move along a road near the northern town of Kiryat Shmona close to the border with Lebanon on October 31. Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images Relatives mourn as bodies are carried for burial from Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza, on October 31. Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu/Getty Images Relatives attend the funeral of Albert Miles, 81, at the Kibbutz Revivim cemetery, south Israel, on October 30. Albert Miles was killed during the Hamas attack on October 7, in Kibbutz Be'eri near the border with Gaza. Bernat Armangue/AP A Palestinian man holds his wounded child as they receive medical attention at Al-Najjar Hospital following an Israeli airstrike on Rafah in southern Gaza on October 30. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa/AP Vehicles destroyed by Hamas during the October 7 attack on Israel are seen collected in a field near the Israel's border with Gaza on October 30. Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters A photo released by the IDF shows its forces continue to expand ground operations in Gaza on October 30. IDF/EyePress News/Shutterstock Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli airstrikes in Rafah on October 30. Fatima Shbair/AP A man holds wounded children near livestock animals amid heavily damaged buildings, following Israeli attacks at Nuseirat Refugee Camp in Gaza City, on Sunday, October 29. Ashraf Amra/Anadolu/Getty Images Manna mourns her daughter Tamar Chaya Torpiashvili, a 9-year-old girl who died days after experiencing a cardiac attack during a siren warning of incoming rockets being fired from Gaza into Israel, at her funeral in Ashdod, southern Israel, on October 29. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters An injured man is covered in dust in the aftermath of Israeli bombing in Rafah, southern Gaza, on October 29. Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images Smoke and explosions are seen on the horizon in northern Gaza, amid Israel's bombardment of the enclave, on Saturday, October 28. Abed Khaled/AP Israeli armored vehicles on the move near the border with Gaza, in Sderot, Israel on the morning of October 28. Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux Palestinian children sit in a vehicle loaded with household items in Khan Younis refugee camp, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on October 28. Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images People check the destruction following Israeli strikes on Al-Shatee camp in Gaza City on October 28. Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images A man writes a message during a demonstration by family members and supporters of hostages who are being held in Gaza after they were kidnapped from Israel by Hamas gunmen, as they call for a dialogue with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in Tel Aviv, Israel on October 28. Ammar Awad/Getty Images Palestinian lawyer Jehad Al-Kafarnah, whose pregnant wife and unborn child were killed in an Israeli strike, according to health officials, mourns over her shrouded body at a hospital in northern Gaza on Friday, October 27. Anas al-Shareef/Reuters Teddy bears with their eyes covered and showing signs of injury are displayed to highlight the young children and babies currently missing, believed to be being held hostage by Hamas, on October 27 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Israeli firefighters and rescue teams assess destruction after a rocket attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 27. Dima Vazinovich/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images A Palestinian man injured in an Israeli airstrike is carried on a stretcher at Nasser Medical Hospital, in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 27. Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images An Israeli air force F-15 tactical fighter jet flies along the border with Gaza near Sderot, Israel, on October 27. Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images People take cover as rocket sirens sound during the funeral of Sagiv Ben Zvi in Holon, Israel, on Thursday, October 26. Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters Smoke and fire rise from a leveled building after an Israeli strike on Gaza on October 26. Omar El-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images A woman looks from behind a gate at the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes at a hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 26. Mohammed Salem/Reuters Relatives of hostages held in Gaza demonstrate in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 26. Amir Levy/Getty Images A Palestinian child is assisted as people search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a residential building in Gaza City on Wednesday, October 25. Yasser Qudih/Reuters An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires a shell from southern Israel towards Gaza on October 25.

Tsafrir Abayov/AP A woman with a photograph of a child who was abducted during the Hamas attack on Israel hands out yellow ribbons to passing drivers in central Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 25.

Francisco Seco/AP Rescuers assist a survivor of an Israeli bombardment in Nusseirat refugee camp, Gaza, on Tuesday, October 24. Ali Mohmoud/AP Yocheved Lifshitz speaks to the media after she was released by Hamas, outside Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 24. Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images Palestinians mourn their loved ones killed in an Israeli strike, outside Najjar hospital in Rafah, Gaza, on October 24. Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images Israeli soldiers stand guard as smoke rises following a rocket launched in southern Israel on October 24. Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters A baby receives care inside an incubator at a hospital in Rafah, Gaza, on Monday, October 23. Mai Yaghi/AFP/Getty Images A view of buildings reduced to rubble and ruins by Israeli airstrikes are seen in Gaza on October 23. Mohammed Zaanoun/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images Mourners hold hands during the funeral of Sgt. Yam Goldstein and her father, Nadav, in Kibbutz Shefayim, Israel, on October 23. Ariel Schalit/AP An Israeli soldier stands in an armored vehicle near the Lebanon border on October 23. Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images A Palestinian woman mourns over the body of a relative killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza, on Sunday, October 22. Said Khatub/AFP/Getty Images Pictures of over 1,000 people abducted, missing or killed in the Hamas attack are displayed on empty seats in the Smolarz Auditorium at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 22. Leon Neal/Getty Images Palestinians look for survivors after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on October 22. Hatem Moussa/AP Relatives mourn for a man killed by Hamas during his funeral in Nir Oz, Israel, on October 22. Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu/Getty Images Injured civilians are recovered from the rubble of a destroyed house following Israeli air strikes near a UNRWA school housing displaced people in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Saturday, October 21. Yousef Masoud/The New York Times/Redux IDF soldiers clean the barrel of a tank in southern Israel on October 21. Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images An aerial view of residential buildings destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in Zahra City, Gaza, on October 21. Shadi Tabatibi/Reuters Relatives mourn for a family killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 21. Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images. Trucks carrying humanitarian aid enter Gaza from Egypt at the Rafah border crossing on October 21. Belal al Sabbagh/AFP/Getty Images Relatives of hostages speak to the media during the "Lighting up the Light" campaign for the return of those held captive, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 21. Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images Palestinians inspect a destroyed area following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on October 21. Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Children use candles for lighting in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Friday, October 20. Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua/Redux Muslim Palestinians take part in Friday noon prayers as Israeli police look on in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amud, on October 20. Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images Women grieve at an event for the families of Israelis who are missing or being held hostage in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 20. Janis Laizans/Reuters Civil defense teams and residents continue search and rescue efforts at a Greek Orthodox church after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 20. Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images A Palestinian woman mourns over the bodies of her relatives who were killed an Israeli airstrike that hit a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City on October 20. Abed Khaled/AP Rockets are fired from Gaza toward Israel on Thursday, October 19. Mohammed Dahman/AP Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets soldiers in a field near Israel's border with Gaza on October 19. Gallant told the soldiers , "You see Gaza now from a distance, you will soon see it from inside." Ronen Zvulun/Reuters A man carries a wounded child at the site of an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 19. Yasser Qudih/Reuters Friends and relatives of Ofir Libstein, who served as head of the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council and died during the Kibbutz Kfar Aza attack, mourn at his funeral in Even Yehuda, Israel, on Wednesday, October 18. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters A woman mourns over a dead man at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza City on October 18. Belal Khaled/Anadolu/Getty Images A Palestinian man inspects a destroyed house belonging to the Al-Jazzar family after an airstrike in Rafah, Gaza, on October 18. Abed Rahim Khatib/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Photographs of people taken hostage by Hamas are seen in Tel Aviv on October 18. Leon Neal/Getty Images People mourn a family during a funeral in Hod HaSharon, Israel, on October 18. Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images Israeli security inspects debris from a rocket in Kiryat Shmona, Israel, on October 18. Ayal Margolin/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock From left, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US President Joe Biden join Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials as they wait for the start of the Israeli war cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv on October 18. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images A view shows the aftermath of a deadly blast that struck Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City on October 18. Palestinian officials blamed ongoing Israeli airstrikes for the incident, while a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said a Palestinian Islamic Jihad group is responsible for a "failed rocket launch" that hit the hospital. Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images President Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on October 18. Kenny Holston/The New York Times/Redux Wounded Palestinians sit on the floor at the Al-Shifa Hospital after being transported from the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital following a blast there on Tuesday, October 17. Abed Khaled/AP Bodies of Palestinians killed in the blast at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital lie in front of the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on October 17. Abed Khaled/AP Israeli security forces inspect a damaged residential building after it was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza in Sderot, Israel on October 17. Ariel Schalit/AP A bakery prepares rations of bread to pass out to displaced Palestinians in the Rafah refugee camp, in southern Gaza, on October 17. Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images People lay wreaths during a funeral for the Israeli Kutz family in Gan-Yavne, Israel on October 17. The family of five were murdered in their home by Palestinian militants who infiltrated the Israeli Kibbutz of Kfar Aza last week. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa/picture-alliance/AP Civil defense members and residents conduct search and rescue operations amid destroyed buildings after an Israeli attack in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Tuesday, October 17, Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu/Getty Images Aid supplies are seen in North Sinai, Egypt on October 16. Mahmoud Khaled/Getty Images Street vendors work on a darkened street without power in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 16. Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux Palestinians wait to cross into Egypt at the Rafah border crossing in Gaza on October 16. Fatima Shbair/AP People hold Israeli flags as friends and family mourn Dor Reder at his funeral in Beit Kama, southern Israel, on October 16. Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters Palestinians carry a person wounded in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Monday, October 16. Fatima Shbair/AP People prepare to board a ship that will transport US nationals and their immediate family members from Haifa, Israel, to Cyprus on October 16. Shir Torem/Reuters Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian youth during his funeral in Nablus, West Bank, on October 15. Wahaj Bani Moufleh/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images Israeli army soldiers patrol at an undisclosed position in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on October 15. Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images People carry children as they flee following an Israeli strike on Rafah in southern Gaza on Sunday, October 15. Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images Antonio Macías' mother cries over her son's body at Pardes Haim cemetery in Kfar Saba, Israel, on October 15. Macías was killed by Hamas at an Israeli music festival earlier this month. Francisco Seco/AP Palestinians collect water from a tap on October 15 after Israel blocked supplies of electricity, food, water and fuel to Gaza. Fatima Shbair/AP People react at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on Saturday, October 14. Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Eli Albag cries over the photograph of his daughter Liri, as he gathers with others during a protest demanding the release of more than 100 Israelis who were abducted during last week's Hamas attack, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 14. Francisco Seco/AP Leaflets dropped from Israeli army planes fall over Gaza City on Friday, October 13. Mohammed Talatene/dpa/picture alliance/Getty Images An Israeli soldier looks inside a house that was overrun by Hamas militants in Be'eri, Israel, on October 13. Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times/Redux Palestinians rescue a wounded man from the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza, on October 13. Hatem Ali/AP Israeli artillery fires on the Israel-Gaza border on October 13. Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters Israelis take cover after hearing warning sirens of incoming rockets fired from Gaza in Rehovot, Israel, on October 13. Dor Kedmi/AP Fire and smoke rise above buildings in Gaza City during an Israeli air strike on October 13. Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images A Palestinian child is injured during bombing in Gaza on October 13. Saher Alghorra/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images Palestinians flee from northern Gaza to the south after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning to seek refuge in the south, on October 13. Hatem Moussa/AP Mourners attend the funeral of Israeli soldier Abraham Cohen at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on Thursday, October 12. Francisco Seco/AP Israeli soldiers patrol near Kibbutz Be'eri, Israel, on October 12. Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images Family members of Valentin Ghnassia react during his funeral ceremony at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on October 12. Ghnassia was killed in a battle with Hamas militants in Be'eri, Israel. Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images An Israeli soldier patrols near the Nova music festival grounds near Be'eri, Israel, on October 12. Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images An Israeli military helicopter flies near the border between Gaza and Sderot, Israel, on October 12. Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images Palestinians seek shelter in Khan Younis, Gaza, after a house next door was hit by an Israeli airstrike on October 12. Yousef Masoud/The New York Times A morgue worker arranges body bags at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on October 12. Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on October 12. Ibrahim Hams/AFP/Getty Images A Palestinian woman covered in dust and dirt carries a child in Gaza City on October 12. Bashar Taleb/AFP/Getty Images An Israeli soldier walks by a house destroyed by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Be'eri on Wednesday, October 11. Baz Ratner/AP An Israeli army self-propelled howitzer fires rounds near the border with Gaza in southern Israel on October 11. Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images People carry bodies of Palestinians killed during an Israeli airstrike prior to their burial in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 11. Abed Rahim Khatib/Picture-Alliance/Getty Images An aerial view of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes at the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza City on October 11. Yahya Hassouna/AFP/Getty Images Mourners react beside the body of Mapal Adam during her funeral in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 11. Francisco Seco/AP Palestinians run from Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 11. Abed Zagout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Israeli soldiers load donated food into the back of a military vehicle in Sderot, Israel, on October 11. Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux Bullet holes are seen in a cracked window at the entrance of a kindergarten in Be'eri, Israel, on October 11. The self-sustaining farming community near Gaza was one of the first places targeted by Hamas militants on October 7. Baz Ratner/AP A mourner reacts while burying a child from the al-Agha family, who were killed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 11. Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters Itzik and Miriam Shafir, center, mourn during their son's funeral at a cemetery in Modiin Maccabim, Israel, on October 11. Their son, Dor Shafir, and his girlfriend, Savion Kiper, were killed during Hamas' attack on a music festival on Saturday. Maya Alleruzzo/AP A boy carries salvaged belongings from the wreckage of his family's home in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 11. Yousef Masoud/The New York Times/Redux Smoke rises after Israeli strikes on the seaport of Gaza City on Tuesday, October 10. Mohammed Salem/Reuters Israeli soldiers carry a body on October 10 in Kfar Aza, a village in Israel just across the border from Gaza. Hamas militants carried out a "massacre" in Kfar Aza during their attacks over the weekend, the Israel Defense Forces told CNN Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times/Redux Palestinians mourn during the funeral of a relative killed in an Israeli strike, in Gaza City on October 10. Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images People mourn at the grave of Eden Guez during her funeral in Ashkelon, Israel, on October 10. She was killed as she attended a music festival that was attacked by terrorists from Gaza . Israeli officials counted at least 260 bodies at the Nova Festival. Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters Israeli soldiers take position in Kfar Aza near the border with Gaza on October 10. Atef Safadi/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Palestinians rescue a young girl from the rubble of a destroyed residential building following an Israeli airstrike on October 10. Fatima Shbair/AP Stranded travelers wait to be booked on a flight at Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv on October 10. Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux Palestinians walk amid the rubble following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 10. Fatima Shbair/AP Israelis in Ashkelon take cover in a shelter as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets on October 10. Ohad Zwigenberg/AP People gather around the bodies of two Palestinian reporters, Mohammed Soboh and Said al-Tawil, who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 10. Fatima Shbair/AP Israelis mourn as they attend the funeral of Israel Defense Forces soldier Noam Elimeleh Rothenberg at Mount Herzel Cemetery in Jerusalem, on October 10. Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images A Palestinian man reacts as he carries the body of his cousin who was pulled from the rubble after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Monday, October 9. Belal Khaled/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images A family takes shelter at a neighbor's house after their home was damaged in an Israeli airstrike in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza on October 9. Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux Children run for cover as bombs fall near the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on October 9. Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux A photo from a wedding is seen on the ground of a building in Ashkelon that was hit by rockets from Gaza on October 9. Amir Cohen/Reuters People take shelter in Jerusalem on October 9. Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux The ruins of the Yassin mosque are seen in the Shati refugee camp just outside Gaza City on October 9. Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux Friends and relatives of Ilai Bar Sade mourn next to his grave during his funeral at a military cemetery in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 9. Erik Marmor/AP Six-month-old Sama Alwadia is rescued from the rubble in Gaza City on October 9. Though the child had survived the initial strike, she died later while being treated for her injuries. Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Lightning strikes over Gaza City following an Israeli bombardment on October 9. Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images Israeli soldiers take position near the border between Gaza and Israel on October 9. Oren Ziv/AP A Palestinian man mourns over the body of his nephew killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 9. Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Israeli security and emergency officials respond after a rocket landed in the Israeli settlement of Beitar Ilit, in the occupied West Bank, on October 9. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters Palestinians inspect the damage following an Israeli airstrike on the Sousi mosque in Gaza City on October 9. Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/Getty Images Israeli soldiers work on a tank at the border between Israel and Gaza on October 9. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa/picture-alliance/AP Palestinians remove a body from the rubble of a building after an Israeli airstrike on the Jebaliya refugee camp in Gaza on October 9. Ramez Mahmoud/AP A plume of smoke rises in the sky over Gaza City during an Israeli airstrike on October 9. Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images The mother of Israeli Col. Roi Levy cries during her son's funeral at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on October 9. Maya Alleruzzo/AP Palestinians inspect damage from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City's Shati refugee camp on October 9. Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images An injured Palestinian child is pictured in the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes at al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza on October 9. Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Israelis view a damaged residential building in Ashkelon after it was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza on October 9. Erik Marmor/AP Tali Touito reacts as she describes how Hamas gunmen attacked and took over the police station on her street, in Sderot, Israel, on Sunday, October 8. Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux Fire and smoke rise from Gaza City following an Israeli airstrike on October 8. Fatima Shbair/AP A relative of an Israeli missing since the attacks is overcome by emotion during a press conference in Ramat Gan, Israel, on October 8. Maya Alleruzzo/AP Palestinians inspect a mosque destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 8. Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters An Israeli soldier prays standing in front of a tank on the outskirts of the northern town of Kiryat Shmona on October 8. Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images Israelis inspect the rubble of a building in Tel Aviv on October 8, a day after it was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza. Oded Balilty/AP Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from Gaza on October 8. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters Palestinians search the rubble of a home in Khan Younis that was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes on October 8. Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters Palestinian citizens inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 8. Ahmad Hasballah/Getty Images Rockets launched from Gaza are intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system on October 8. Amir Cohen/Reuters Palestinian children look toward the sky at the sound of airstrikes at a United Nations-run school in Gaza on Saturday, October 7. Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux A woman runs to her family's reinforced concrete shelter moments after rocket sirens sounded in Ashkelon on October 7. Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux From the window of his family's apartment, a man surveys damage from a rocket that struck a parking lot in Ashkelon on October 7. Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux Palestinians gather around an Israeli army vehicle that Palestinian militants drove from Israel into Gaza on October 7. Fatima Shbair/AP Palestinians break into the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, after gunmen infiltrated parts of southern Israel on October 7. Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa/Reuters Police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket in Ashkelon on October 7. Tsafrir Abayov/AP Israeli police take cover in Ashkelon as sirens wail while rockets are fired from Gaza into Israel on October 7. Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images Smoke rises over Gaza during Israeli airstrikes on October 7. Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images An Israeli woman reacts over the body of her relative who was killed in the southern Israeli city of Sderot on October 7. Baz Ratner/AP Children are seen in a damaged house in Gaza after Israeli airstrikes on October 7. Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Vehicles in Ashkelon burn as rockets are launched from Gaza on October 7. Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters A man in Ashkelon runs after rockets were launched from Gaza on October 7. Amir Cohen/Reuters Israelis donate blood in Jerusalem on October 7. Maya Alleruzzo/AP Palestinians inspect a destroyed building as emergency responders try to contain fires after Israeli jets bombed Gaza on October 7. Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux Outside of a hospital in Gaza, men sit next to the covered body of a Palestinian militant killed during Saturday's clashes. Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images Relatives of Palestinians killed on Saturday, October 7, mourn at the morgue of a hospital in Gaza. Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images An Israeli soldier stands by the bodies of Israelis killed by Palestinian militants in Sderot on October 7. Tsafrir Abayov/AP licensed A woman stands in a room damaged by rockets in Ashkelon on October 7. Amir Cohen/Reuters A building in Tel Aviv is ablaze Saturday, October 7, following rocket attacks from Gaza. Itai Ron/Reuters Smoke rises as the clashes between Palestinian groups and Israeli forces continue on the streets of Beit Hanun in Gaza on October 7. Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images People take cover in a bomb shelter in Rishon Lezion, Israel, as rockets are launched from Gaza on October 7. Hadas Parush/Reuters Rockets are fired toward Israel from Gaza on October 7. Fatima Shbair/AP In pictures: The deadly clashes in Israel and Gaza Prev Next

Humanitarian organizations have described catastrophic conditions where civil order is starting to break down, and have issued increasingly urgent calls for a ceasefire to allow desperately needed aid into Gaza. UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said on Wednesday after his return from Gaza that “the scale of the tragedy is unprecedented.”

“The levels of distress and the unsanitary living conditions were beyond comprehension,” he said. “Everyone was just asking for water and food.”

On Thursday, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) confirmed that it received fresh food, water, relief and medical supplies from 106 aid trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent that crossed into Gaza from the Rafah Crossing. The PRCS said that this brings the total number of trucks that have crossed successfully from Egypt into Gaza to 374.

Before the war began on October 7, Gaza received about 455 aid trucks per day, according to the United Nations.

But aid agencies warned the aid trickling into Gaza is vastly insufficient to stave off the dire humanitarian crisis.