"They argue that they let in enough essentials to cover it.
It is debated."

'Debated' by who?

"The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger," senior Israeli government advisor Dov Weisglass explained in 2006.

According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation says 61% of Gazans are "food insecure".
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, reports that 80% of Gazan households rely on some kind of food aid.


Aid agencies operating in Gaza say they have largely been able to continue to transport basic supplies such as flour and cooking oil into the territory.

Unrwa provides food aid for 750,000 people, half the population.
However, its food distribution has been suspended several times since June 2007 as a result of border closures or fuel shortages

These rations provide about two-thirds of dietary needs, and so need to be supplemented by dairy products, meat, fish and fresh fruit and vegetables. Some of these items are grown locally, some allowed in from Israel, and some were smuggled in through tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border.

But after Operation Cast Lead and its devastating effect on infrastructure Palestinian Bureau of Statistics estimate unemployment at 38.6% in early 2010; some Gazans cannot afford the basics, even if they are physically available.

Even before the Israeli military operation in December and January 2009 disrupted food aid transfer and distribution significantly, as well as causing what the UN FAO estimates at $180m of damage to the agricultural sector ....

A UN survey in 2008 found more than half Gaza's households had sold their disposable assets and were relying on credit to buy food, three-quarters of Gazans were buying less food than in the past, and almost all were eating less fresh fruit, vegetables and animal protein to save money.

ACCORDING TO THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, ONE THIRD OF CHILDREN UNDER FIVE AND WOMEN OF CHILDBEARING AGE ARE ANAEMIC.