Gaza Government Disputes US Official's Claims on Aid Deliveries

The Gaza government media office on Wednesday rejected claims by US Deputy President JD Vance regarding the volume and effectiveness of humanitarian aid entering the besieged Palestinian enclave, describing his statements as "misleading and unrealistic" and at odds with the catastrophic reality on the ground. In a statement carried by Anadolu Agency, the office said Vance's remarks — in which he asserted that significant financial and material assistance was reaching Gaza's civilian population — contradict verified United Nations assessments, field reports from humanitarian organisations, and the lived experience of more than two million Palestinians enduring famine conditions, mass displacement, and the collapse of basic services. Officials in Gaza stressed that the trickle of aid currently permitted through crossings falls far short of the minimum humanitarian threshold required to sustain life, let alone rebuild an enclave devastated by more than two years of Israeli military operations. The statement highlighted that only a fraction of the daily truckloads pledged under recent ceasefire understandings are actually entering the Strip, and that fuel, medicines, shelter materials, and winter supplies remain severely restricted. The media office accused Washington of providing political cover for the continued obstruction of aid and warned that repeating such claims at the highest levels of the US administration risks legitimising a policy of collective punishment already under examination at the International Court of Justice. It called on the international community, and particularly Arab and Islamic states, to pressure the United States to align its public statements with the documented facts gathered by UN agencies and independent monitors. From Doha, officials have repeatedly underscored that Qatar — a co-mediator of the Gaza ceasefire alongside Egypt and the United States — views unobstructed humanitarian access as a non-negotiable pillar of any durable truce. Qatari diplomats have warned in recent weeks that without a dramatic scaling-up of aid deliveries, the fragile agreement reached earlier this year could unravel, with devastating consequences for civilians and for regional stability. Gulf humanitarian agencies, including the Qatar Fund for Development and Qatar Red Crescent, continue to operate some of the largest relief operations serving Gaza, funding field hospitals, shelter projects, and food distribution through partners on the ground. Palestinian officials thanked Qatar and other Gulf states for sustaining these operations despite the logistical and political barriers imposed at the crossings, and urged donors not to be swayed by official US messaging that they said papers over a worsening humanitarian emergency.