The White House has asked the Israeli government to end attacks on police in Gaza, which are trying to guard aid deliveries in the Strip, as targeting civilian police forces is causing more chaos in the Strip and making aid distribution almost impossible. American officials believe that Israeli measures to prevent aid from reaching Gaza are creating a humanitarian crisis similar to the situation that existed in Mogadishu.

Axios reported that it spoke with American and Israeli officials who said that Washington had asked Tel Aviv to stop targeting police forces in Gaza. The police are working with international relief organizations to distribute aid in the Strip.

As all 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza struggle to find food to eat, aid convoys have been mobilized and prevented from reaching their destination. The police forces stopped the escort after the Israeli forces began targeting the police.

Tel Aviv took several other steps to restrict aid access to Gaza. The Israeli Minister of Finance prevents the distribution of American-funded food shipments to the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government has also imposed a burdensome inspection regime on all aid entering Gaza. Inspections remove life-saving medications from shipments and create bottlenecks that slow the delivery process.

In addition, Israeli security forces allow Israeli civilian protesters to block aid at border crossings, further delaying shipments. Even if aid enters the Strip, Israeli forces attack the trucks.

It is noteworthy that 500 aid trucks arrived in the Gaza Strip daily before the start of the Israeli war on Gaza in October, to help support the besieged population. Since the beginning of the war, the Israeli authorities have been preventing commercial shipments and limiting aid to only a small fraction of pre-war levels.

The number of Palestinians relying on aid to survive has increased significantly during that period. Tens of thousands of civilians were seriously injured in Israeli attacks. Almost all Palestinians living in Gaza are internally displaced. Almost all medical facilities have been destroyed. It is estimated that one in six Palestinian children in northern Gaza is on the brink of starvation. Many Palestinians resort to eating grass, rotting food, or animal feed.

A two-month-old Palestinian child starved to death on Friday in the central Gaza Strip.